MarkManson.net

My online media company that has owned and managed a variety of web properties over the years, but primarily it's just my popular self-development blog: MarkManson.net

CEO and Founder

I don't spend much time on LinkedIn, so the best way to contact me is via email.

Just to give you a brief idea of who I am: I write stuff and apparently millions of people read it. Over 20 million books sold, 3x #1 New York Times Bestsellers and my site MarkManson.net is, well, popular.

My newsletter is called "Your Next Breakthrough". It's one idea, one question, and one exercise each week that could spark your next breakthrough. No fluff, no filler, no BS. Just five minutes each week that might change everything. Sign up to it here: https://mrk.mn/3lKSV88

You can also find me hanging out on Instagram as @markmanson and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IAmMarkManson

If you just:

-Show up on time
-Do what you say you’re going to do
-Give a shit

You’re already ahead of 99% of people.

Mark Manson

Eight hours of sleep and a daily walk outside will solve as many of your problems as any guru or life coach.

You’re welcome.

Your ancestors survived centuries of floods, wars, famine, slavery, and plagues for you to sit on the toilet and compare your life to people on the internet who you’ve never met.

Be grateful.

The below 👇 link will hurt your eyes 😂

The best explanation of why comparison is toxic so far. 

#narvastory

Happiness is having better problems.

Success is having better failures.

Discipline is having better addictions.

People will judge you for whatever you do. People will judge you for whatever you don’t.

So fuck the people, do the thing.

Don’t ever tolerate disrespect because you want someone to like you. Not only will they not like you, but you will quickly stop liking yourself.

Happiness requires struggle. Without struggle, the world would lack meaning and our joys would feel empty. Be grateful for your struggles, because within them is the constant opportunity for purpose.

When you choose what to watch or read, you are choosing your future thoughts and perspectives. Only consume what you’d like to become.

If you don’t choose your values, others will choose them for you.

If you don’t choose your beliefs, others will choose them for you.

If you don’t choose how to use your time, others will choose it for you.

Sometimes, it’s supposed to hurt. That’s life’s way of making sure we don’t f*cking do it again.

Toxic people get all the attention, healthy people get all the happiness.

Pessimists get to sound smart. Optimists get to actually change and grow.

People unconsciously look to see how we feel about ourselves to know how they should feel about us. The best way to win respect is to respect yourself first.

I have something important to tell you. Something really important. I’m talking about life-changing, paradigm-shifting, plane-of-reality-transcending, poop-your-pants-and-call-your-mother important.

But I don’t feel like writing it down right now. So let’s just look out the window and think about what to do for dinner.
….

….

🍝

Aaanndd, I’m suddenly motivated now. OK, let’s do this!

It’s ironic, but for two days now, I’ve been procrastinating writing a post on procrastination. I’ve done it all. I’ve distracted myself with other, less important work. I’ve taken “breaks” that extended about three hours longer than they should have. I’ve done that thing where I sit on Facebook and then I close the window, open a new one, and instinctively type in Facebook again.

If I were to graph out the process of my own procrastination, it would look something like this image.

The green bar includes all of the positive feelings associated with writing this bad boy. Feelings such as the pleasure of creativity, the relief of knowing it’s done, the chuckles I get writing the inevitable poop jokes that are to come, knowing that I helped people out, the simple pleasure of writing, and so on.

As you can see though, the red bar—the total of all the negative feelings—is higher than the green bar—the total of all the positive feelings. Therefore, I just don’t write a fucking thing. I sit on YouTube, then Facebook, then take a nap, then spend way longer than I’d like to admit figuring out how to make an ugly bar graph with smiley faces on it.

And instead of writing that life-changing, pants-pooping, mother-hollering, epiphanic psycho-spiritual orgy of life advice that I promised, I sit here, analyzing my own laziness.

But such is being human.

Anyway, this is all to say, I have an article on how to stop procrastinating. Did you know that this was where this post was going? If you want to be a better human and get more shit done, the link is below in the comments 👇

I have a question: Are the people in your life there for the right reasons? Do they make you a better person? Can you fully trust them? 

If there was even an inkling of doubt here, then why are they around you?

The right people in your life make everything easier. The wrong people make everything more difficult. Therefore, knowing which relationships to nurture and which to shut down is one of the most important skills for life.

