The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck

Author – Mark Manson

Date Started – 4 June 2021

Date Finished –9 June 2021

The Book in 3 Sentences

  1. The key to living a good life is not giving a fuck about more things, but rather, giving a fuck only about the things that align with your personal values.

  2. Finding something important and meaningful in your life is perhaps the most productive use of your time and energy.

  3. Conventional self-help advice, which tells you to visualize success and think about the type of person you want to be, only reinforces the idea that you are not that thing.

Impressions

The problem is that the pervasiveness of technology and mass marketing is screwing up a lot of people’s expectations of themselves.

The more uncomfortable the answer, the more likely it is to be true.

We are no longer facing a material crisis. We have plenty of resources: TVs, clothes, and goods we don’t need. The problem we face is existential and spiritual. We have so much stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t know what to give a fuck about anymore.

How the Book Changed Me

How my life/behavior/thoughts/ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

  • Understood that true happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving. Happiness is wanting the problems you have and want to solve them.
  • I started questioning my emotions because they are not always right and are simply biological signals designed to nudge you toward beneficial change.

My Top 3 Quotes

  • If you cannot give a fuck about the pain your goals require, then you become unstoppable.
  • You are going to die someday. Everyone you know is going to die soon. You are going to die someday. Everyone you know is going to die soon. And in your short life, you only have a certain amount of fucks to give.
  • Happiness is found in solving problems, not avoiding them.