The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

The reason for picking up The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson was the title of the book and every person I know was raving about this book. I expected a lot from this New York Times Bestseller, but didn’t live up to my expectation.

Mark Manson is a New York based star blogger and ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck’ is his first book. This profanity-laden book is about counterintuitive approach to living a good life and finding what is truly important to you and letting go of everything else.

The book is written with millennials in mind, there is nothing wrong with that, but the book is not something new or original. The kind of messages written in this book is already written by other self-help authors.

And I didn’t find it profound or impactful and I found it rather boring and half way through lost interest as well. Its repetitive and didn’t like the smug attitude of the author.

There were a few parts that I really enjoyed, especially the last chapter of the book. Overall, an avoidable book, don’t expect anything new or groundbreaking, but the approach is different, that’s all.

Few of the quotes I liked from the book:

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”

“This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes.”

“To be happy we need something to solve. Happiness is therefore a form of action.”

“It turns out that adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults.

“Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth.”

“It’s a never ending spiral. And if you think at any point you’re allowed to stop climbing. I’m afraid you are missing the point. Because the joy is in the climb itself.