Everything is F*cked Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Although, we have always believed in having hope during all situations, it actually could be harming us more than helping us, creating unnecessary anxiety in our lives. Hope makes us unsatisfied with our everyday lives as we wish for a brighter future. We should accept life how it is and live in the present.

About the Author

Mark Manson is a self-help author, Self Development consultant, entrepeneur, and blogger. Born and raised in Austin Texas, he graduated from Boston University with a degree in finance in 2007. His book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck ranks sixth on The New York Times Best Seller List in the How-to and Miscellaneous category as of the week of October 2, 2016. His next book, Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope, a followup to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, was published in 2019. He is married and lives in Manhattan.

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Key Insights

We all focus on a brighter future for ourselves.

But, should the future really be our focal point?

Are we setting ourselves for disappointment if we can’t meet those standards we’ve set for ourselves?

In his book, “Everything is F*cked”, Mark Manson talks about the ideas of hope and how it relates to overall happiness and satisfaction in one’s life.

“By experiencing our hopes, we lose them. We see that our beautiful visions for a perfect future are not so perfect, that our dreams and aspirations are themselves riddled with unexpected flaws and unforeseen sacrifices. Because the only thing that can ever truly destroy a dream is to have it come true.”- Mark Manson

With Manson’s constructive advice that will change the way you think about the future, you will begin to focus on the here and the now. That’s what really matters according to Manson.

Hope Drives People

Throughout the history of the world, hope is the thing that gets people up and out of bed in the morning. It’s what makes them get through tough breakups. And, what helps them to feel some sort of purpose in life. It drives our everyday behavior.

Hope is usually tied to the idea of the future. But, what if we are already living our best lives RIGHT NOW? Why are we focusing on the future?

“Hopelessness is the root of anxiety, mental illness, and depression. It is the source of all misery and the cause of all addiction.”- Mark Manson

Because the world is better than it has ever been in terms of crime, poverty, and other impactful issues, there’s less hope and more fear of losing all these things we have gained over the years. And, because of this fear anxiety and depression have become a more common problem among humans everywhere.

Thinking Brain vs. Feeling Brain

To understand the psychology behind hope, we must think of it from both our thinking brain, which is the logical side, and our feeling brain, which focuses on emotion.

A lot of people claim that if we put our feelings aside, we would be more productive. But, that’s just not true. We need both sides, the ‘thinking’ and the ‘feeling’, to do anything. Our brains need to work together in order to stop becoming a victim of hope. This will decrease the cases of anxiety and depression among humans.

Also, our emotions cannot be controlled. They must simply be things that we accept into our lives.

The Four Laws

The feeling brain can weaken our hopes. This turns hope into a formula for unhappy and unsatisfying lives.

There are four laws that control our emotional state:

Every action causes an equal emotional reaction. For example, say someone broke your phone in anger. You would then become angry and want to break theirs in return.

Self-worth equals the sum of our emotions over time. For example, this is common with abuse victims if they continually get abused, they will begin to think that they deserve that treatment.

Your identity will stay your identity until a new experience changes it. For example, the abused...