Meet The Self-Help Guru Who Thinks Self-Help Sucks
By The Editors
PlannedMan

There are many reasons why we hate self-help books, but one of the biggest is that self-help gurus only seem able to succeed if they prove to you that you suck and they don’t—this guy is the exception.

Highlights


Self-help gurus only seem able to succeed if they prove to you that you suck and they don’t.

“The local drunk who spent too much time in the philosophy section of the bookstore.”

“Part of my mission is to improve the quality of information and mental health advice out there in the world...”

Writes in a way that really does sound like one of your drunk pals down at the corner bar...

There are many reasons why we hate self-help books, but one of the biggest is that self-help gurus only seem able to succeed if they prove to you that you suck and they don’t.

That’s why we like Mark Manson and his site dedicated to “Life Advice That Doesn’t Suck.”

He’s also the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope.

And he publishes a free weekly newsletter, Mindf*ck Monday.

We like Manson because he doesn’t take himself too seriously—he doesn’t think you should either.

In fact, he brags that the Sunday Times once described his writing as “the local drunk who spent too much time in the philosophy section of the bookstore.”

Unlike many self-help gurus, he’s not just making up shit just because he thinks it sounds good. Here’s how he describes his editorial process:

“Part of my mission is to improve the quality of information and mental health advice out there in the world. To do this, I have put together a team of Psychologists with MScs and PhDs to help me research, outline and fact-check the content here on the site. Each article has one of four icons: ‘Evidence-Based,’ ‘Fact-Checked,’ ‘Theory’ or ‘Opinion.’

But he also writes in a way that really does sound like one of your drunk pals down at the corner bar, with article titles such as:

So does he get laid a lot? Maybe. But if you’re going to take some advice from some guy who says, “f•ck it all” but shows up near the top of a Google search, Manson and his site are not a bad place to start—because they don’t suck.

A+
a-

More From Mark Manson


Mark Manson
Follow Mark Manson