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Hey, hey, back with another Read With Me post. If you remember from A Year in Readview, I mentioned Mark Manson’s, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, was on my list. My Pop actually gifted me this book for Christmas, which we finally celebrated two weekends ago. Once I opened The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, I finished it in two days.
Funny, well-written, and easy to read, this book gives some great advice and introduces a few new give fewer fucks concepts that are surprisingly easy to digest. I was surprised at how counter-intuitive some of the advice seemed to me, but sure enough, by the end of the page, Mark had me nodding along in agreement. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck provides concise, rational arguments for caring a little less. I will certainly be incorporating some of Mark’s tidbits into my meditation practices and classes.
You’ll Enjoy Reading The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck If :
- You tend to care too much about everything – people, your job, your problems, etc.
- You need guidance on what you should focus on / care about.
- You think you should be happy, but you aren’t quite there yet.
- You haven’t learned to appreciate the shittier things in life yet.
- You need a mini pep talk. You want to take responsibility for your life.
- You’re constantly chasing highs, but not feeling fulfilled.
- You want to be pointed in the right direction.
- You want to feel comfortable with your life and therefore your mortality.
- You are in the business of being a life coach or counselor in some capacity (there are a bunch of great takeaways to share).
Again, I wanted to fill in the benefits of reading list I shared on the Read With Me post with actual examples from the book I finished today, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. I may end up doing this with every book I read this year. I feel like it’s a good review and it tests my list and hey, it might possibly expand it too. We’ll see.
Why We Should Read More Often :
Expands your vocabulary and improves your writing
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck provides a lot of anecdotal evidence. Chapter after chapter, a person was introduced, their story shared, and an argument made. I think this formulaic pattern emphasized an author’s ability (in this case Mark’s) to create the bones of a book that would make readers feel more comfortable and familiar as the chapters progressed. The reader knows basically what to expect with each chapter.
Improves your understanding of the world
In this case, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, improved my philosophical understanding of the world and gave me a few new concepts to process even if they were initially counterintuitive like the following: “Until we change how we view ourselves, what we believe we are and are not, we cannot overcome our avoidance and anxiety. We cannot change. In this way, “knowing yourself” or “finding yourself” can be dangerous. It can cement you into a strict role and saddle you with unnecessary expectations. It can close you off to inner potential and outer opportunities. I say don’t find yourself. I say never know who you are. Because that’s what keeps you striving and discovering. And it forces you to remain humble in your judgments and accepting of the differences in others.”
Prepares you to take action and create change
Again, the action and change creation are more personal in this book. Manson offers practical advice for going about your daily life and some great advice. Even being reminded of concepts I currently employ was super helpful, like so: “…the solution lies in the acceptance and active engagement of a negative experience – not the avoidance of it, not the salvation from it.”
Boosts your imagination and creativity and improves brain function
I read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck with a pen in hand. I was constantly underlining quotes and passages and making notes in the margins. This book allowed me to look at meditation and mindfulness from a different perspective. I will certainly incorporate Manson’s themes into my mindfulness exercises and practices, which will help to reach a broader audience, but also to switch up the language I am used to using with my students. I appreciated Mark Manson’s perspective and capabilities to explain it concisely and therefore his influence in broadening my own views.
Reading sets a great example for those around you
Reading a book with the word F*CK on it certainly turned some heads. Hopefully, if those people gave too many fucks about the curse on the cover they managed to pick it up and take a look some day.
A few* favorite lines/takeaways from The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck:
Say, “Fuck it,” not to everything in life, but rather to everything unimportant in life.
An obsession and overinvestment in emotion fails us for the simple reason that emotions never last.
People who become great at something become great because they understand that they’re not already great – they are mediocre, they are average – and that they could be so much better.
The knowledge and acceptance of your own mundane existence will actually free you to accomplish what you truly wish to accomplish, without judgment or lofty expectations.
Everything we think and feel about a situation ultimately comes back to how valuable we perceive it to be.
Often the only difference between a problem being painful or being powerful is a sense that we chose it, and that we are responsible for it.
Fault is past tense. Responsibility is present tense.
Certainty is the enemy of growth.
The more you embrace being uncertain and not knowing, the more comfortable you will feel in knowing what you don’t know.
**There are so many more passages and tidbits I could pull, but this list was getting lengthy.
Books I’m reading now :
How Emotions Are Made : The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett
You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
Books I’ve finished in 2018 :
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Tao of Pooh – I read this again as part of Meditative Mondays. You should give it a go!
The Nature Fix – read my thoughts on that here.
Invisible Monsters – read my thoughts on that here.
Again, this isn’t a competition, but if it was……..