Don't Sweat the Small Stuff About Money

by Richard Carlson

Newly repackaged and updated! This #1 national bestseller
offers you practical advice on how to achieve financial success by
eliminating stress, worry, anger, and fear.

In this practical and simple book, Richard Carlson turns his attention to
two of the most important issues in our daily lives—stress and making money.
Newly repackaged and updated with 10 new essays, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
About Money offers 100 brilliant strategies for living more fully and
worrying less as a means of attracting more wealth into our lives.

Richard Carlson, Ph.D., is the author of the #1 bestselling Don't
Sweat the Small Stuff series, which has sold more than 12 million copies. He
is a frequent guest on Oprah and The Today Show along with other television
and radio programs. He lives in Northern California with his wife and their
two children.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Finance, Business, Personal Development, Money, Spirituality

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2000

About the author

Richard Carlson was an American author, psychotherapist, and motivational speaker. His book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all Small Stuff (1997), was USA Today's bestselling book for two consecutive years and spent over 101 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was published in 135 countries and translated into Latvian, Polish, Icelandic, Serbian and 26 other languages. Carlson went on to write 20 books.

Reviews

[Ivica Ďuricová · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice recap of what I already know. I didn’t learn much new info, but the book was very well written, with tons of real life examples and may help beginners to the topic.

[Amanda Whitburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple easy to read steps.
The one that stuck in my mind is #80 be an early riser.
I don't think I can get up any earlier than 4am, but I love being awake so early.

[Chris]

Don't sweat the small stuff about money (originally published as Dont worry, make money) by Richard Carlson.
Chapter 21 be willing to change. If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you've always got. Maybe you're not the type of person who believes in asking friends and family for favours. Still, there are times when asking for help might be just what you need to succeed. Take an infantry of your stubbornness: are there areas in your life will you do things a certain way simply because that's the way you've always done them? drop your fear and have the courage to be willing to change.
Chapter 27. Success is often a function of doing something exceptionally well or more creatively that it has been done before. Reflection is a powerful vehicle to bring this about.
Chapter 28. If your energy is directed exclusively towards problems and concerns, that is what you see and what do you tend to create.

In terms of expending energy,it is far more powerful to be in favour of something positive than to be against something negative. For peace instead of against violence, for excellence instead of against mediocrity.
Chapter 30. Ask for what you want. The authors of chicken soup for the soul call this strategy the Aladdin factor. It is astonishing what you can accomplish by simply asking for what you want e.g. help, forgiveness, an idea another chance a break, or whatever. Not only can you get what you want by asking for it, but often the person you are asking I will thank you for taking the initiative.
Why does so few of us do this? The answer is fear. We worry about the outcome. We are afraid of rejection or a negative response. For a multitude of reasons we allow past negative experiences and/or our own made up fears to taint present opportunities.
Several years ago I had the realisation that one of my own greatest assets is my willingness to help others. I realised that helping others, offering assistance, doing favours, feeling needed and wanted is a deep and important human need. It feels wonderful to be needed. This being the case, I realise that, for the most part, other people feel the same way. You must approach your request by assuming that the person you're asking is just like you – he or she has an inner longing to be of help.
This simple insight about the goodwill of others dramatically speeded up my path to success. It meant that I no longer had to do everything myself. I didn't have to develop all my ideas and projects on my own. There are plenty of others more than willing to pitch in and offer their expertise, assistance, and advice. Today when I ask someone to sit down with me and share an idea, it often sparks ideas that help them as well. What goes around comes around. Those who are willing to help others always paid back in one way or another. Rather than being afraid to ask for help, remember this: when you ask someone to help you, you're actually doing them a tremendous favour by giving them an opportunity to feel needed. Beginning today, Rub your magic lamp and experiment with the Aladdin factor.
Chapter 31. The wisdom to understand that negative reactions are not in your best interest, and the humility and willingness to back off and start over. Don't waste your precious energy compounding an already negative situation. You will be amazed how much smoother your life will become and how easily you can get back on track when you short-circuit your reaction spirals.
Chapter 35 let me suggest you try something that can change your life. Make a commitment that for the next month you practised dropping or ignoring any negative and fearful thoughts that enters your mind. As fears come to your mind gently but firmly let them go. It just takes courage and a little practice. Do this again and again until they disappear completely. You will discover that life is so much easier and more fun without the interference of fearful thoughts.
Chapter 74. When your head is too full there is little room left for freshness and creativity. Our creativity and wisdom are lost in our busyness. We lose sight of what is truly relevant and most important.

