The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck is THE self help book everyone in our generation should read.
For everyone who feels less happy because of the insistent hedonistic treadmill brought about by all the perfect people enjoying their perfect lives on social media every day, it’s a must read book. Because while every single person has an average life (yes even the richest or the best in their fields are average in most walks of lives) social media only highlights the extremes of the bell curve of the human experience.
This flood of extreme information has conditioned us to believe exceptionalism is the new normal driving many of us feel insecure as we compare our worst to the best people offer up on social media. After all no one posts theirs latest failures or the humdrum of daily life on social media. And the constant pressure of being mundane prevents us from achieving what we truly want.
Refreshingly this book doesn’t tell you how to overcome your problems but rather how to embrace it. Because happiness does not come from avoiding struggles, it actually grows from them.
For example you want a great job to make you happy? Do you think having a good physique will make you happy? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for. People who enjoy the struggles of a gym are the ones who run triathlons and have chiseled physiques and can bench press a small house. People who enjoy long work weeks and the politics of the corporate ladder are the ones who fly to the top of it. People who enjoy the stresses and uncertainties of the starving artist lifestyle are eventually the eventually the ones who live it and make it.
This is not about willpower or grit, not an admonishment of “no pain, no gain.” This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes.
And so the author presents a great way to frame your life goals. Don’t just write down what you want to achieve. Also write down what you are willing to struggle through in order to achieve them. Then and only then will your goals make sense.
