The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck- A Review

Oh! Don’t let the title fool you, it is a pretty decent book. I promise.
When I mentioned this book as one of the 5 life-changing books, I was about halfway done. Now that I am done (and rereading it already) I think it deserves a special review. I like Mark Manson’s fresh view of life, his unapologetic views and opinions and how out of the ordinary this book addresses things that we are all too decent to mention.

A counter-intuitive approach

One may think that it speaks against all the other self help books have shown you in the past, or those motivational quotes we post religiously on social media. That you are special, you are extraordinary, you have a life purpose to achieve; you just have to find your passion and follow it. So when it comes to a point where you thought you will have figured it out, and you still haven’t, you get depressed about it. Not really, it just speaks differently from all the clichés we hear. Mark mason tells you to learn the Subtle Art of not giving a f*ck. Or better, he tells you to choose properly on what to fuss about.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes some ‘out of the box’ thinking. And if you always think in the box, maybe it’s your first chance to look outside that box. Of the many insights and lessons learned in this book, here are a few of my favourites.

Why smart people are always holding back

Non-smart people (respect my choice of words here) get really far with their ambitions while smart ones are still held back by their over thinking. Mark Mason brings about how smart people are always over thinking on everything that do, and therefore delay in action. Overthinking brings self-doubt.

You are not entitled

The thought of feeling that you are special is what holds you back. Why not be like the next person? Often times we feel entitled because our parents told us that we are special, we are not like the rest. So we are here waiting for our special calling to unveil itself to us. What we forget is that those people who achieve great things are only playing their daily role, except that the results end up being great. We need to acknowledge that we are not entitled to anything, that no special calling will come our way. What we really need to do is get started where we are, doing those little things, you never know what impact you could be making. I discussed this under 10 things we should unlearn for a happier life.

Law of avoidance

The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it. This is why we know something is important, yet we don’t get to do it. Because it is scary, threatens us and we don’t want to confront that and what it does to our identity. Mason suggests that the more you feel something scares you, the more you should be driven to attempt it, because this is what might turn out to be the game changer for you. If you feel a relationship scares you, why not try it? If you are scared to make that pitch or proposal, the more reason you should make it. You will never know until you try. This is Mason telling you to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
I won’t preempt this for you, and I really recommend that you read it. It felt like a breath of fresh air.

Listen to The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck.

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