[Cartoisb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff About Money has a number of significant flaws and shortcomings. First, many if not most of the 100 chapters are not about money. Second, many of the chapters don’t actually give advice but rather simply say that something is good, such as that giving away money is good, or state a truism such as that it is best not to worry. Third, despite being broken down into 100 different pieces of advice, it misses what I would think would be some of the key points to be made on this topic such as appreciating that money is not an end in itself but a means for one to do certain things (most of which are material), money doesn’t buy happiness, one needs very little money to survive and not much more to be comfortable, and whether one has a lot of money or not is not entirely within one’s control and therefore one needs to only do one’s best and not worry so much about the aspects that are outside of one’s control (it touches on the last point but only in a narrow way that, in my view, misses the main point). Finally, in the few places where there is practical advice about money, it is simplistic and potentially wrong, such as the advice to invest long-term in the stock market and to take risks when making investments and giving money away to people, as these are complex decisions that very much depend on one’s facts and circumstances. All of the foregoing being said, there are a handful of nuggets of language in the book that serve as useful reminders that you should stay grounded in your thinking and not worry about money where doing so does you no good.

[M☆♡ Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the name of the book instead of "Don't Worry, Make Money". Because this book really talks about the small stuff a lot of people do sweat over, myself included. This book shares the little ways or tricks everyone can use to better themselves. The chapter 'Think about purple snowflakes' was my favorite idea, very helpful.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy to read. i'll read his other works.

[Robert Segura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blah

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Content of this book isn't an eye opening experience for a self help book reader...
However it can be described as a good summary book.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Standard self help stuff. Not geared towards money really, more so taking risks and following your dreams.

[Brendan Divilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing ground breaking but concise and simple reminders of how to live your best life

[Nopadol Rompho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book about how you can manage your money. I love the last chapter, don't worry, make money. It is so simple yet very practical.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic find on my parent’s bookshelf. Some nuggets of wisdom to take away

[Slow Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author tends to repeat a lot on certain points. Overall, the writing is easy to read and there are some useful tips that can save your lives, make you more aware of the things that matter. Enjoy the process of reading, learning and going back to those tips that speak to you more.

[Valerie Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I have many books on my list "to read," a bagful of books that we brought to NC, and my Kindle full of books the temptation to read other people's books won out today! In my mind I figure I'll read a book on someone else's book shelf because it's here in front of me right now and won't be when we leave. This somewhat distorted logic encourages me to read books that I wouldn't typically look at.

This book was a quick and easy read. It offered 100 tidbits of things to ponder with regard to money and happiness. My guess is that everyone who picks this book up finds something that "rings true" to them.

When I finished, considering the current economy, I thought about the fickleness of wealth. Kurt Vonnegut once said something about money being man-made. Not only is money man-made, but the perceptions that surround the use of money are man-made. That reminds me of the book Predictably Irrational, which describes how rational irrational behavior with money and more can be.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more for entrepreneurs or business owners, bosses, etc. than it is for money or budgeting/finance information. Perhaps the name should have been Don't Sweat the Small Stuff about Business.
In a nutshell the book is all about having a positive attitude, don't worry, and take action.

[Yuniasih Hernawanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am not worry about money...
only if i already got my Financial Freedom, like kiyosaki said.

[Patricia Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book - LOVE the author - have given this as a gift too. Short and sweet and to the point - thank you.

[Subramanian Sankaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read in the 'Don't sweat' series. Don't sweat if you do not get to read it :)

[J Crossley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book talks about how to look at reducing stress around our finances.

[Benjamin Barch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the 1-2 page chapters. I ended up buying this book for my bathroom to read and remind myself daily of the immense wisdom inside it.

[Sheri Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book everyone should read for self-improvement, leadership, Eric.

[Francine Abel]

I always enjoy Richard Carlson's books...too bad he left us so young!

[Cheruiyot]

This book makes making money and earning out of it easy and difficult at the same time.

[Julius Evans]

This is the second time I've read this book. I guess that's all I have to say about the book. It's a quick read and chapters are a page to a page and a half long. It serves as a reminder to many of the things each of you already know. However, because it's such a quick read, if you haven't read it before, it may serve a purpose.