The Book That Changed My Life And Made Me Rich Again

Let me tell you about the book that changed my life. It is my favorite book that I tell everybody to buy.

Back in the last downturn from 2001-2003 I had incredible back pain. I couldn't sit for very long, and my legs were going numb. Doctors told me I had sciatica, a pinched nerve down my spine that spread to the tips of my toes. Even the process of driving wore me out so I decided to stop driving altogether.

One day, my colleague and I were walking towards a restaurant to meet a client and he collapsed. Apparently, he was suffering from the same symptoms I was going through. However, in his case, he had a family to take care of with his newborn child, and he was losing much more than me in the downturn.

I was the junior guy. When rumors came along that our compensation was going to be slashed in half, I hoped out loud that I would outperform since I didn't make much in the first place. Half of nothing is still nothing I reasoned.

Getting Crushed During The 2008 Financial Crisis

When my bonus was slashed in half like everybody else, I was not a happy camper and asked my mentor how pitiful was I? I didn't complain too loudly due to the rounds of layoffs, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He explained to me in a funny way I will never forget. He said, “Sam don't worry. You don't make much so it doesn't matter anyways!” He went on to say, “Look at me. I have a big mortgage, a new family to support, got cut in half too and I make A LOT more than you do!”

Gee thanks! At the time, I didn't really appreciate his brutal honesty, but fast forward seven years later, I know exactly what he's talking about. My mentor's absolute income likely declined 10X my amount, and he was so stressed out with his newborn child that his fear and anger manifested itself into debilitating back pain.

About two months after his collapse, he told me he was entirely pain free. The markets still weren't great, and I remember having to fork out $700 bucks for a brand new Herman Miller Aeron chair because I couldn't sit.

He gave me a copy of Healing Back Pain by Dr. Sarno. There was NO WAY I couldn't read it after seeing him crumble to the cement pavement that day, and limping around for weeks after that his back pain was healed.

However, I was skeptical that an easy-to-read, 180-page paper back book could do wonders and get him to go out golfing with clients again.

None of the massages or chiropractic visits did anything to help my pain so what's a fluff book going to do for me? Well, it turns out this was the book that changed my life.

The Book That Changed My Life Is Real

I want to share with you the simple premise here, if you promise to go buy the book below, check it out at the library, or at least read most of it next time you're at your local bookseller.

The Book That Changed My Life And Made Me Rich Again

Healing Back Pain asks us why is there such an epidemic of chronic back pain in society, when there was none before.

The answer is that in such a fast paced high-pressured world, our minds get stressed out to extreme overload.

In order to cope, our minds manifest physical chronic pain to help with the fear, anger, and anxiety we face everyday.

“Stress kills” is the truth. One way to reduce stress is to see life through a different perspective. Some of us are much better at that than others.

By going to physical therapists or chiropractors, we are accepting into our lives our mind's manifested chronic pain. What's even worse is attempting back surgery.

When I read the book, I had nothing left to lose. I already spent $700 on a comfortable ergonomic chair, and around $800 already in chiropractor visits.

I love the chiropractor and insurance by the way, but that's a different story. So I figured why not read Dr. Sarno's book and see if it helps. Thank goodness I took the time to read it. It still amazes me that this was the book that changed my life.

How To Heal Chronic Back Pain

I read the book in two days and started to adopt its recommended therapy. The primary therapy is to be mindful of what is making you upset.

It may be that your firm is going through major rounds of layoffs, or your child is sick. It may be that your boss is treating you unfairly, and that you got passed over for that raise and promotion. Whatever it is, just be mindful of what is bothering you.

The next step, is to tell yourself to simply stop manifesting this coping pain, because you already know what it is, and you will solve the problem yourself.

Bring the disturbance to the forefront, and just accept it for what it is. On the more painful days, just be more forceful. Feel free to shout at yourself for creating this pain, and just be mindful again.

Related: Be Risk Averse With Health, Risk Loving With Money

Lots Of Fear And Anxiety

I remember keenly what was bothering me for those two years. I had just joined my company so I had something extra to prove. A client fired me and asked to be covered by my senior boss because I was so green. My pay was disappearing.

I was living in a new city without many friends and no family. 9/11 happened and I was absolutely devastated. I used to go to conferences at The Windows of The World restaurant at the very top floor of the World Trade Center and started to develop a phobia of heights.

Finally, I was thinking every day that I would be let go due to the LIFO method of layoffs. I also remember back in college biology lab, I couldn't sit for more than one minute on a stool because of my back pain.

That was the year something really horrible happened to a friend, and I had just broken up with my two-year girlfriend at the time. Thank goodness I met my wife just a couple years later.

I practiced Dr. Sarno's “therapy” for just over a month and then I forgot about it for a couple weeks. I realized after driving to work one day and getting to my desk, that I had just experienced a painless commute.

That was about 20 years ago. It is now 2021 and I've only had one episode of chronic back pain since 2012. It was the first six months of my life when my son was born in 2017.

I was a newbie, stressed out father who didn't know whether my son could see well due to an eye condition. But his eyesight, although not great, is good enough where he should lead a relatively normal life.

Related: The Health Benefits Of Early Retirement Are Priceless

The Mind Real Plays Tricks On You

Healing my pain through a month of mindfulness changed my life forever. The pain made me less productive at work, grouchy, and unsociable at times.

