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Warning: This book changed my life, and it has the possibility of changing yours too. It is a powerful read, and though I read it for the first time over ten years ago, I still recommend this classic self-help book over any other book I’ve read since.

How Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

It clearly explains how thoughts lead to feelings, moods, and ultimately states of being such as depression, anxiety, etc. Yet it all goes back to that first thought. Any thought repeated enough creates, positive or negative, thoughts create. The book enlightened me with the simplicity of its explanation; thoughts create eventually moods and states of being.

Overcoming Depression or Anxiety Could Be More Simple Than We Thought

Dr. Richard Carlson, famous for the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, explains how thoughts in and of themselves are harmless, yet when focused upon and taken as reality have the power to dramatically affect our experience. His use of commonsense examples and analogies cut right to the heart of the matter and encourage the reader to take responsibility in choosing which thoughts to focus upon. For example, he explains when someone cuts you off in traffic and you think to yourself that you are going to kill that person, you (hopefully) know that’s just a thought you are having and don’t take it as a reality that you are going to pursue. Yet all your thoughts can be judged accordingly, assessing whether there is true value in focusing upon the thought or whether it is a thought that is best left by the wayside.

The above example is sheer genius illuminating that just because you have a thought does not mean it is true, reality, or worth pursuing. It is a choice to continually focus upon a thought that is creating negative feelings, you could just the same choose to switch gears and focus on another thought. It may seem obvious, but it is empowering information all the same. Especially for those who are caught up in a cycle of negative thinking and resulting moods and states of being, all of which they consider to be their reality. And, yet it is their thoughts and their focus that is perpetuating the cycle and therefore their reality.

Your Past Does Not Have To Define Your Future

I read this book at a time when I thought that my past defined my future and that I would have to live with depression because that was who I was. This book created what Oprah would call an “Aha Moment”, and what I would call as near enlightenment as I have come upon in this lifetime. I finally understood that I was in control. Though my past had certainly occurred, it was my job to focus on thoughts that were helpful or positive in someway. I had the ability to focus on thoughts that helped me or hurt me. Essentially Carlson let me in on the little known secret that you can use your thoughts to actually create the life you want. For that powerful reason alone, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. And though the author has passed away in recent years, may he know that he forever changed the path of my life.

Description: Review of Dr. Richard Carlson’s book You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Five Principles For Keeping Life In Perspective. Reading this book can change your life with its simple explanation of how thoughts create feelings, and moods, and eventually your state of being or reality. Simply and deftly explains how to view your thoughts, and practically explains how to use the information to create a happy life.