LensqAuthor: Mark Manson
Print Copy | Kindle
This book has been on my wishlist for really long. I was all excited to start it off finally. I enjoyed the first few chapters for his style of writing. Only after 100 pages I realised that it is more of a book for entertainment than learning something new. He just consolidated the concepts from top self-improvement books and wrote it in his own style giving his own examples to drive the point home. Initially, it was confusing to understand what he was trying to say. But later you realise that there is so much unnecessary introduction to a concept and the actual concept is explained in a quick way.
All the above is criticism for the book, let’s get into why should you read the book.
If you are new to self-improvement, then you should read this to know the gist of all the important self-improvement books out there. There is a reason why it is one of the best selling books in the market. Instead of you reading different books to understand the basics, he covers them all for you in one book, that too in an entertaining way instead of giving instructions.
Summary
Ch1 Don’t Try
The first chapter says “Don’t try”. That attracts you. Because it tricks you into thinking that you can be what you want to be without trying. But that is not the truth. All he says there is choose the few things which you want to excel at. It is about priorities. If you bark at every passing dog, you will never be able to reach the destination.
Ch2 Happiness is a Problem
He talks about the truths of life. Everyone has problems. Happiness comes from solving them. This is another way of telling that happiness is the journey and not the destiny
Ch3 You are not special
He drops another bomb to bring you to reality that you are not special. It is his way of saying that you can’t be good at everything. Choose your priorities and work on that daily to reach where you aspire to be instead of thinking you are special.
Ch4 The Value of Suffering
You might be successful in life but if your values don’t align with what success means to you, you will feel miserable forever. You choose your suffering. You decide what you want to feel good about and what you want to feel bad about.
Ch5 You are always choosing
Everyone has problems. But you can change something in your life when you take responsibility for it and act upon it.
Ch6 You’re wrong about everything
You see a certain facts and form beliefs. Your interpretation could have been wrong. It would not even be a fact but coincidence. Only if you are less certain about yourself, you have the chance to question your beliefs and be open for change.
Ch7 Failure is the way forward
You will learn more from all the failures you ever had than the tons of successes. Just do something about where you want to reach.
Ch8 The importance of saying no
When you say no to all the things which don’t matter, you make time for all the things which matter. Unlimited freedom doesn’t take you anywhere. It is the freedom through commitment helps you narrow down on what is important to you in life.
Ch9 ….And then you die
You live your life fully doing what you need to do than live like you have forever. When you know that you are eventually going to die, make the most of it by focusing on where you want to reach.
Read this book if you want an entertaining way to learn self-help concepts. Skip this book if you have read enough number of self-help books already.
Happy learning the art of saying no!
