The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Mark Manson
read
It's really about choosing what's worth caring about. The title oversells it, and the point still lands.
Despite the title, Mark Manson isn't telling you to care about nothing. His point is that you only have so much caring to spend, and most people spend it on things that don't matter, like what strangers think of them. The trick is picking what deserves it.
A few ideas from it have stayed with me. One is that wanting to feel good all the time is its own trap, because constantly chasing a better feeling reminds you that you don't have it. Another is the difference between fault and responsibility. Plenty of things that happen to you aren't your fault, but how you respond to them is always your responsibility. And there's the "do something" principle. When you're stuck, don't wait for motivation. Do any small thing, and the motivation tends to show up once you've started.
He writes like someone talking at a bar, which is why people either love the book or roll their eyes at it. The swearing is part of the act. Under it is a fairly old argument about values and death that he borrows from better philosophers, and he doesn't hide that.
The "do something" idea is the one I actually use. On nights when I don't want to open the laptop, opening it anyway and fixing one small thing usually gets me going.
