About the book, You Can Choose To Be Happy:
 "Rise Above" Anxiety, Anger, and Depression (with Research Results)

You Can Choose To Be Happy:
"Rise Above" Anxiety, Anger, and Depression

Tom G. Stevens PhD

Book data:  ISBN13: 9780965337724   324 pages; Size: 6.69" x 9.61";  Soft Cover; Revised Edition, 2010
 Publisher:  Wheeler-Sutton Publishing Co.; LCCN: 2009943621
Soft Cover List Price: 17.95 (Priced about $14-with free shipping by  amazon.com other major booksellers.
Go to  You Can Choose To Be Happy: "Rise Above" Anxiety, Anger, and Depression on Amazon for a hard copy
or other e-stores).

For a free online pdf book copy, click here.

INDEX
About the book
Reviews by early readers
About the author
THE You Can Choose To Be Happy SELF-DEVELOPMENT PLAN
To view book Table of Contents and complete chapters To ORDER or OBTAIN a copy
The Choose To Be Happy Checklist: A summary of key ideas from the book
Book Introduction and "Who is it for?"

"Now there is a book, head and shoulders above the rest, entitled You Can Choose To Be Happy. . . 
In this reviewers opinion, Tom G. Stevens has given us a milestone work 
to re-achieve inner power and rise above negative emotions." 
Richard Fuller, Senior Editor, Metaphysical Reviews

"I find it exceedingly interesting and passionately fascinating"
Mimi Couch, Book Review Editor, American Eagle News

 
Reader Comments:

• "I'm a self-help book 'junkie'--I've read them all; and this is the best self-help book I've ever read."
• " I have found your book to be such an inspiration to me."
• "This book is much more clear, understandable, and 100 times more useful than other self-help books I've read."
• "I am a professional and find most self-help books too simplistic. I was happy to find one that was so interesting and that I could get so much from. I highly recommend it to people who are more advanced in their own self-development."
• "It gave me practical advice on how to implement the ideas. The step-by-step instructions were a rare and invaluable component."
• "It is an exceptional book and covers all areas necessary to create major changes. One doesn't need any other book."
• "The book is very easy to read, and the techniques are simple and precise."
• "It seems to cover most things needed for mastery of the self."
• "I learned I am in control of my life and I can choose to be happy."
• "The book is a terrific combination of scholarship, superb information, and spirituality."
• "It's packed with insightful knowledge and expertise.  All the personal experiences and skills I learned will stay with me forever." 
    Return to Index

Testing the book:
A test group of 35 prepublication copy readers say that it really works. They rated it 8.23 out of 9.0 possible on "overall usefulness" and 100% said they would recommend it to a friend.

No matter how difficult your past history or current circumstances, striking insights into the causes of emotions can empower you to rise above negative emotions. Dr. Stevens combines expertise of 31 years as a psychologist with a philosophical-spiritual approach and his personal experience to make this an important book about achieving happiness. His research provides crucial, detailed support for these ideas not found in most self-help books. Yet, his clinical and personal experience helps him provide practical, detailed self-help advice. Bestselling author and PBS speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote that this book is, A thorough presentation, rich in detail, yet very reader friendly. I enthusiastically endorse Tom Stevens book and recommend it as a powerful tool for human development.

Dr. Stevens developed questionnaires on life skills and intimate relationships that tested many ideas later presented in this book. What he learned about happiness was the basis for his own happy marriage and life. It gave him new approaches to therapy that greatly enhanced his ability to help others. The first edition was a result of his 40-year experiment. Readers said:

After writing the first edition, Dr. Stevens wanted even more proof that this book was valid, so he developed the free, online questionnaire, SHAQ (The Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire), by going through each chapter, taking each main idea, and turning it into questions. He correlated these questions (and related scales) with over 3400 SHAQ users emotional and life success measures. SHAQ scales correlated with Happiness, .87; with Low Depression, .73; with Low Anxiety, .68; with Low Anger-Aggression, .70; with Relationship Success, .70; and with good results for career success measures. Correlations this high are rarely found in this type of research. We re unaware of any self-help book that has ever tested its ideas so extensively. These dramatic results impelled Dr. Stevens to revise this book and include his research and new sections. The book can be used by individuals, by instructors, or by clinicians seeking a better understanding and specific self-help suggestions for many issues. If you want to maximize your happiness, try this book.

What if you could be a little happier the rest of your life as a result of reading one book? Even if you have a history of unhappiness or depression or if you are facing difficult circumstances, you can learn to be happier. Each chapter of You Can Choose To Be Happy is packed with valuable information about how to be happy. The book is especially for people who value growth and self-development to become happier healthier people.

The book begins by exploring your top goals and values in life. It teaches how to explore deep causes of unhappiness and how to find many routes to happiness even in difficult situations. It explores underlying beliefs that lead to pessimism versus realistic optimism.
 
People often look for a book about how to overcome low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, procrastination, shyness, lack of assertiveness, or other specific problems. This book gives specific help help with these problems. However, these problems are often symptoms of deeper causes. What is "broken" isn't usually just habits, but basic beliefs. In contrast to many problem-oriented approaches, a primary goal of this book is to empower your growth-oriented core.

