A book from that time period where you had to have lists with nice round numbers like 100 and you were ashamed to be anything but happy.

The concept of this book is an admirable one: how to relieve stress in your life and achieve a higher level of inner peace. However, while reading this book I found myself becoming more stressed out! This book is set up as essentially a list (YES! Another list!) of different methods and techniques that you can use to try and relieve stress from your life. As I am reading the list of different ideas, they make sense, but I feel as though this book was throwing too much at me for any of it to really sink in. It would have been much better if Dr. Carlson had taken a few ideas and gone more in depth with them, as opposed to a very brief overview. If you're truly stressed out and looking to relieve a little bit of it, I would not recommend turning to this book for guidance.

This book offers 100 pieces of advice. All the advice is good but some of it is repetitive, and the book lacks internal structure. For example, "12.Let Others Be 'Right Most of the Time" and "30. Choose Your Battles Wisely" are basically the same. Several of them are about feeling and expressing gratitude, patience, giving, and having some quiet contemplative time in your life.

It might be especially good for kids since the very short 100 sections could be read one at a time at bedtime or in the morning before school.

I think this book may suffer the fate of a lot of older self-help books: At the time it was insightful but, after a couple decades of people resharing and building on the ideas, it feels a little trite.

I see this book as a collection of reminders—good intentions that I know but don’t always remember.

But I also think it oversimplifies and, in some ways, puts too much burden on the reader. Life actually *isn’t* all small stuff. Part of the challenge is distinguishing which things actually matter and being able to consider things with an appropriate degree of perspective.

This book doesn’t offer much in the way of nuance. I fully believe that the only thing we can control is our own actions and how we respond to the world around us. It’s easy to have a reaction that’s out of proportion—but that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a problem that needs to be resolved.

So. I think this can be a helpful read but I’m not sure it works as a stand-alone philosophy.

I’ve listened to the audio book and it was amazing. Read or listen to the book and you’ll need no therapist.

There is some great advice in this book. It's very fitting that the author ends the book by telling you to live each day as if it was your last, because he himself died unexpectedly during a flight from San Francisco to New York in 2006. He was only 45 years old. Life truly is short. None of us knows when it will end, so we need to cherish it. In this and many other pieces of advice, I couldn't agree with the author more.

There is a fair amount of repetition in this book, which at first was annoying, until I realized he was repeating what he likely considered the most important lessons. And I agree that they're important. Still somewhat annoying, but understandable. There was also one chapter I didn't appreciate where he brought religion into the picture: "learn to recognize God's fingerprints on everything", or something to that effect. In my opinion religion has no place in content that is otherwise based in science.

Some of the advice also didn't apply to me, and it may not apply to you either. In addition, many of his real-life examples are only relatable to certain people, and so I didn't relate to them. I also found that a lot of the information was basic common sense, so I knew it already and therefore it didn't add a ton of value.

Criticisms aside, this is a book worth reading. Did it change my life? No. Well, maybe. Let's see. I'm going to implement as many of the great lessons and tips here into my life as I can. In time, this book may indeed change my life.

Recommended!

I bought this book when it first came out and decided to reread it. This is one of the few self-help books that I have enjoyed reading. The book is divided into 100 - two to three page tips that could be read as a daily devotional. I have to be honest some of the advice given is outdated but there are a lot of wonderful hidden gems. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

- "Make peace with imperfection"
- "Be aware of the snowball effect of your thinking"
- "Don't interrupt others or finish their sentences "
- "Learn to live in the present moment"
- "Experiment with your back burner"

thanks dad, this was the best christmas present. i really enjoyed the part of the book where i learned about life from golf. i've never played golf.

كتاب اكثر من رائع

تتوقف درجة السكينة التي نغلف قلوبنا على مدى قدرتنا على العيش في الوقت الحاضر ..
بصرف النظر عما حدث بالأمس .. و ما يحدث او لا يحدث غدا .. فان الوقت الحاضر هو الزمن الذي نعيش فيه فعلا .
فنحن نسمح لمشكلات الماضي واهتمامات المستقبل بالسيطرة على وقتنا الحاضر و بذلك فاننا نؤجل شعورنا بالسعادة .. ونقنع انفسنا بان يوما ما في المستقبل سيكون افضل من اليوم .. و لسوء الحظ فان الآليات العقليه التي تجعلنا نتطلع للمستقبل ستكرر نفسها حتى ان هذا اليوم الافضل لن ياتي ابدا .

ركز انتباهك على الوقت الحاضر .. عش يومك .. وتمتع بالسعادة ..
لا تهتم بصغائر الامور فكل الامور صغائر ..

I've had a grudge against this book ever since my middle school principal wouldn't let me switch seats to sit next to my dad on a field trip and said, "Don't sweat the small stuff, Becky." Not sure Eric actually read the book because it's mostly about loving-kindness, taking in multiple perspectives without reacting, mindful breathing, and other Buddhist stuff even though it takes until page 130 to mention Buddhism. So I liked it better than I expected in that I didn't hate it.

Like so many books for self-help, there's a huge disconnect between the ease of stating the philosophy, and the ease of implementing it. Besides the huge disconnect between the imagined problem being solved and the real problems most people face.

I honestly adore this book. This is probably one of the best self-help books I have ever read. Sure, sometimes it read like a personal attack. There were moments during the three months’ time I was reading this that I wanted to tell the author to shut the *#%! up because I thought he was being overly righteous and stuff but that would be really rude considering he has long passed away. Seriously though, if the author were alive, I would probably write him a thank you letter and if I had a chance and had he allowed, I would have given him a big hug.

This has been extremely helpful. It felt like reading it dug me out of this self-sabotaging grave I unwittingly buried myself in. Since I lost my dad, I have started to feel like a boat unmoored and this book kind of helped me find a bit more direction and understand life and myself (especially as a novice mom) a little bit better.

Let me just share some of my ultimate favorite excerpts from the book. I would quote the entire book if it were allowed.

n  “We live our lives as if they were one great big emergency! We often rush around looking busy, trying to solve problems, but in reality, we are often compounding them. Because everything seems like such a big deal, we end up spending our lives dealing with one drama after another.”

“The need for perfection and the desire for inner tranquility conflict with each other.”

“Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now. In the absence of your judgment, everything would be fine.”

“The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole.”

“Pity is a self-defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone except to make everyone feel worse than they already do.”

“Praise and blame are all the same. The more content I’ve become, the less I depend on them for my sense of well-being.”

“The beauty of doing nothing is that it teaches you to clear your mind and relax.”

“Gratitude and inner peace go hand in hand.”

“The truth is life is almost never as bad as it seems when you’re in a low mood.”

“Choose being kind than being right most of the time.”

“Breathe before you speak.”

“Practice ignoring your negative thoughts.”

“Do a favor and don’t ask for or expect one in return. Giving is its own reward.”

“Think of your problems as potential teachers.”

“Redefine a meaningful accomplishment. Was I kind to myself and others? Did I overreact to a challenge, or was I calm and collected? Am I happy? Did I forgive?”

“Realize the power of your own thoughts. In order to experience a feeling, you must first have a thought that produces that feeling. Unhappiness is the feeling that accompanies negative feeling about your life. Treat negative thoughts like flies, shoo them away and get on with your day.”

“Learn to be happy with what you have by being more present-moment oriented. Develop a new appreciation for the blessings you already enjoy.”

“Mind your own business.”

“If you look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, you can train yourself to see it. “

“Live each day as if it were your last. It might be!” n