There is a lot of great advice in this yet another great masterpiece by the master of soft skills, Dale Carnegie. “Live in Day-tight compartments” is one great one. It advises the reader to stop living in the future or in the past, and try to focus more on what present moment offers. “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” by Dale Carnegie is one of the books that is a must have in every person’s library, especially those working under stressful conditions. The book confirms that worry is more related to how people perceive things more than the severity of the actual situation. While some might get stressed over a simple misunderstanding with a team member at work, others would shrug off major problems in an objective and confident manner.

 What makes some relaxed and poised under stress? According to the author, the most relaxing recreation forces are a healthy religion, sleep, music and laughter.

For those of us who keep worrying over everything and anything, the book advises tackling the problems that usually cause stress. The book even gives practical step by step advice on how to reduce stress. The first of these steps is getting the facts about the problem, which helps avoiding subjective ness and getting too emotional. Then, the book gives other steps that lead finally to selecting and implementing the best solution to the problem.

The part I like most from the book is the one that reminds us all that most of the things we worry about never actually happen. So, it advises consideration of the probability of what someone is worrying about happening, then thinking about what can be done to reduce the probability. If nothing can be done, then worrying about it is a waste of time.

Another good one is reminding us of the old wisdom that advises us to think of the people who have it worse than us, then count are blessings and appreciate what God has given us.

This is another masterpiece from a great communicator who makes the reader feel that he is right there talking specifically to him, and not to the masses. He also has a way of making readers feel that he is at their level and able to relate to their problems, not talking down to them from the pedestal of a master, but from a perspective of a fellow human who suffers as much as anybody else from the problems he addresses.

The book is full of stories from the author’s experience, as well as many other known and not so well known people. His advice is practical and easily applicable. He does not preach, but gives specific steps that anyone can apply, which is another great attribute of Carnegie’s writings.

The book recognizes that a lot of the stress people feel comes from their work. so, it offers lots of good advice on how to reduce stress caused by work. Among these are very easy ones to implement, like clearing one’s desk from anything not related to the task at hand, making swift decisions as soon as all facts that can be gathered are available, and to prioritize to do lists based on importance. The book is definitely among the best self help books of the last century. It was last published in 2004 and comes in 320 pages. This book has been translated to many languages including Arabic.

Dale Carnegie is a pioneer in personal leadership development and public speaking. He wrote many books on the subjects including the most famous “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” which sold more than ten million copies.