The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F_ck

than to actually test those beliefs and find out for sure.
Beliefs of this sort—that I’m not attractive enough, so
why bother; or that my boss is an asshole, so why bother—
are designed to give us moderate comfort now by
mortgaging greater happiness and success later on. They’re
terrible long-term strategies, yet we cling to them because
we assume we’re right, because we assume we already
know what’s supposed to happen. In other words, we
assume we know how the story ends.
Certainty is the enemy of growth. Nothing is for certain
until it has already happened—and even then, it’s still
debatable. That’s why accepting the inevitable
imperfections of our values is necessary for any growth to
take place.
Instead of striving for certainty, we should be in constant
search of doubt: doubt about our own beliefs, doubt about
our own feelings, doubt about what the future may hold for
us unless we get out there and create it for ourselves.
Instead of looking to be right all the time, we should be
looking for how we’re wrong all the time. Because we are.
Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change.
Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth. It means not
cutting your arm open to cure a cold or splashing dog piss
on your face to look young again. It means not thinking
“mediocre” is a vegetable, and not being afraid to care
about things.
Because here’s something that’s weird but true: we don’t
actually know what a positive or negative experience is.
Some of the most difficult and stressful moments of our
lives also end up being the most formative and motivating.
Some of the best and most gratifying experiences of our
lives are also the most distracting and demotivating. Don’t
trust your conception of positive/negative experiences. All
that we know for certain is what hurts in the moment and
what doesn’t. And that’s not worth much.