Mark Manson Everything is F*cked

What happens after you make all of your dreams come true?

What if hope is just another form of evil?

And are we making life harder than it needs to be?

Mark Manson sold millions of copies of his last book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and he’s back with a new one called Everything is F*cked. Today we talk about why he’s out to slaughter our sacred cows, why hope makes us fight one another, and why success tends to make us weak.

In this interview:

  • Why selling millions of books created a big problem for Mark Manson
  • “What is happening to our world?”
  • Being desperate to hear that everything will be okay
  • Why hope creates conflict
  • Why everyone is religious to a certain extent

Plus:

  • Why we’ll never truly escape pain
  • Why we need enemies to unite us
  • Self sabotage and why we make life harder than it needs to be
  • Why guys get more fragile as they get richer
  • Why we don’t have a masculinity problem – we have a maturity problem
  • Mark’s past issues with women

Click here for Mark Manson’s book Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope.

About Mark Manson

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY SHOULD I TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY?

Mark Manson in 2017Just some guy who reads a lot. And don’t take anything I say seriously. Unless you want to, of course. But the point is to think for yourself. If you like some of the things I say, great. If not, that’s fine too.

But, to answer your question, my name is Mark Manson. I’m 33 years old. I grew up in Austin, Texas. Went to school and lived in Boston. Graduated from Boston University in 2007. A couple years later, I started an online business (and the earliest form of this blog) and traveled and lived all over the world for about seven years. Ended up marrying a Brazilian. Now I live in New York City.

SO, WHY DO YOU WRITE ABOUT ALL THIS STUFF?

Most of what I write is written for myself, first and foremost. I don’t share these ideas because I think I’m right and other people are wrong. I write them because I think I’m wrong, and correcting my own misjudgments on a public platform seems to help out a lot of other people in the process.

HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR PHILOSOPHY?

We’re all wrong about everything, some just a little less wrong than others. Everything sucks some of the time, and that’s OK — happiness is learning how to appreciate the struggles in your life. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the planet, you couldn’t be special even if you wanted to be, so stop trying to prove yourself all the time. Trying to prove something to yourself and others is the root of most misery.

Life is about solving problems. Therefore, learn how to pick good problems. Avoiding problems just makes everything worse.

Human emotions are flawed. Always be skeptical of yourself, no matter what. Let go of your identity, you don’t really know who you are, nor should you. Sex is good. As long as it’s done consciously and for emotionally healthy reasons. So fuck your brains out. Appreciate love, but understand there are things more important than love.

Conflict is inevitable and often necessary. Sometimes things need to be broken before they can be made better.

IT SAYS YOU’RE AN AUTHOR, HAVE YOU WRITTEN A BOOK?

Yes, two, in fact. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life came out in 2016 and has become a big bestseller (NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, etc.). It basically talks about what we choose to find important in life and why it matters. Mainly because life sucks sometimes, and if we don’t care about important things, then we’re going to get steamrolled by all the little things.

I also wrote a dating advice book for men called Models: Attract Women Through Honesty. It was recently revised and updated in 2016 as well.

Click here for Mark Manson’s book Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope.