Book Review – How to Be Happy, The Essential Guide

I recently came across an e-book titled “Happy As You Want To Be” by Craig McPherson. Seeing that the book was short, only 31 pages, I knew it would be very simple. In the past, I have read “As a man Thinketh” by James Allen, which is also a short book but full of endless insights about the human mind.

Let me start by saying, “McPherson’s book will drive you crazy, as a reader.” In the first few paragraphs I didn’t know if I was tired or hallucinating, thinking “is the sentence structure really that bad?” It was. Finding myself rereading the same lines more than once to see what I had missed, the words were omitted and inappropriate forms of similar sounding words were used, leaving me wondering if I would ever get over this.

Okay, thumbs-down jokes are enough. The Essential Guide had an amazing 7-day wellness program that is unique to anyone looking for a complete overall wellness plan. Powerful statements were used throughout history to encourage even the most pessimistic people to think happily and become that. Throughout my years as a mental health blogger, I have apparently read countless blogs about happiness and many of them focus heavily on a key component to finding happiness, which is thinking happy, on your mind always. This book was no different in that respect.

The lessons taught in McPherson’s e-book come from the new age movement formed in the 1970s by the hippies of Western culture. I’m sure you’ve heard of | The secret | by Rhonda Byrne? McPherson has a lot of similarities in his book that grew out of the secret, I’m sure. It is no secret now that these ideals of seeking and generating your own happiness can come solely from your thoughts.

Think of it this way, if you focus solely on your negative problems in life, you will obviously not be happy. The real secret is to train your mind to combat the constant throbbing of weak thoughts, with thoughts of joy and love. It sounds simple to anyone looking for a quick fix, however it should become a habit.

Canceling your negative thoughts takes time. 21 days or so, to be in the stadium. Experts say that breaking a bad habit and creating a new one in its place takes about 21 days. It’s 21 days of happiness in this book.

I don’t recommend reading this book if you are an editor or sentence structure guru, I came up with some new ideas on where to find happiness, but mostly this book is recycled knowledge and quotes from greats like Woody Allen.