Don’t Worry, Make Money – The Meh-o-Meter

Before doing my requisite research to write a post, I was going to say that Don’t Worry, Make Money by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. was… insipid. Then I found out Carlson died (2006). At 45, for crying out loud! From a heart attack, of all things. Did I mention he was only 45? Anyway, after that, the book felt more weighty and important. That’s me, letting my emotions do the talking for me, I know.

Here’s the thing: it’s not a bad book. It’s just… well, listen to this description from the book jacket: Richard Carlson provides one hundred new strategies for living more fully and worrying less as a means of attracting more wealth and abundance in our lives. 

So, what the book purports to be and what it is are very different things, in my opinion.

On the one hand, it is a little book of tips about building financial affluence using strategies that might have come from other books specifically about the subject. We’ve all read a few of those, haven’t we? (Remember when I wrote about Rich Dad, Poor Dad?)  On the other, it is a book about how to “spiritually” attract wealth. (Oh God, it’s The Secret again!) To me, these two things do not go together. Your mileage (or kilometers) may vary.

I could really just stop here. You’ve got the gist of what I think and what the book’s about. But we all know two things: I never just “stop here” and also, I have quite … let’s call them severe issues with money. Therefore, I must add some thoughts.

The heft of information in this book makes it far less entertaining than his Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and subsequent “Don’t Sweat” books. It actually has a lot of good information. Nothing new to me but it could be to you, especially if you don’t like reading the usual kinds of books that tell you how to pay yourself first, invest and insure your life and family.

However, if this is your first foray into creating abundance, run away quickly! Unless you want a reality-based way of creating abundance. See paragraph above.

Staying on that same theme (creating abundance)… that shit doesn’t work. There, I said it. Not to mention, it’s all mixed up with the “reality” as mentioned above and turns into a spider’s web of information.

Look, I believe that what you put out there comes back to you. I’ve seen it work time and time again. But money? It does NOT work that way. The reason some people get rich “by believing it’s so” is a whole ‘nuther headspace, believe me!

I have visualized money showing up unannounced, a big check in my mailbox and winning lotto numbers more times than I can count. I have worked my ample ass off and made barely enough money to be comfortable, let alone get where I need to go or own a home.

This book certainly won’t convince you to believe it’s possible (on a spiritual level) to attract money. Pssst: I won’t, either.

Or maybe I’m just bitter. Jaded. Disappointed. All that jazz.

All I know is that this book kinda pissed me off. This one goes on my Meh-o-Meter. 3 Mehs.