Inner harmony and growth are keys to happiness. Each of us has a natural Higher Self that can remain a weak voice within or can become a strong leader--the executive of our personalities. Providing change in our top-level is a necessary part of transcending our history and progressing toward self-actualization. To become strong, the Higher Self must develop a strong philosophy of life and learn how to bring our subparts into harmony--like a maestro conducting a great symphony.

Happiness is not just a good feeling; it comes from a mechanism built into the brain that measures how our lives are doing. One big secret of this book comes from striking new insights about the causes of emotions. The Harmonious Functioning model of emotions will teach you how to adjust your emotions almost like adjusting a thermostat to turn up your emotional heat or to turn it down.

Being "in the zone" of harmonious functioning creates the Big 3 outcomes--peak learning, peak performance, and peak happiness. It explains why people who seem to have all life's advantages are often less happy than people who have much less. Our mental control of events--not our external control--is the key to happiness. Our happiness level tells us how healthily our body, mind, and "spirit" are functioning. It tells us if our lives are in proper balance and harmony. We can't be maximally happy if we only live for today or only live for ourselves. An innate brain mechanism controlling our emotions scans our personal world and will not let us ignore important issues.

Knowing that in any situation we can choose one of many internal or external routes to happiness gives us optimism and confidence--mental control of the situation. Learn how to rise above anxiety, anger, and depression. This simple state-of-the-art model can help you better understand and control your emotions.

Relationships and loneliness are key sources of happiness or unhappiness. You can learn how to overcome fears of rejection and criticism or unhealthy needs for acceptance or codependence. You can become more internally controlled and assertive. Chapter 6 tells how.   

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Extensive research on 3443 people has provided strong support for the ideas in every chapter of this book. 
To view the research results, click here.

==> See the You Can Choose To Be Happy Self-Development Plan outlining key aspects of the book below.

 The You Can Choose To Be Happy SELF-DEVELOPMENT PLAN to Achieve a Happy LIfe
 

1. MAKE HAPPINESS FOR SELF AND OTHERS A TOP GOAL (along with love, truth, growth, health,
and other timeless values that go hand-in-hand with happiness.) Avoid becoming overly attached to any one particular goal, person, or condition. Take responsibility for your own happiness. Learn to choose both internal and external routes to happiness. (Chapters 1, 2)
 
2. LEARN HOW TO FIND AND SOLVE DEEP CAUSES OF UNHAPPINESS. Learn the self-exploration process to use in following chapters to root out dysfunctional beliefs and replace them with happiness-inducing ones. (Chapters 2 and 3)
 
3. DEVELOP YOUR HIGHER SELF. Your Higher Self is your "Inner Hero" that loves unconditionally. Seek empathy and balance. Learn to understand and respect each point-of-view of each inner part of yourself. Seek the same deep empathy for others. Develop a strong, positive philosophy to guide your life. (Chapter 3)
 
4. CREATE A POSITIVE WORLD BY ADOPTING A POSITIVE WORLD VIEW. Overcome your greatest fears, and learn that you can be happy in any situation. Then you can face each day with peace and confidence. Discover a rock-solid basis for optimism. Overcome deficit motivation--instead learn abundance thinking. Learn to hope for the best, be prepared for the worst, expect something between, and be grateful for all that you receive. (Chapter 4)
 
5. DEVELOP GREATER SELF-WORTH AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. Learn to love yourself and others unconditionally. Learn to accept all parts of yourself and overcome negative self-beliefs. Learn the causes of low self-confidence and how you can improve it. (Chapter 5)
 
6. REPLACE EXTERNAL CONTROL WITH INTERNAL CONTROL. Overcome too much dependence (or codependence) on others, need for others, or worry about rejection or what others think. Learn to improve relationships by being more internally controlled, intimate, and assertive. (Chapter 6)
 
7. LEARN HOW HARMONIOUS FUNCTIONING PRODUCES PEAK LEARNING, PERFORMANCE, AND HAPPINESS. The harmonious functioning model is a breakthrough for understanding the basic causes of emotions and motivation. Learn what it takes to get "in the zone" of harmonious functioning. (Chapter 7)
 
8. LEARN THE SIX "CHUG-OF" MENTAL CONTROL STRATEGIES to achieve harmonious functioning and rise above anxiety, anger, and depression. Learn how to adjust your emotions like a thermostat. These six powerful strategies--based on the harmonious functioning model--will increase your "Happiness IQ" so you can choose to be happy. (Chapter 8)
 
9. CREATE A BETTER WORLD FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS. Learn the O-PATSM self-management system to accomplish your goals and get control of your life. Dr. Stevens has taught O-PATSM to thousands of people through his workshops. Follow-up questionnaires have shown that attendees rate the system over 8.0 on a 9.0 scale of "overall usefulness" and over 90% of the people say they will keep using the system. Learn how to reduce stress from time pressures, accomplish more, and have more fun. (Chapter 9)  Return to Index

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