This series is devoted to decoding bestselling non-fiction titles and uncovering the reasons behind their widespread success.
Overthinking things and getting lost in negative thought patterns is a universal and very human struggle. As a result, we suffer emotionally and wonder what the heck is wrong with us. This happens when we weaponize self-reflection, instead of letting it help us.
This is the exact challenge that’s addressed by Joseph Nguyen in his book Don’t Believe Everything You Think. Can you relate? Me too. No wonder it’s a bestseller.
But writing a book that becomes a global phenomenon is just as much about the execution as it is about the idea. So let’s break it down.
About the Book
Joseph Nguyen’s Don’t Believe Everything You Think is a bite-sized book that has made a giant splash. It argues that the source of our suffering isn’t our circumstances, it’s our thoughts about them and that true mental freedom comes from learning to observe your thoughts without identifying with them. And it’s only 127 pages long. That message, delivered with clarity, simplicity and depth, has turned this book into an Amazon chart-topper and a social media favorite.
About Joseph Nguyen
Joseph Nguyen is a writer, speaker, and former marketer who now devotes his time to helping people uncover peace and clarity in their lives. His writing draws on spiritual and psychological traditions, including mindfulness, non-duality, and cognitive behavioral therapy, but he packages those ideas in welcoming, accessible language.
What Makes It a Bestseller
- Bite-Sized and Accessible: The book is short, direct, and easy to read in a single sitting. Each chapter is only a few pages long, making the ideas feel approachable.
- Clear, Universal Focus: Nguyen zeroes in on one core problem we can all relate to and offers a focused solution.
- Emotional Resonance: Nguyen writes in a tone that’s warm, understanding, and soothing. Readers often say the book feels like a conversation with a calm friend.
- Viral-Ready Content: The book is filled with punchy, quotable lines that are easy to highlight and share. It’s been a favorite of TikTok creators and Instagram pages that focus on mental health and personal growth.
- Getting to The Core: Nguyen explains our suffering at its roots, replacing confusion with understanding. And he does it all by normalizing our suffering so that after we read the book, we don’t feel like we need to go to therapy, we feel like we just did.
Key Takeaways When Writing Your Book
One of the most common problems my clients face in their writing is that they don’t get specific enough. They stay high level with their topic and then expect everyone to resonate with it. But you get resonance when you focus on the small details of how your topic informs the felt human experience. Get specific. Get personal. And then trust that your broader point will come across.
This book’s appeal is so broad that it’s hard to imagine it could make any reader feel seen. But he explores broad themes with such specificity that reading it makes you feel like he’s speaking directly to you.
Another piece of advice I repeat to my clients is to write with the audience in mind. Getting information down on the page is necessary, but if it doesn’t speak to the audience, no one is going to read it. Your book has to be sticky, it has to grab the reader, hold their attention, and then, ideally, make them want to talk (or post) about it.
If you want your book to spread, write with the modern reader in mind. Short chapters, bold quotes, and clear structure.
Also, simplicity sells. You don’t need a 300-page magnum opus to make a major impact. Sometimes the best books are short and laser-focused.
A fact that might surprise you is that Don’t Believe Everything You Think was Nguyen’s first book and he self-published it. It didn’t debut on the New York Times list. Instead, it climbed the charts through sustained grassroots interest. He’s since built a loyal audience through email, social, and online events. Plus, self-publishing allowed him to keep full creative control.
With traditional publishing, the author works with a publishing house that handles editing, design, distribution, and some marketing. This route can offer industry credibility and wide distribution but it can also mean lower royalties, a slower timeline, and less creative control. When an author self-publishes, they manage everything on their own but they also get full agency over their end product. They don’t need to negotiate their creative vision with that of the publishing house, they can publish, distribute, and tour on their own schedule, and they keep more of the profits. Although having the backing of a reputable publishing house is many people’s goal, it’s not the only path to success and for some, self-publishing might even be better. If you have your own book your want to self publish, use Joseph Nguyen as a model and pay close attention to his marketing tactics!
Don’t Believe Everything You Think isn’t a runaway success because it reinvented the genre, it’s a success because it clarified and humanized it. The book promises one thing, delivers on it fully, and does so in a way that feels generous and compassionate, making the reader want to return to it instead of reading feeling like a chore. If you’re looking to write a book that speaks to a wide audience while hitting at a deep emotional level, Nguyen’s debut is a book worth studying.
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