In my last blog I looked at the Nielsen BookScan of best-selling books in Australia. The most purchased book in Australia was Scott Pape’s The Barefoot Investor – a financial self-development book.It is a financial self-improvement guide teaching people how to become wealthy. In number three was Mark Manson’ The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (a life self-development guide). Between them, Scott Pape and Mark Mason sold more than one million books in Australia in the past two years.
I looked at the structure of The Barefoot Investor in my last blog and came to the conclusion that while it is well-written, the advice is not revolutionary. In this blog, I’m now going to look at The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. But before I begin looking at The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck I want to examine who these two writers are. They have made a fortune through their self-development books, yet they are two ordinary guys. They both have used blogs to help establish a public profile. Could you follow in their footsteps?
Scott Papegrew up in a country town, Ouyen, Victoria. He got his Bachelor of Business at La Trobe University. He worked as a stockbroker and investment advisor and then started writing a financial column for News Corporation papers – The Courier Mail, The Herald-Sun, The Adelaide Advertiser and The Daily Telegraph. From there he got into radio, contributing to Triple M and the ABC. In 2014 he wrote The Barefoot Investor and as they say the rest is history. Basically he was a worker in the financial sector, who managed to land a column in a newspaper. He probably started off blogging and eventually got a regular column. Today he works as Seven Network’s financial advisor.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is marketed as a book criticising the self-improvement industry (a clever tactic) yet the author Mark Manson is a long-time self-improvement blogger. Like Scott Pape, Mason has a finance degree. Two years after graduating from Boston University he started his first blog. It was to market his dating advice business, but his blog was so popular he abandoned the dating business and became a full-time blogger. His blogging website, markmanson.net was attracting 400,000 visitors a month. It grew to two million by 2016.
On a side note… How is your blogging going? If you want a media profile start with a blog then try to contribute some free copy to local newspapers. Volunteer at a community radio station. Chip away at these, perhaps study media at a TAFE, and try to get some work with a local paper. You could follow in the footsteps of Pape and Mason.
In 2016 Mason released his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. It went straight into the US best-sellers list.
The clever marketing around The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck bills it as an anti-self-development book, but I think this book has many of the lessons us self-development mentors have been teaching for years.
The publisher’s description for the book is:
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. For decades, we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let's be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn't sugar coat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let's-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up. Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better.”
I think I’ve always encouraged people to accept that life is not fair. You have to forgive others their faults, let go of past grievances and then get on with it! Yes, you do have to stomach the lemons! Do not dwell on the past and what has or hasn’t been done to you.
Another of Manson’s key messages is to take pleasure in the ordinary.
You will have a growing appreciation for life’s basic experiences: the pleasures of a simple friendship, creating something, helping a person in need, reading a good book, laughing with someone you really care about. … Maybe they’re ordinary for a reason: because they are what actually matters.
This is basic gratitude! It’s knowing that your cup is half full not half empty. How many times have I told you to stop and give thanks for all that you do have – your friends, your family, your creative pursuits! These are truly important. I’ve written more than once that you should spend time meditating and giving thanks for all of the joys in your life. You should shower those you love with the good things!
Perhaps people like Mason’s book because it is crude and rude with references to ‘s**t sandwiches’ and yes, he uses the F-word. But while Manson uses rough language, he has essentially written a book about establishing your life values. For a long time I’ve been imploring you to work out what you want and what is important to you, then shape your life goals around those things. Finally, I want to ask again what wisdom YOU can offer others on this journey through life. People are clearly looking for guidance through books and blogs. I know that we can all contribute to the conversation about navigating our way through life.
Good luck with your contribution!
ABOUT PAT MESITI
Pat Mesiti is a best-selling author, coach and educator in the area of personal development. Having built some of Australia’s largest people-driven organisations, Pat understands the power of harnessing human potential. He has shared the stage with some of the world’s great business minds and has sold over millions of copies of his books and materials.