The Unexpected Joy of Wiping Out and What It Can Teach Us About Patience, Resilience and the Stuff That Really Matters
Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal.
When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list?
Odds are, not recently. We are living in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work, prioritize productivity over play, clamor for likes on social media, and are told not to accept failure as an option. As a result, we are more anxious and depressed than ever.
This book provides the antidote. Inspired by my viral New York Times article, (It’s Great to) Suck at Something shows readers how to live richer, more fulfilling lives by finding something – anything – to suck at. I draw on my personal experience sucking at surfing – a sport I’ve dedicated 17 years of my life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it, but have managed instead to find meaning and joy in the resilience it takes to continue. Along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, I explore sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity. I bust the myth of perfectionism, exposes the lie of nostalgia, and calls BS on workaholism, while helping readers discover something they, too, can suck at. I explain how sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways and helps us cultivate grit, practice patience and humility, and ultimately, to experience freedom. Freedom to pursue the futile because the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.
(It’s Great to) Suck at Something is an invitation to embrace our shortcomings as the very best of who we are and to open ourselves up to adventure, where we may not find what we thought we were looking for, but something way more important.
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