My Top Lessons from 'THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK'

The knowledge in this book by Mark Manson is invaluable. The book points out certain behaviors that we, as individuals possess and the faulty reasoning behind such behaviors. In this article, I reveal my top 12 lessons I picked from reading through this book.

1. Happiness comes from solving problems. Choose problems that are important to you and solve them. Happiness costs a lot of discomfort to achieve. Earning happiness comes at the cost of discomfort and/or pain.

2. Sometimes, entitlement comes from feelings that we are incapable of solving problems, so we become entitled and/or develop a victim mentality.

3. People who did extraordinary things are not those who thought they were extraordinary. Its people who were determined to find a solution to a problem.

4. If problems are unavoidable in life and pain a part of living, then it only makes sense to solve problems that matter to you, things that are worth fighting for.

5. The true measurement of self worth is not only about how you feel about yourself. Its about how you feel about the negative aspects of your self.

6. Sometimes unexpected things happen and that is fine. Such is life. Life throws things at you. However, you are responsible for how you react to those circumstances.

7. Not all values are healthy. Good values are are reality-based, socially constructive, immediate, and controllable meanwhile bad values are superstitious, socially destructive, not immediate and uncontrollable. Our values are our hypothesis. Our actions are experiments, meanwhile the resulting emotions are our thought patterns and our data. This is how are values are constantly tested.

8. Growth is an iterative process. Being wrong brings opportunities for growth. After all, it means we are learning. The goal should be to improve one’s accuracy over time.

9. Failure is a means to growth. Fear and anxiety are sometimes necessary for psychological growth.

10. Pain is part of life. You have to feel pain in order to live

11. If you are stuck on a problem, don’t just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow. Pushing through difficult moments can stir your inspiration and motivation, not just the other way round.

12. The only way to achieve meaning and a sense of importance in one’s life is through a rejection of alternatives, a narrowing of freedom, a choice of commitment to one place, one belief, or one person.