Mark Manson built an audience as a blogger before turning his irreverent style into this bestseller. His argument is that relentless positivity and the pressure to feel good all the time make people more anxious, not less. Since everyone must care about something, the real skill is choosing a small number of values worth caring about and letting the rest go.
Manson draws on stories from his own aimless twenties, a friend's death, and figures such as the Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda, who kept fighting in the Philippine jungle for decades after the war ended. He distinguishes good values, which are reality-based and controllable, from bad ones such as pleasure, material success or always being right. He encourages readers to take responsibility for their problems even when not at fault, to be uncertain about their own beliefs, and to accept rejection and mortality.
The tone is profane, funny and deliberately anti-guru, which made the book a hit with readers who distrust conventional self-help. Underneath the attitude, many of its ideas echo Stoicism, Buddhism and existential psychology. Its short chapters and conversational asides make it a quick read, and it became one of the best-selling self-help titles of its decade, spawning a film and a follow-up book on hope.
Book details
| Author | Mark Manson |
|---|---|
| First published | 2016 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Self-help |
| Type | Non-fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 224 |
Themes
- Values
- Responsibility
- Acceptance of pain
- Failure
- Mortality
Who should read it
Readers tired of upbeat self-help who want a frank, humorous push to prioritise what actually matters to them.
If you liked this, try
- Everything Is F*cked
- The Obstacle Is the Way
- The Power of Now