The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Book Analysis

Mark Manson’s “The subtle art of not giving a f***” is the title of a very interesting book my friends and I decided to read. Oftentimes when I recommend this book to people they ask me why? I find myself assuring them to look beyond the title, and just read one chapter. I can guarantee that you’ll be hooked and it will be worth your while.

I actually came across this book from the popular tik-tok app.  An unknown girl that I came across was doing a review of the book and she focused on one quote that she believes “changed her whole mindset”.  Manson writes, “Everybody enjoys what feels good. Everyone wants to live a carefree, happy, and easy life, to fall in love and have amazing sex and relationships, to look perfect and make money and be popular and well-respected and admired and a total baller to the point that people part like the red sea when they walk in the room. Everybody wants that. It’s easy to want that. A more interesting question, a question that most people never consider, is, “what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for?” Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out(Manson pg 36). This quote is what prompted me to read the book. It opened room for me to think about things that I have never really thought about before. It's true we all want happiness but at what cost? I read this quote over and over again, sort of applying it to my current life. Of course I want to experience happiness but what am I really willing to sacrifice to get my “happiness”.  I want to eat well and have a fit body, but am I willing to completely cut out fast food and commit myself to the gym? In all honesty I might be consistent for a couple of weeks, but making it a lifestyle is a whole different story. I believe this is what the author was trying to convey to readers. We say we want these things, but oftentimes want it at the price of nothing. 

Throughout the whole book, I found myself having these extremely deep thoughts. I have never been a big reader, but every chapter had something to offer. In chapter three “You are not special”, although a self explanatory title I couldn’t wait to read Mark’s thoughts. He says “The truth is there’s no such thing as a personal problem. If you’ve got a problem, chances are millions of other people have had it in the past, have it now, and are going to have it in the future”(Manson pg 56). After reading this quote I began to understand the purpose of this book. It’s all about perspective! How many times have you heard “sounds like a personal problem”. I know I’ve heard it a million times, but it never held any real meaning. To some it may not seem like a big deal, but I find it very relevant. Many people live from day to day going through some of the most unspeakable things. If you heard others struggle you would wonder how they got through it. The truth is they are not the only ones with problems, and this does not take away from what that person may have gone through, but sheds light on the fact that the problems you may be going through can only be solved through a realization. We must come to a realization that bad things don’t only happen to you. To put it simply “you're not special”. Personally I took a lot from this, because whenever I would run into some problem I’d act as if some part of the universe wanted me to suffer. I found it hard to accept that maybe these things just happen. Letting go of that victim mindset was probably one of the best things I could have done. It has created a more problem-free life, and almost feels as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders. 

I could go on and on about this book and all the wonderful things it has taught me, but the biggest thing I took from it was the art of perception. The author wrote in a manner that many can relate to. He gave basic scenarios and real life examples that I believe a ton of people have experienced. The difference however was from a different perspective, a better perspective in my opinion. Manson’s perspective promotes having a happy carefree life. Obviously, there’s no such thing as a perfect life, but what I want people to take away from this book when they read it is that a lot of our “problems” in this life aren’t really necessary.