The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

by Mark Manson

He never tried to be anything other than what he was.

Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing.

And if you’re dreaming of something all the time, then you’re reinforcing the same unconscious reality over and over: that you are not that.

And while there’s nothing wrong with good business, the problem is that giving too many fucks is bad for your mental health.

The key to a good life is not giving a fuck about more; it’s giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about only what is true and immediate and important.

The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.

Subtlety #1: Not giving a fuck does not mean being indifferent; it means being comfortable with being different.

we mean that Mark Manson doesn’t care about adversity in the face of his goals,

Subtlety #2: To not give a fuck about adversity, you must first give a fuck about something more important than adversity.

Subtlety #3: Whether you realize it or not, you are always choosing what to give a fuck about.

Maturity is what happens when one learns to only give a fuck about what’s truly fuckworthy.

After all, the only way to overcome pain is to first learn how to bear it.

As with being rich, there is no value in suffering when it’s done without purpose.

Pain, in all of its forms, is our body’s most effective means of spurring action.

True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving.

If you want to change how you see your problems, you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success.

Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it.