Title The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Published 2016
Summary
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
Thoughts:
This book started out as a library book that caught my attention. It then ended up bought quickly from Amazon so that I could highlight, mark in and re-read as needed. This book has some good general advice that you could find anywhere, then it turns around and presents it in a way that slaps you in the face. It makes you want to apply this yet at the same time addresses the fact that applying this information is going to be hard and not something a lot of people can do. Change is hard but needed. This is one of those books that makes you want to show off the new found knowledge yet at the same time throw the book because you realize it might be addressing you the reader. I found a few times that I had to walk away and turn the book upside down until I had process what it was saying. Then I had to come back when I had process it. From there I was able to continue reading it. There are times where I had to push through a chapter because it felt almost as if it was too scattered and didn’t feel as if it flowed into the final thought he was trying to get across. I do suggest that this is a book that you read. It is rare for me to suggest a self-help book but this one seems to strike the right cord between helpful and delightful to read yet still making you want to apply some of the theories within the book.
