Don't Believe Everything You Think (Expanded Edition): Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering (Books By Joseph Nguyen)

I really enjoyed Don’t Believe Everything You Think. It’s an easy and straightforward read, but it gives you a lot to think about. I especially liked the way Joseph Nguyen explains overthinking and how easily we can get caught up in our own thoughts and create unnecessary stress for ourselves. The book helped remind me that just because I have a thought doesn’t mean I have to believe it or let it control how I feel. I found the message comforting and surprisingly helpful in everyday life. It’s a short book, but there are definitely ideas I’ll come back to again. I would recommend it to anyone who tends to overthink, worry, or simply wants to feel a little more at peace with their own thoughts.

The title tells you everything! “I swear to you that to think too much is a disease, a real, actual disease.” Dostoevsky A simple and easy to read book, yet vital in the central idea it delivers, I encourage you to read it, why? We are inclined to overthink, dwelling on our lives and daily events, planning, etc. is healthy in moderation. We need to plan, manage our expenses, evaluate our life, planning our future on many levels, plan for our family, we need to evaluate our performance at work, our career, etc.., however; it is extremely easy to cross the thin line between healthy planning and overthinking. Thinking leads to overthinking, which in turn leads to losing focus on what really matters, our happiness, enjoying what we have, the present moment! The books in its simplicity and flowing writing style open the readers eyes onto the priceless comparison between healthy Thought and unhealthy Thinking. This is the central idea of the book. Thought is healthy for it is “neutral observations” it is a noun it is something we have. While Thinking is “judgments we have about our thoughts” it is a verb, it is action, action that leads to anxiety, stress, and suffering (when you read you will understand more). The author style makes it easy to absorb the ideas from his life experience firsthand on the “disease” of overthinking. He provides a nice simple guide at the end of the book.

If you suffer from overthinking that leads to uncontrollable anxiety, this book is for you. I felt like I was going crazy at times because I didn't know why I couldn't stop my mind from racing. This book not only made me feel like I'm not alone in this mind struggle but it also took me to the root of the problem. This book has many different examples of thoughts you may have that lead to the misery of over thinking. After reading this book, I have a better understanding of not only what causes me to feel the way I have but even better, I know how to recognize the start of it and stop it. My only regret is that I didn't come across this book sooner.

It’s very insightful. It did help me mentally. Helped change my perception and reaction to certain situations.

Easy read, don't hesitate to buy to gain or regain peace in your life, in order to open the path you want for your life. Like the author Joseph Nguyen said in the book, the concept of not thinking is simple, but not easy to do as humans. He says, thoughts create, thinking destroys. So true! I also appreciate the summary at the end and a guide with steps to non-thinking. I believe this book found me. It was only a week after a breakup. I didn't hesitate to buy the book because I knew I was about to go on a journey of questioning everything that went wrong. I am so glad I followed my intuition. Not to say the breakup wasn't painful, but I managed it different and didn't get too far down in sadness and perpetual toxic thinking, how it can be after a breakup. And this was a 2nd chance after being apart over a decade. So I thought this was the one for me, finally. If nothing else, the author's explanation made me realize just how much our negative thoughts take you down a rabbit hole of pain, blame, shame, and just unnecessary suffering. When you consciously realize it, you know it makes no sense and you truly can end it. However, most of us just keep feeding the negative thoughts. Easier said than done, but truly a simple concept we each have control over and should not allow our minds/thoughts to control us. With that said, I think this book is a natural transition to meditation too, because if you can turn off negative or aimless thinking, you open your mind to endless positivity and clarity your mind can take you. I noticed this about myself...so it validated what was already happening with me. My mind is most clear in the shower, and I would have so many ideas or clarifying thoughts come to me at that time. And to have more of that, outside of the shower, I must catch and end the over-thinking and negative thinking. Towards the end of this book, I just broke down in tears, because the way Joseph described how we must have faith in the unknown, take a leap of faith and be courageous to get what we want--that spoke volumes to me, because it was my thoughts that robbed me of my faith and courage and why I feel I'm not where I'm supposed to be in life. But shifting my thoughts will make space for the possibilities and what I want in my life. So yes, like he said in the beginning, I am different after reading the book. Different in a positive way, trusting the universe and my non-thinking. Thank you, Joseph Nguyen!

