Table of Contents
Author's Note xiii
Want Nothing
Secret #1 The First Thing You Must Do Before You Can Be Happy
1 6 words that will forever change how you see happiness 5
2 The single biggest reason it's so hard to be happy 7
3 The one thing your doctor, teacher, and Tom Hanks all have in common 12
4 How much can we control? 15
5 7 ways to be happy right now 19
6 A final lesson from the convent 25
Secret #2 Do This and Criticism Can't Touch You
1 The only goal you set that matters 33
2 What's the biggest problem with external goals? 33
3 4 simple words that block all criticism 38
4 Why your dream job could be the worst job you ever have 40
5 The 3 S's of success 45
6 The sad and unfortunate reason we listen to critics in the first place 49
7 The secret scribble to increasing your confidence 51
8 3 simple steps to self-acceptance 56
9 How does Buddha use this secret? 60
10 What does a message secretly hidden under Wimbledon's Centre Court show us? 62
11 "I don't stand back and judge … I do." 66
Secret #3 The Three Words That Will Save You on Your Very Worst Days
1 The first war you are fighting every day 73
2 The second war you are fighting every day 76
3 The one thing many billionaires want but cannot have 80
4 What does a Greek philosopher have in common with the Rolling Stones? 82
5 When does making a million dollars feel like nothing? 83
6 The classic tale of the Mexican fisherman 85
7 How to use the three words on your very worst days 87
Do Anything
Secret #4 The Dream We All Have That Is Completely Wrong
1 The terrible tragedy of Mr. Wilson 97
2 Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt agree on this 99
3 What can the healthiest one-hundred-year-olds in the world teach us? 101
4 The single greatest lesson we can learn from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 104
5 The horrible idea the Germans had that ruined things for everybody 105
6 "When you're through changing, you're through." 110
7 The 4 S's of work 113
8 The dream we all have that is completely wrong 123
Secret #5 How to Make More Money Than a Harvard MBA
1 What does Harvard do for your salary? 131
2 "Is everyone nuts?" 133
3 The single calculation to find out what you really make 136
4 How does a teacher or retail assistant manager make more than a Harvard MBA? 139
Secret #6 The Secret to Never Being Too Busy Again
1 Do this and you'll suddenly have space back in your life 147
2 The 3 B's of creating space 154
3 This is how NASA, Alfred Hitchcock, and Nicole Katsuras use this secret 156
4 Removal #1: How to make every decision at twice the speed 160
How do the President of the United States and the CEO of Facebook make every decision at twice the speed? 162
The curious case of Benjamin Lee 162
The most exhausting idea I've ever had 164
285 reasons why you're tired right now 167
What do you find every morning and lose every night? 167
The only person whose rules you have no choice but to follow 169
The unanticipated joy of being totally stuck 171
4 simple words that will help you prioritize everything 174
5 Removal "2: The counterintuitive way to have more time 180
The single law that determines how long anything takes to do 182
How do you cut all meeting time in half? 184
How do you complete a three-month project in one day? 186
6 Removal #3: How to add an hour to a day with only one small change 189
How to protect your most valuable asset 193
The greatest misconception you share with every other employee 195
The only two modes your brain actually has and how to use them 198
One of the hardest and most, important things you will ever do at work 199
7 "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" 202
Have Everything
Secret #7 How to Turn Your Biggest Fear into Your Biggest Success
1 The childhood trauma that made me quit swimming 213
2 Two barriers we place in front of anything we don't want to do 215
3 The secret scribble to moving from fear to success 217
4 How does Jerry Seinfeld use this secret to write comedy? 222
5 It's not easier said than done, it's easier done than said 224
6 A 30-second technique to using this secret in your daily life 22s
7 What does the greatest physicist of all time say? 227
8 The advertising slogan everyone knows because it follows this secret 228
9 The single greatest lesson we can learn from Home Alone 229
Secret #8 The Simple Way to Master Your Most Important Relationship
1 "I run a burlesque dancing troupe." 237
2 This is the most authentic person of all time 239
3 "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." 242
4 3 simple tests to uncovering this secret inside you 245
5 The 5 greatest regrets of the dying and how to avoid them 254
6 "When there are no enemies within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." 257
Secret #9 The Single Best Piece of Advice You'll Ever Take
1 "Ninety-seven percent of lung cancer patients are smokers and ninety-seven percent of smokers never get lung cancer." 263
2 What can we learn from the most common advice of all? 265
Thank You 269
Acknowledgments 270
Index 272
Credits 281
