134: Mark Manson – How To Prioritize Which F*cks To Give

"If I’m not excited about something the readers aren’t going to be excited either." - Mark Manson Hey guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (formerly NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It's my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I'm so glad you're joining me on this journey! Do you ever feel like you care too much about what others think of you? Now more than ever, it's easy to be preoccupied with how you come across to people. We obsess over how we look on social media, and we lose sight of what really matters to us because we're so focused on others' opinions. Today, I have an awesome guest who will help you get over the opinions holding you back so that you can improve yourself and your Creative Alchemy.  I'm thrilled to have Mark Manson on today's show. Mark is a master blogger and author, and his most famous work, The Subtle Art of Not Giving F*ck, has sold over six million copies and has been translated in over 25 languages. On today's show, we're talking all about Mark's journey in becoming an author, how you can become a successful Creative Alchemist through branding and marketing, and how you begin to let go of the opinions of others.  Who Is Mark Manson? Mark Manson is a blogger, thinker, and two-time #1 New York Times bestselling author. He grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from Boston University with a degree in International Relations and Business in 2007.  Mark is an absolutely incredible writer. He authored the immensely successful books The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope, and Models: Attract Women Through Honesty. He's also written many great articles about life, relationships, creativity, and numerous other topics, which are available on his website Markmanson.net. Mark and his work have been featured on various media outlets and programs, including CNN, Time Magazine, New York Times, and The Larry King Show.  Since our interview, Mark and I have become great friends. I'm really excited to share his advice because he's incredibly knowledgeable about creativity and marketing your Creative Alchemy, so let's get started! Becoming a Self-Help Author Long before writing The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, Mark was highly interested in personal development and self-help.  "I became intensely interested in just all kinds of psychological [and] philosophical topics from a very early age. And then it was when I was in my 20s that I started getting into the self-help thing. It's like, 'Oh, cool. I can learn how to make more friends and make money while I sleep.'" - Mark Manson Shortly after graduating from college, Mark found that the job market offered very few opportunities because of the economic recession. He started blogging in 2009 and freelanced in web design in order to sell products online.  "In the beginning, I was just like, 'I want to make enough money to like pay rent and drink beer with my friends.' … Most of the sites that I set up or tried to set up [were] mostly affiliate-type stuff. So I'd find some niche and build like a really spammy website … then push like some crappy supplement or something." - Mark Manson Over time, Mark discovered that he was terrible at pushing products online, but people enjoyed his writing.  "I discovered that I was bad at selling stuff. … Like I wasn't making any money, but people really liked my writing. And so that's when I decided like, 'Hey, like maybe this is the thing I should be doing.'" - Mark Manson One of the few profitable websites that Mark created was a dating advice site. He sold affiliate products on the site and offered relationship consulting work. After the blog was a success for a few years, Mark self-published a book for men about relationships.  "It's called Models: Attract Women Through Honesty. And basically, the idea of the book was [because] I felt like 95% of the [relationsh...