As part of PolyWogg’s Reading Challenge 2020, I wanted to read the uber-popular “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. I frequently avoid pop psych stuff as the analytical side is rarely up to my standards, but it is subtitled a “Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life”, and I’m willing to give it a chance. So I started keeping notes as I read it.

Chapter 1: Don’t try

The basic premise is that most self-improvement efforts are too vague or too generic to be helpful. They are all about getting more, doing more, having more success, and that the real key to doing so is self-improvement. But Manson argues:

Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing.

And so people end up focusing on trying to achieve self-actualization in every aspect of their life, every achievement possible.

The key to a good life is not giving a fck about more; it’s giving a fck about less, giving a fck about only what is true and immediate and important.

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