Stop Trying!: The Life-Transforming Power of Trying Less and Doing More

“Lots of books promise change, but Stop Trying! is the change. Carla Ondrasik gives you one simple yet insanely powerful tool that’ll flip your life into high gear. If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and actually start living a life that feels meaningful and successful, this book shows you exactly how to do it.” —Mel Robbins, bestselling author and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast

“Carla’s book does a fantastic job of motivating anyone to stop making excuses so they can dance all the way to the finish line of their dreams. Stop Trying! is a call to action that encourages us all to get off our butts and do it.” —Paula Abdul, singer, choreographer, and actress

“Stop Trying! encourages us to separate our ambitions from our actions and to just go get it!” —Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and podcast host

If you’re struggling to get things done or meet your goals, the problem isn’t that you’re not trying hard enough, it’s that you’re trying in the first place.

When it comes to getting stuff done, we fall short more often than we like to admit. This can leave us feeling frustrated and ashamed, because despite trying our very best we can’t seem to meet our goals. Why? The surprising answer is ingeniously outlined in Stop Trying!: The Life-Transforming Power of Trying Less and Doing More—an evolutionary guide that evokes the revelatory force of The Five-Second Rule and the sublime practicality of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Put simply, it turns out that trying is just an illusion for doing.

Stop Trying! illuminates the deception in a mindset built on trying, which can lead to anxiety, procrastination, perceived loss of control, fatigue, fear of failure, lack of follow-through, and overall life dissatisfaction. Importantly, this book offers a way out of the rut and into practical, progressive action. Stop Trying! reveals the compelling science behind our brain, behaviors, and beliefs when it comes to the notion of trying. Pulling from positive psychology, the science of habit formation, clinical studies, and more, motivational speaker Carla Ondrasik guides us to proven-effective strategies for better doing—and ultimately to goal achievement and a more fulfilling life.

Readers will learn techniques and tips, build skills through interactive activities, and hear sincere stories from everyday people who’ve made the transformative switch from trying to doing. Achievement is just one “do or do not” decision away, and it starts with eliminating “try” from our vocabulary. Stop Trying! shows us how to do that.