I Used to Be a Miserable F*ck: An Everyman's Guide to a Meaningful Life

I am not a reader, but this book had me finishing it in only two days. I love how real the author is and speaks as if directly to you. I gained insight in my own life and learned a lot from this book. A great book for those of you on a journey of self discovery like me and such a great easy read for beginners.

Great book so far, love the honesty.

Got the book for my boyfriend. Found him on the floor with his feet up the other day and he told me : the Angry therapist also had trouble medidating like me, so I am now looking for a different way to find peace. If that's not personal growth, I don't know what is! Now waiting for him to finish it, so that I can read it myself.

So at first, I was optimistic. It had been recommended to me by a very good friend who knows as well as I do that mental health is important.Sadly, this book leaves a lot to be desired. Really, I think this guy is an idiot. Let me explain.The way that he explains very common and basic ideas like "Don't do the thing your wife told you not to do, or it might piss her off" is asinine. The premise is that he is going to pitch a script to a producer at a dinner party, she doesn't want him to do it because he will embarrass her. He does it anyways. They fight. What a surprise.He tries to write these scenarios with bits of psychology peppered in. He says that he blatantly ignored his wife's wishes so he could stroke his own ego, as he is a man and should be bringing in more money than her. As you can see, he is already someone who has questionable morals and thought processes and I'm not sure I can take advice from someone like that.While reading this book, I have come to see that I am much more emotionally in control than him and because of that, I know that I will learn nothing reading this. Mostly, I just found it hard to believe that a person in his mid 20's-early 30's could still act like such a baby. At one point, he talks about how his wife denies him sex and he flops around in the bed like a fish out of water, throwing a temper tantrum. He lost all credibility right there, but I pressed on reading.It got worse. He tells a story about how he was at a party and his ex was there. He specifies that they stayed friends and have been friends for longer than he had even started dating his wife. He is speaking with his ex for a good portion of the night, long enough to make his wife jealous. An argument insues. He instructs me, the reader, to simply say "I am sorry for hurting you, I will try to consider your feelings in the future." and that's all. Do not explain any further until the dust has settled a bit. I polled some of the women I work with, what would they think of this situation and my response.They came to the same conclusion I did. If a man was to say that to his wife, without further explaining how they were simply talking about work and not flirting with each other, then the wife would definitely jump to the conclusion that he was flirting with her and apologized because he got caught. He made no indication of what they were actually talking about, so her mind is free to fantasize the worst possible scenarios and in my opinion, this course of action is just arrogance. 'Heh, yeah, I was flirting with her. So what? Are you going to leave me? Doubt it.'I really wanted to like this book and the premise and believe the transformation. He states over and over that he has a metamorphosis after his wife leaves him. He turns from boy to man just like that. I don't buy it. People can't change their atrocious behaviors and mannerisms like that.Also, the worst thing is, he does not talk to the every man. He's constantly talking about writing scripts in hollywood and getting the corner office of the big fortune 500 company, but most of us don't live that life. I'm a mechanic. A filthy, foul mouthed, angry, dirty minded, blue collar, white guy from Jersey. Stop speaking to the imaginary people that you think read your book that make $150,000 a year. And stop talking about crossfit, even though I know the temptation is so great.

Introduced to John Kim through his 'The Angry Therapist' podcasts that do exactly what they aim to - create dialogue. It's obvious that John Kim has worked hard to become the man he is today and he shares freely the lessons he believes will allow others to become the best version of themselves. John Kim presents himself with transparency and humour, allowing us to remember our human failings as we work towards improvement. I find myself paying his blended knowledge and wisdom forward in everyday scenarios, and he continues to encourage and inspire me (if only on the page or in the ear) to keep leaning into the resistance on a daily basis. Highly recommend the podcasts, following him on Instagram or reading the book.