How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Author	Dale Carnegie
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Self-help
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Simon and Schuster (1948)
Publication date	1948
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	306 pp
ISBN	0671035975
OCLC	203759

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is a self-help book by Dale Carnegie. It was first printed in Great Britain in 1948 by Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press), Ltd., Bungay Suffolk (S.B.N. 437 95083 2). It is currently published as a Mass Market Paperback of 352 pages by Pocket (Revised edition: September 15, 1990), ISBN 0-671-73335-4.

Carnegie says in the preface to How to Stop Worrying and Start Living that he wrote it because he "was one of the unhappiest lads in New York". He said that he made himself sick with worry because he hated his position in life, which he attributes to wanting to figure out how to stop worrying.

The book's goal is to lead the reader to a more enjoyable and fulfilling life, helping them to become more aware of, not only themselves, but others around them. Carnegie tries to address the everyday nuances of living, in order to get the reader to focus on the more important aspects of life.

Sections

The book contains eight sections, as follows:

Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry

1. Live in "Day-tight Compartments"
2. How to face trouble:
   1. Prepare to accept the worst
3. Keep calm and try to make it the best
4. Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health

Basic Techniques In Analyzing Worry

1. Get all the facts
2. Weigh all the facts – then come to a decision
3. Once a decision is reached, act!
4. Write out and answer the following questions
   1. What is the problem?
   2. What are the causes of the problem?
   3. What are the possible solutions?
   4. What is the best possible solution?

How to Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You

1. Keep busy
2. Don't fuss about trifles
3. Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries
4. Cooperate with the Inevitable
5. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth and refuse to give it more
6. Don't worry about the past

Part One from the First edition.

Seven Ways to Cultivate A Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace and Happiness

1. Fill your mind with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope
2. Never try to get even with your enemies
3. Expect ingratitude
4. Count your blessings, not your troubles
5. Find Yourself and Be Yourself (Remember There Is No One Else on Earth Like You)
6. Try to profit from your losses
7. Create happiness for others

The Perfect Way to Conquer Worry

1. Pray

How To Keep From Worrying About Criticism

1. Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment
2. Do the very best you can
3. Analyze your own mistakes and criticize yourself

Six Ways to Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High

1. Rest before you get tired
2. Learn to relax at your work
3. Protect your health and appearance by relaxing at home
4. Four Good Working Habits That Will Help Prevent Fatigue and Worry
   1. Clear your desk of all the papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand
   2. Do things in the order of their importance
   3. When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision
   4. Learn to organize, deputize, and supervise
5. Put enthusiasm into your work
6. Don't worry about insomnia

"How I Conquered Worry"

• Six Major Troubles Hit Me All At Once – C. I. Blackwood
• I Can Turn Myself into a Shouting Optimist within an Hour – Roger W. Babson
• How I Got Rid of an Inferiority Complex – Elmer Thomas
• I Lived in the Garden of Almighty (God) – R. V. C. Bodley
• Five Methods I Have Used to Banish Worry – Prof. William Lyon Phelps
• I Stood Yesterday. I Can Stand Today – Dorothy Dix
• I Did Not Expect to Live to See the Dawn – J. C. Penney
• I Go to the Gym to Punch the Bag or Take a Hike Outdoors – Col. Eddie Eagan
• I Was "The Worrying Wreck from [Virginia Tech]" – Jim Birdsall
• I Have Lived by This Sentence – Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo
• I Hit Bottom and Survived – Ted Ericksen
• I Used to Be One of the World's Biggest Jackasses – Percy H. Whiting
• I Have Always Tried to Keep My Line of Supplies Open – Gene Autry
• I Heard A Voice in India – E. Stanley Jones
• When the Sheriff Came in My Front Door – Homer Croy
• The Toughest Opponent I ever Fought Was Worry – Jack Dempsey
• I Prayed to God to Keep Me Out of an Orphan's Home – Kathleen Halter
• My Stomach Was Twisting Like a Kansas Whirlwind – Cameron Shipp
• I Learned to Stop Worrying by Watching My Wife Wash Dishes – Rev. William Wood
• I Found the Answer – Del Hughes
• Time Solves a Lot of Things! – Louis T. Montant, Jr
• I Was Warned Not to Try to Speak or to Move Even A Finger – Joseph L. Ryan
• I Am a Great Dismisser – Ordway Tead
• If I Had Not Stopped Worrying, I Would Have Been in My Grave Long Ago – Connie Mack
• I Got Rid of Stomach Ulcers and Worry by Changing My Job and My Mental Attitude – Arden W. Sharpe
• I Now Look for the Green Light – Joseph M. Cotter
• How John D. Rockefeller Lived on Borrowed Time for Forty-Five Years
• I Was Committing Slow Suicide Because I Didn't Know How to Relax – Paul Sampson
• A Real Miracle Happened to Me – Mrs. John Burger
• How Benjamin Franklin Conquered Worry
• I Was So Worried I Didn't Eat A Bite of Solid Food for Eighteen Days – Kathryne Holcombe Farmer

External links

• Summary
• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living on Open Library at the Internet Archive