Mark Manson has probably confused people, some may have even walked away from this book, by the use of his F-Bomb in the title.
Manson begins the book with an explanation of the books namesake
“There is a subtle art to not giving a fuck and though the concept may sound ridiculous and I may sound like an asshole, what I am talking about here is essentially how to prioritise your thoughts effectively, how to pick and choose what matters to you and what does not matter to you based on finely honed personal values.”
Manson does not encourage you to be indifferent but rather to recognise that there are multitudes of things that we can care about in the world. What he is promoting is walking away from the things that don’t promote our best self.
To begin this process, we must decide what we care about most and what our values are. He stresses the need to work out what works for us and what doesn’t so we can focus on what does.
The book became compelling. The dialogue was witty, but brutally honest regarding the truth about what we care about. The focus being prioritising better values and choosing better things to give a f**k about. Creating calm against the chaos and letting shit go.
My favourite quote from the book was:
“values underlie everything we are and do. If what we value is unhelpful, if what we consider success/failure is poorly chosen, when everything based on those values – thoughts, the emotions, the day to day feelings – will all be out of whack. Everything we think and feel about a situation ultimately comes back to how valuable we perceive it to be.”
The book is an easy read and definitely worth the time.
Narelle Hill – Women’s & Anna Stewart Program Restricted Committee