Lessons From The Book, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A *###

​Focus on what you can control. Screw the rest.

Mark Manson makes the argument that human beings are flawed and limited. As he writes, "not everybody can be extraordinary—there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them—this, he says, is the real source of empowerment. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties—once we stop running from and avoiding, and start confronting, painful truths—we can begin to find the courage and confidence we desperately seek.​

Here are some of the lessons I learned from this book.​

The secret to life is not having the best

Believing that superficial objects will make your life better will actually make you feel depressed and empty.

Less really is more

Caring about more—getting more stuff, things that haven't happened yet, things in the unforeseeable future—aren't going to make life better; they're going to make life more stressed out.

Comparisons are a waste

Making comparisons doesn't do anybody any good. It makes you feel like you are less and that you don't offer as much value.

Wanting better isn't making us better

Stressing over the things you want makes you focus less on the things that you have and more on the things that you don't.

Accepting your personal experiences is so valuable

Life truly is what you make of it, and if you are looking at your experiences, you aren't getting the most out of them.

Stop searching for happiness and realize it's already there

If we'd stop searching for happiness, we'd realize that we do have it in our lives, and we'd be able to embrace it.

Negative experiences are valuable

Through those negative experiences, we learn a lot about who we are, what's important to us, and where we are going.

Stop caring about fitting in

Embrace your individuality and it will guide you to true happiness.

​We're all going to die someday

That's a stark, sobering, but true fact. Stop focusing so much on trying to be perfect, or you'll miss out on the only opportunity that you have to enjoy life.

​The biggest takeaway from this book is to know yourself, what you should give care about and what you shouldn't give care about. Then, do something with what you choose to care about, own the struggles along the way and solve the problem you choose.

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About the Author

Mark Manson is a star blogger with more than two million readers. He lives in New York City. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is his first book.