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Karen Salmansohn, author, "How to Be Happy, Dammit"

Who she is: Karen Salmansohn is an author whose first blockbuster “How to Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of Professional Dog Trainers,” sold more than 450,000 copies.

What she does: The ex-senior VP award-winning ad writer/creative director (at age 27) who left her successful advertising career to pursue her passion of writing. Salmansohn is now a best-selling author and book packager (with more than 1 million books sold) known for creating a new breed of books — “Self-help for people who would never be caught dead reading self-help.” Or: “Self-help books you can give as a gift — and not get slapped, because they look kinda cool.” Some titles: “How to Be Happy Dammit,” “Enough Dammit,” “The Bounce Back Book,” and many more. Journalists call Salmansohn, “Deepak Chopra Meets Carrie Bradshaw,” because of how she merges empowering psychology/philosophy tips with edgy humor and stylish graphics.

Why she does it: “My mission is to perk up even the most cynical spirit,” says the author, who accomplishes it with How to Be Happy, Dammit. “This self-help book that merges psychology, biology, Eastern and Western philosophies, quantum physics, and the Zen of Bazooka Joe. Think love and happiness have passed you by? Think again.”


GET READY TO BE HAPPY, DAMMIT!

By Hope Katz Gibbs
Author
Truly Amazing Women.

Think no schmaltzy book can help you capture the life-joy you’re looking for? Think again.

“This book is different, I promise,” assures Salmansohn, who gives us 44 life lessons in 236 colorful and uniquely designed pages — all of which are packed with pearls of wisdom to help you discover more satisfaction every day.

“And you’ll find no saccharine sweetness here,” Salmansohn says, who was determined to write a book that tells it like it is—and explore the ups and downs of life in a straightforward, thought-provoking, and humorous way. “How to Be Happy, Dammit” may not change your life (unless you let it), but it will certainly brighten your day, even if you are a die-hard cynic.”

! Warning

“You think about 60,000 thoughts a day, and it’s up to you to make sure that you don’t use up 59,999 of them with negative, cynical thinking,” Salmansohn advises readers.

“So next time, before you start to think something negative, just think about that … and this: Your brain has 100 billion cells — and each of these little babies is connected to at least 20,000 other cells. The variety of potential combinations of all these is more multitudinous than the number of molecules existing in the entire universe. So, if you have that many different combinations of brain cells to choose from, why not try a new combo today?”

Ready to be Happy?

Here are four of Karen Salmansohn’s Life Lessons To Live By — starting today!

  • Life Lesson 1: Pain exists. Life can hurt. Like a lot. Even when you’re good, you can get whacked. Without apology. Without explanation. Well, at least not right away. It’s not until later, that you finally learn …
  • Life Lesson 2: That pain back in Life Lesson 1 was for your benefit. You were being taught to breathe, invited to suck down a yummy oxygen / nitrogen cocktail. That painful whack was necessary for your growth. Of course, had you been told this at the time, you still would not have understood with your naive, lil’ baby mind. And so it goes for much of the pain in your life. Often you need to evolve a bit more before you can can understand a bit more. By now you know: you live in a world of 1,000,001 interpretations. By now you know: you must resist staying stuck on merely 1.

  • Life Lesson 3: Life is more mystery than misery. In time, insights take form. You relate to that expression: “No pain, no gain.” Only you feel it’s more like: “No pain, no Rogaine.” Meaning? Growth can come from places you thought were dead, barren, and disappointing.
  • Life Lesson 4: Happiness is not what happens to you, but how you choose to respond to what happens. You always have a choice of emotional responses to life. That’s why it’s called happiness, not happen-ness — though it could be called hope-ness. You must always leave room for hope that all has happened for a good cause. Or to quote the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer: “Life may be compared to a piece of embroidery of which, during the first half of our time, we get a sight of the right side, and during the second half, of the wrong.” The wrong side is not pretty, but it is more instructive; it shows the way in which the threads have been worked together to make the pattern.

Don’t stop now!