Stop Making Life So Hard
A Field Guide to Being a Better Human
Published on 9. February 2026
Book
Hardback
120 pages
978-1-291-81630-3 (ISBN)
Description
Stop Making Life So Hard is not a book about willpower, positive thinking, or fixing yourself.
It's a field guide to understanding why intelligent, capable people so often work against themselves-and how to stop.
Drawing on decades of clinical practice, teaching, and real-world observation, Dr. Rick Kirschner explores the invisible forces that shape our lives: the promises we make (and break), the stories we live inside, the habits that quietly run us, and the deeper motivations that drive our behavior. Each chapter introduces a simple, human distinction-Word, Story, Resonate, Understand, Influence, Habit, Purpose, Support, Teamship, Integrity-and shows how alignment across these domains restores energy, clarity, and choice.
This is not self-help in the traditional sense.
There are no hacks, no hype, and no moralizing.
Instead, this book offers something rarer:
a way of seeing yourself and others more accurately-so that change becomes natural rather than forced.
Written in a clear, conversational voice and illustrated with evocative imagery, Stop Making Life So Hard invites readers to stop struggling against their own nervous systems and start living with greater ease, coherence, and meaning.
More details
Person
Dr. Rick Kirschner is a bestselling author, clinician, teacher, and mentor who has spent decades helping people stop working against themselves.
He is best known for translating complex psychological and relational dynamics into clear, usable distinctions that create immediate shifts in awareness and behavior. His work integrates neuroscience, communication, motivation, and lived human experience-always with an emphasis on practical results rather than theory.
Dr. Kirschner lives in North Idaho with his wife, where he writes, teaches, walks with his cats, and continues exploring what it means to live with greater ease, clarity, and choice.