Instead of going to a client outing, I made excuses why I couldn't go. It was pathetic. By not developing my relationships, I ultimately hurt my business and my income. Not spending the $15 bucks on “Healing Back Pain” would have been an even worse career move.

Readers, if you have any type of chronic pain, including TMJ which affects your face/jaw, I recommend giving this book a read. It is a book that changed my life. Give it a couple months, and let me know if you feel better.

I believe you will, and I promise I do after all these years and frightful downturns. Please feel free to share your stories of healing here. No amount of money can ever replace our health!

Buy the book that changed my life here: Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

Updated for 2022 and beyond. Originally published on July 28, 2009. This was one of the first posts I published when I first started Financial Samurai in early July 2009.

10 thoughts on “The Book That Changed My Life And Made Me Rich Again”

  1. I must be the ultimate nerd. I skimmed this book about a year ago just because I’m interested in the connection between mind and body. Sarno has another interesting book called The Divided Mind that is probably even more interesting in my opinion. It is great that you put this post up and hopefully have helped some people along the way. I also like that you sometimes write on issues outside of the natural FS wheelhouse.

  2. Go Finance Yourself!

    Sam – I know this post is dated but I’m really glad I stumbled upon it. I have been suffering from lower back pain for a few years now. Some days my back would be on fire all day while sitting at my desk. It was impacting my work life as well as life outside of work since I could barely play golf and racquetball.

    I bought this book after reading your post and I was immediately able to play a round of golf pain free. Now when my back is acting up, I know it’s all in my head so I just tell my subconscious to quit being an ass and the pain fades away. Truly an amazing book!

    1. Very cool! No post is dated here on Financial Samurai because every post is regularly updated! I’m very glad this book helped you. How did you find this article?

      Are we going for a steak dinner on you if we meet up next time? Healing back pain or any type of chronic pain is absolutely priceless!

      1. Go Finance Yourself!

        I found your site several months ago after reading a comment of yours on another blog, and decided to check out who this Financial Samurai guy was. I have to say I really enjoy your site and you’ve even inspired me to start my own blog. Anyways, I was looking through some of your old posts and came across this one. I decided, what the hell, and ordered a copy on Amazon. Best $7 I ever spent!

        If I’m ever in San Fran, dinner is on me! When you enjoy being active, there’s not much worse than back pain. The price of the book was worth way more than $7!

  3. I have had pains in several places on my upper and lower back, and my buttocks. After MRI and a few other tests, my doctor told me that I had Bursitis and tendonitis.

    I took your advice and read Dr. Sarno’s book. Amazingly, I found myself without pains while reading the book. I also noticed that I had no pains when I was having a good time with friends. I seem to fit into the kind of people that Dr. Sarno described as “a worrier, overly conscientious and responsible, compulsive and perfectionistic,” and prone to have TMS which can bring alteration to muscles, nerves, tendons and ligaments and cause pains.

    I am glad that I read the book and know the possible reasons for my pains. I don’t want to have surgeris. I hope the pains will disappear altogether one day.

    Thank you for the advice. I meant to give this article a 10-star, instead I got one marked only. I apologize for not knowing how to correct the mistake.

  4. Financial Samurai

    Hi Gen Y – Yikes, that must have been a super stressful experience, not just in September, but the time period leading up to and post bankruptcy as well. I think I know what company it is. At 24, you truly are relatively lucky. Imagine you were a 35 year old Senior VP there, you definitely had at one point over $250,000 if not over $500,000 in stock go to zero. This is why I wrote the article "The Less You Have, The Less You Lose"

    Now that you have survived that harrowing experience, you can survive ANYTHING work related now Gen Y. It's all upside now!

    Best,

    FS

  5. Gen Y Investor

    I agree stress is a total killer. Last September my company went bankrupt (hint… it was the biggest bankruptcy in history) I was in a unique position b/c I was only 24 and have no debt or obligations so even if I ended up losing my job I knew I would survive.

    I was still stressed, but no where near as stressed as the older employees with big mortgages, car loans, kids and other lavish expenses. I saw one middle age man wheeled out of the building on a stretcher due to chest pains.

    I lost a good deal of money and went through stress last year but I feel I learned some extremely valuable lessons that I'll remember all my life. Mainly, don't overextend yourself which could lead to extra stress and above all protect your health the best you can.

    -Gen Y Investor

  6. Financial Samurai

    Rachel – Great point about speaking up when you need help. Sometimes we get pulled in every single darn direction, and we just have to stand our ground and say what we can, and CANNOT do. If we try and be all things to all people, we ultimately end up pleasing nobody

    It's difficult as a younger employee in their 20's, since practically everyone is more senior than you by default. One of the best things to do when overwhelmed is to tell the person who's asking you to do more what exactly you are working on, so they understand the pressures you're under.

    Work place stress is so heavy at times, it's good to stand up and walk around. Stretch, take some deep breathes, and don't take anything personally.

    Best,

    FS

  7. I can totally understand how stress can cause physical symptoms. Looking back I remember during a very stressful and intense quarter at work I started having headaches, soreness, fatigue, and literally waking up from nightmares about missing deadlines and getting yelled at by clients. My body was so stressed out I couldn't get a good nights sleep, and because of that my fatigue kept building and I just started to buckle under the pressure.

    From that experience I learned to speak up when I was getting overwhelmed at work. Sometimes asking for help can seem like a sign of weakness, but it actually gave me strength and my health back b/c I was able to regain my work/life balance, was more productive and had better performance. Rachel

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