The gist of the latest darling of the self-help world’s advice is just stop caring about things that don’t matter. Um, I mean, stop giving a f***.
Mark Manson wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** after his blog post on the topic went viral. He takes a throat-punch to political correctness and says the things that many millenials – and some of us older folk – need to hear: You’re not really special. Rejection makes your life better. Life is difficult and unfair. True happiness isn’t attainable so shut up about it and get on with the important things.
I love this point of view. It’s based in reality. There’s nothing wrong with telling someone to shoot for the stars but only a few will get that far, so it’s also got to be just ducky if you don’t quite make it. We need to accept that fact and carry on, stop coddling each other and wasting time wishing for things to be different.
Manson offers a self-help perspective from a guy who doesn’t believe in most self-help books. He also admits he doesn’t have all the answers, and he’s just an average guy. He also gives a f*** about some things, including his wife and son, the movie Groundhog Day and the fact that his newsletter has 2-million subscribers, so he doesn’t have to go out and get a “real” job. As a person who gives too many f***s, it’s liberating to read a perspective that tells me caring less can be good for me. Read it, don’t read it, I don’t really give a…you know what!
Sage advice and an approach I adopted decades ago along with the belief in “why not”.