The subtle art of not giving a fuck - Book Review

Much contrary to what the title suggests and makes one presume, the book 'The subtle art of not giving a fuck' by Mark Manson is not about not giving a f**k about anything!

While the very straightforward and on-the-face tonality used by the author keeps the book entertaining, it somehow also made me not take some of the points in the book very seriously until I reached the latter half of it. I also tended to disagree with some of his initial view-points, but as I moved forward, I began to believe in them more and more. Towards the end of the book, I was left feeling 'almost enlightened'! Some of the lessons came across as repetitive and some resonated as ideas coming from other books, and yet it had that “Wow! How come it didn’t occur to me” factor.

My key takeaways from the book are:

• You can’t give a f*ck about everything, so choose what you should give a f*ck about

• What you give a f*ck about should be aligned to your values, so spend time to determine what your values truly are

• Good values are intrinsic and controllable, bad are those you can’t control

• Your struggles will determine your success, so choose your struggles wisely. Ask yourself “What struggles and pain am I willing to sustain?”

• We can only be successful at something we are willing to fail at

• Do something – Just act and you will find the way

• Death is inevitable and death is what makes LIFE meaningful, and SUCCESS meaningful to life

• And the best one for me: Realise the difference between responsibility and fault. Accept that you are responsible for your own problems, no matter how and because of whom those problems arise.

All in all, an amazing book that will make you sit back and ponder about your own life and actions. A MUST READ!