Richard Carlson wrote the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life. We have compiled a list of the best quotes from this book that will help you dry up your unnecessary stress with your increased sense of inner peace.

The Top 10 Quotes

This book became so increasingly popular it sparked a series of books that have inspired many people to not take life too seriously and to create a positive mindset. Let’s get started with these quotes them, shall we?

1. “Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the human heart. And those who learn to listen are the most loved and respected.”

Whew, this is a good one. It reminds us how when we are present with someone it can be incredibly impactful and even healing. We all crave to be heard and loved enough for someone to try to understand us. Taking the time to really listen to others is a gift.

Practice remaining present with Eckhart Tolle’s reminders.

2.“The first step in becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you’re creating your own emergencies. Life will usually go on if things don’t go according to plan.”

Sometimes this can be especially hard to accept when you’re in the moment and revved up about a situation. Although this is the perfect time to remember it will probably work itself out.

Sounding the mental alarm of an emotional emergency also triggers your flight or fight response which when it is chronically and incorrectly triggered can have negative effects on your health. Fortunately, meditation can actually help rewire the fight or flight response as well as remembering this quote.

3.“A wonderful, heartfelt strategy for becoming more peaceful and loving is to practice allowing others the joy of being right – give them the glory. Stop correcting.”

In other words, this requires you to stop needing to be right. When someone has a prevalent fixed mindset this can be one of the reasons why they feel a stronger drive to be right. Learn more about what a fixed mindset is here and if you have some of its qualities.

4.“Something wonderful begins to happen with the simple realization that life, like an automobile, is driven from the inside out, not the other way around. As you focus more on becoming more peaceful with where you are, rather than focusing on where you would rather be, you begin to find peace right now, in the present. Then, as you move around, try new things, and meet new people, you carry that sense of inner peace with you. It’s absolutely true that ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’”

This quote is one of our favorites. It reminds us of how we have the power to shift our reality. This is the basis of how the law of attraction works. When we are tapped into our inner peace then we will find that wherever we go.

5.“We tend to believe that if we were somewhere else – on vacation, with another partner, in a different career, a different home, a different circumstance – somehow we would be happier and more content. We wouldn’t!”

The present moment is all that we have. To be more content do not wait for the future or a change in the external, make the change in your internal world.

6.“To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment.”

Learn how being present helps you work with the law of attraction here. It helps you cultivate an appreciation of the present moment and tap you into the powerful manifestation force of gratitude.

7.“Think of your problems as potential teachers.”

This is a great quote because it takes the frustration out of a problem and offers the replacement of possible excitement for what you can learn.

8.“Ask yourself the question, “Will this matter a year from now?”

This is a very famous quote that you may have heard someone ask you before when you were mentally deciding a situation was an emergency. This question can immediately take down the level 4 mental emergency to a level 1 and return you back to your inner peace.

9.“Imagining yourself at your own funeral allows you to look back at your life while you still have the chance to make some important changes.”

Ah, this quote offers the gift of hindsight. It helps you focus on what is really important and even shift your mind towards what is important to you. Not sure how to make a mind shift? Follow Tony Robbins’ tips on how to create a mind shift.

10. “Indeed, the important question in terms of becoming more peaceful isn’t whether or not you’re going to have negative thoughts – you are – it’s what you choose to do with the ones that you have.”

There is no doubt negative thoughts will come and practicing remaining objective and letting go of them is important to your wellbeing. Although you can learn more techniques to think positively.