Book Review: “The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck” by Sarah Knight

If you’re squeamish about the f-word, you may want to skip this book.

If, however, you are happy to read and/or speak as if in the company of sailors, AND you’re looking for some direction on how to stop caring so much about any- and everything, to the point that you frequently feel:

“…fed up with looking at your life as a series of obligations to be met, people to tolerate, and calendar squares to be desperately reshuffled until a blessed wild card in the form of a free afternoon [rises] to the top (p.190)…”

then you might want to check this one out. As the author Sarah Knight so eloquently puts it:

“I’m telling you, the moment you decide to stop giving a f*ck is the moment you start living your best life.”

And that, simply put, is what this book is ultimately about. Along with making you laugh out loud at the hilarious writing and illustrations, including this one:

A very important thing to note is that although the title of this book is irreverent, Ms. Knight actually does give sound advice, categorizing people who don’t give a f*ck into three categories:

• Children
• Assholes
• The Enlightened

She includes advice on saying what you mean and meaning what you say without being a child or an asshole. There’s definitely a place for courtesy and manners in being Enlightened, and Ms. Knight provides oodles of practical examples.

But to start, she has you put together a “f*ck budget,” utilizing the handy measurement of whether it brings you joy or annoys.

Right?

She also gives tremendous pointers on setting boundaries and coming up with your own “personal policies” so you can say No to things you don’t want to do or talk about without being an asshole or hurting anyone’s feelings. (See? MAGIC!)

I don’t want to give away any more of what is in the book, because, hey, you should just get it! But I may be using its visualization exercise with clients super soon. : )

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August 25, 2016