What a beautiful book . I feel like I was already on my journey of let go the thinking when this book randomly appeared in a in Amazon as I was trying to look for something to read . Every word connected with me , it felt so true , so real and so deeply familiar . As I was reading, I started practicing one of the simplest yet most powerful ideas from the book: stop thinking. And I’ve been surprised by how helpful it has been, both in my personal life and in my professional life. Sometimes, we simply need to stop thinking and stop creating stories in our minds about things that aren’t actually happening. Looking back, I realize that in some ways, I had already been practicing this for a long time—without fully understanding how powerful it was. Throughout my life, I haven’t usually overthought my decisions. Since I was about 20, I’ve generally trusted my gut feeling , my own opinions and made choices based on what felt right to me. Sometimes, those decisions have led me down the wrong paths, but most of the time, they have taken me toward beautiful experiences and meaningful places! Maybe some lessons find us exactly when we are ready for them. ✨ There were so many phrases that I wrote down from this book , here are a few 1. when we stop thinking , we don’t stop having goals and dreams, we fall back into our true nature and create goals and dreams out of inspirations versus desperation 2. A crowded mind leaves no space for a peaceful heart. 3. Choosing happiness by choosing to let go of our thinking 4. Only when we step into the unknown can we begin to experience the limitless possibilities that life can bring us 5. You must do what you haven’t done to get what you don’t have 6. We can’t solve problems by using the same Level of consciousness we were at when we created them - Albert Einstein 7. We can either choose to be free and happy in the unknown or to be confined and suffer in the familiar

It’s a great book that will get you to a calm state. Helps you in so many ways but one that stands out to me is how you decide to react to something that has happened to you.

This book contains some genuinely useful insights about overthinking, rumination, self-judgment, and the destructive mental spirals people can create around situations in life. The author does a good job illustrating how people often turn neutral events into negative identity stories and emotional suffering. However, I think the book’s wording and philosophy can sometimes be misleading or overly broad. The author uses the word “thinking” to describe destructive rumination and self-defeating mental spirals, but the terminology can make it sound as if deep thinking itself is the problem. I disagree with that idea. Thoughtful reflection, discernment, moral reasoning, creativity, and even uncomfortable thoughts can all be valuable and necessary parts of life. The problem is not thinking itself, but becoming trapped in compulsive, negative loops that serve no purpose. I think the book would have been stronger if it focused more specifically on destructive rumination rather than framing “thinking” broadly as the source of suffering. Overall, I found the book thought-provoking and useful in parts, but philosophically oversimplified at times.

My GP recommended this little book to myself as she was concerned about my lack of confidence leading to not wanting to inter-act with others, and relieve my depression. I have ordered another book so that I can GIFT it to another whom my GP believes needs the same invaluable help it gave to myself!

Wow. Just wow. I am so grateful that I bought this book. I have been in a bit of a rut lately in life and with my job. I felt a disconnect with the universe and couldn’t understand why. This book truly helped me see that the cause of it was my over thinking mind. To learn that there is a difference between thoughts and thinking and to understand how to approach them in life has truly made my life so much better. I am going to buy a few copies for some close friends as I think anyone can benefit from reading this book. It’s definitely a book I will reread often as a reminder to myself to stay in the present moment and to stop overthinking everything. I loved the Zen stories as well to help us understand the concepts in a teachable fashion. Thank you Joseph for listening to the universe and writing this book for so many others to read. My life has been so richly blessed because of it.

This book is truly amazing! I sleep more extended hours, and the quality of my sleep is better. My emotional well-being has been enhanced due to my following the advice in this book. I began to experience amazing emotions and feelings! And my mind is becoming clearer and not so clouded. The book is giving great advice and I am glad I decided to follow it. The advice is practical. It is not just theory and can be followed. The book is written in fluent language. It is easy to read and digest. I definitely recommend this book!

A simple yet thought-provoking book that makes you question your own thoughts and reactions. The idea that our suffering often comes from the meaning we give to our thoughts really stayed with me. Easy to read, practical, and definitely worth reading if you want to understand your mind better.

Really enjoyed reading it,I usually think a lot and after reading this it really made me realise that our problems really do come from our thoughts .its a good one I would definitely recommend