THE FOLLOWING are some questions about the book Self-Help Stuff That Works and answers by the author, Adam Khan. Enjoy.

1. What is the book about?
2. Will applying the principles of your book make someone happy?
3. What's your background?
4. There are so many self-help books on the market. Why should someone buy your book?
   
5. How did you become interested in this subject?
6. What inspired you to write this book?
7. What kind of newsletter was At Your Best?
8. Who is your book directed toward and what would you like them to get out of it?
9. What about the theory that much of what we are is unchangeable and genetic? Isn't depression genetic?
10. Is your book generally useful? Or does it apply to only certain people?
11. What has it done for you? How has the content of the book helped you?
12. Why would people want to buy this? How's it going to help them?
13. What is the basic nub of the book?
14. Are you totally happy and fulfilled? Do you ever have problems?
15. Aren't the techniques in your book superficial? Do they deal with unconscious motivations? Can they produce real change?
16. Have you used any of the principles in your own life?
17. Is there any "self-help stuff" that doesn't work?

Question: Adam, what is your book about?

Adam: It's a collection of simple ways to improve your own disposition while making you more effective with your actions. Most of the chapters are about improving your attitude and dealing better with people. Those are the two categories that you and I can continually improve, and this book was meant as an ongoing guide, something to refer to again and again throughout our lives.

No matter how much I want to be in the habit of telling the people in my life what I appreciate about them, I still need regular reminders. That habit does not come naturally, and no matter how much we may believe it is a good and right thing to do, too many other circumstances intervene, too many things are on our minds, and so we never get a chance to practice it enough to make it a habit, to make it something that pops into our minds when it's missing. Self-Help Stuff That Works is full of principles like that, and now we have a book we can pick up and spend a few minutes reading before we go to work or before going to bed that can remind us of basic principles and help us form new habits.

But the book is not merely what we already know. Many of the chapters are about new research and how those findings can be applied in our daily lives.

Question: Will applying the principles of your book make someone happy? A certain amount of unhappiness is inevitable, don't you think?

Adam: Absolutely. But all of us experience more unpleasant feelings than we need to. We have more frustration, worry, stress, etc., than is healthy or necessary. And the book is filled with methods to eliminate some of that from our lives. For example, in the chapter called Adrift, I share a principle I swiped from Steven Callahan. When he was alone in the middle of the Atlantic in his life raft with very little chance of rescue, he told himself, I can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, I'm lucky. He told that to himself over and over and he said it gave him fortitude.

I've tried the same thing many times, and I'll be damned if it doesn't give me fortitude every single time. One of the things we tend to think in hard times is I can't take this, which is a thought that makes us weak. The thought itself makes you collapse inside and give up. It makes you feel small and makes the world seem like a big steamroller plowing over helpless little you. The thought makes you experience unnecessary negative feelings.

You are not helpless. And you can take it. You're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for, and when you do give yourself credit for being tough, you become tougher!