Mar. 3, 2010 - How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

The more I read this book, the more I like it. One of the most inviting features is the format. It is organized in seven parts, each containing one or more chapters about the main idea. The chapters are fairly short and relate the author's guiding principles and techniques supported by real-life examples and scattered with inspirational quotes. Each part ends with a brief synopsis - "Part One in a Nutshell" - restating the rules that support the techniques of that section. A reader could easily discover the most important points in the book just from reading these recaps. However, learning how to apply these rules to everyday personal or business situations requires reading the rest of the chapter.

Part 8 consists of a collection of testimonials or true stories by famous people such as J. C. Penney, Gene Autry and Jack Dempsey. While I recognize some of the names, others, due to the age of the book, are more obscure. That is why some of the profiles contain a description of the author before the story begins. For example, Colonel Eddie Eagan is a New York attorney, a Rhodes scholar, and a former Olympic Light-Heavyweight champion of the world. Hearing from others who have experienced worry and conquered it, helps us realize that we are not alone in our problems, that others have gone through bad experiences too. We can connect to others who are struggling and empathize with them.

The second part of the book discusses how to deal with worry by analysis. In any situation we must step back a moment to get the facts, to research and find information about our problem. From there, we need to weigh all the facts and then come to a decision. Once the decision has been made, we need to commit to it and take action. Writing down the problem and solution is recommended.  The following questions may be helpful: What is the problem? What is the cause of the problem? What are all possible solutions? What is the best solution?

This advice is so "common sense", one is left wondering why we can't figure this out on our own. Too often we sit in countless meetings and discuss the problem over and over again without coming to any solutions. Or we fight about what we think the solution should be. Thus, using the method described helps to avoid lengthy meetings, especially those in which items never appear to be resolved. Food for thought in any time period, past or present.