As one reader worked out:
”This is an issue I've had for most of my life, having people in my life for the wrong reasons. Sometimes they were in my life just to have someone to party with, and I was OK with it because I wanted to do the same.

It always led to drama, being used, and hanging around people that simply didn't give a f*ck about me and that made me feel even more lonely and hurt.

It wasn't until I had hypertensive emergency that I realized I had to make major changes in my life, and cutting these people out was one of them. I wasn't their party buddy anymore.”

In your life, you’ll find that some people will love you for who you used to be. Others will love you for who they wish you to be. But very few will love you for who you are now.

It pays to learn to spot the difference.

I challenge you this week to action, to distance yourself from someone who is not in your life for the right reasons. It could be as simple as canceling plans, ignoring a text, or filling your day with other activities. 

You’ll thank me for it.

If you liked this story and this wake-up call, you’ll love my ebook full of reader stories. I’ve put together a FREE PDF download packed with a ton of two-way conversations I’ve had with my readers the last couple of years. Link in comments 👇

When most people think of philosophy, they likely imagine indecipherable books that stretch on for a thousand pages, saying and solving nothing. They envision stuffy old men in misbuttoned shirts, untied shoelaces with mismatched socks, shuffling about the hallways of some archaic university, mumbling to themselves, completely unaware of the humanity around them.

And most of the time, they wouldn’t be wrong. As someone who reads a lot of philosophy, I’ve struggled through my fair share of overlong philosophy books that seem outdated or worse, irrelevant. Which isn’t to say I haven’t also come across brilliant ones that offer a nuanced understanding of the often indecipherable world around us.

Here are some of the best books on modern philosophy that I discovered in recent years. They cover a wide array of topics and were (mostly) enjoyable reads. Approach them with an open mind, and they may rekindle the sense of wonder you lost to adulthood. Link in comments 👇

You’re at more risk of being judged if you don’t fail, here’s why…

There are people in this world (maybe it’s you) who string along coulda-shoulda moments throughout their life like the toilet paper I used to string up along my neighbor’s house—a failure so consistent, it borders on art.

These people avoid taking action, confronting tough decisions and making themselves vulnerable to failure because they’re terrified of the repercussions of fucking up. But here’s the cold hard truth on that: If you’re not failing, you’re not learning.

If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. If you’re not growing, you’re not living. 

Living without failing is failing to live.

In a recent newsletter, I asked readers to inspire me with their stories of failure. Here’s one from Elli:

“I was thrown into a project at work I had absolutely no idea of. I know how to do my job which is completely different but I thought ‘I always figured things out, so I’ll figure it out now, too.’ Boy, did I fail!

Surprisingly, no one hates me for it. I always thought people would talk shit about me if I failed. I thought nobody would want to work or even talk with me anymore. Did the team give me negative feedback? Absolutely. Do they still want to work with me? Yes. 

Did they even praise my courage to jump into something I didn’t know anything about? Yes! 
I learned a lot about project management and that I definitely don’t want to do it, and of course about myself and the image others have of me.”

When confronted with life’s biggest opportunities, most of us shit the bed. But improving your life is a matter of experiencing desirable failures. The failures you’ve prepared for. The failures you expect. The failure you learn from. 

Think of something in your life that you’ve wanted to accomplish but haven’t. Something deep down that you haven’t gotten around to because you’re too scared to go for it. Because of, well, you know, failure. 

Now, for the love of God, go out and learn something about yourself. Go do it. 

If you liked this story, you’ll love my ebook full of reader stories. I’ve put together a FREE PDF download packed with a ton of two-way conversations I’ve had with my readers the last couple of years. Link in comments 👇

How to stay unhappy:

Keep expecting other people to fix your life for you.

Oi Australia & New Zealand! Get a load of this…
ㅤ
I’ll be visiting you guys down under throughout November this year, hitting each city with an evening of insights, humor and no-BS life advice. I’ll be talking about new, never-before-heard concepts—ideas that I’ve developed since the book—and taking questions from the audience. I’m “fuckin’ stoked”, as you would all say.
ㅤ
If you want to unf*ck yourself, you can sign up for pre-sale tickets at the link below, and each of these pre-sale tickets come with a free copy of my Subtle Art Journal.
ㅤ
So be sure to join the waiting list, because tickets will likely go quick. 
ㅤ
On-sale info: fane.com.au/markmanson

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