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F**k It - Do What You Love
A recent Gallup poll in the US found that 70% of those in work didn't enjoy their job.
In his latest book, John C. Parkin brings the power of saying "F**k It" to the subject of doing what we love. In this highly entertaining and motivational book, John sets out to prove that when we do what we love, we're actually more likely to be happier, healthier, wealthier, and more successful. He addresses the significant blocks that people experience when they consider doing what they love,
"Doing what you love is for time off, not work",
"Doing what I love would be selfish",
"I just don't know what I love" and
"I could never make a living from doing what I love".
Through no-nonsense ideas, fascinating facts and motivating calls to action, John brings us from pessimism to inspiration, so that our thoughts become powered by
"F**k it, I can't waste any more of my life",
"F**k it, I will find a way to make this work",
"F**k it, I will do what I love".
F**k Do What You Love is not just a it's a step-by-step map to get every single person to spend their precious time on this planet doing what they love.
In his latest book, John C. Parkin brings the power of saying "F**k It" to the subject of doing what we love. In this highly entertaining and motivational book, John sets out to prove that when we do what we love, we're actually more likely to be happier, healthier, wealthier, and more successful. He addresses the significant blocks that people experience when they consider doing what they love,
"Doing what you love is for time off, not work",
"Doing what I love would be selfish",
"I just don't know what I love" and
"I could never make a living from doing what I love".
Through no-nonsense ideas, fascinating facts and motivating calls to action, John brings us from pessimism to inspiration, so that our thoughts become powered by
"F**k it, I can't waste any more of my life",
"F**k it, I will find a way to make this work",
"F**k it, I will do what I love".
F**k Do What You Love is not just a it's a step-by-step map to get every single person to spend their precious time on this planet doing what they love.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 2016
252 people are currently reading
1395 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
February 6, 2016
Odd. Reading this book was like watching an ocean liner sink slowly below the waves.
It started well. I like the premise of saying "f**k it" to life. It means that we shouldn't worry, we should do what we want, we shouldn't be afraid to take the big life-changing decisions. The book and I were merrily sailing along at five stars. Great book.
But then we hit an iceberg. The writing is frankly awful. It is very self-indulgent with a combination of convoluted sentences (such as, I'm sorry to say, too many commas), which have been badly edited (with too many long comments in brackets) and poor attempts at humour (such as commenting on the number of brackets). So I revise my opinion down to four stars. Good content spoiled by amateurish writing.
The ship sinks further when you realise that the author loves to talk about himself. Huge long screeds about his family, his life, his wife, the decisions that he faced. I wouldn't have minded if he was someone interesting and/or had done something noteworthy. But he isn't and he hasn't. We're down to three stars. Good content, but poor writing and he talks about himself too much.
Then it dawns on you. This is a very thin idea which has been streeeetched beyond breaking point. Sure, "f**k it" is a useful sentiment sometime. We all face occasions in our life when we need to have the courage to do something outrageous. But we shouldn't necessarily be like that all the time. Our lives would be much poorer if we hopped from one life-changing decision to another.
A case in point. He tells us about the time that Paul McCartney said "f**k it" to an office job and joined the Beatles. Chalk up a victory for "f**k it". Except it doesn't quite work. The Beatles didn't become the Beatles when Paul joined them. They honed their skills playing night after night in seedy clubs in Hamburg. So maybe "f**k it" brought them together, but they got good by putting in the hard miles. Every night in Hamburg they didn't say "f**k it" and have an easy life. They didn't give up on the hard work.
And not every person who gave up their day job to become a rock star turned into one of the Beatles.
The whole idea of this book is that you should give up your boring job and start a small business. That's not a wholly bad idea - I've done it - but it won't be for everyone. Sometimes you have to stick at something and find a way to get joy from something you are already doing. Too much "f**k it" can lead to indecision and constantly changing your mind.
We're down to two stars and still sinking. Then you get to the end of the book and the author tries to sell you something. Actually, he tries to sell you lots of things. Apparently he's written other books on the same theme. He will cheerfully sell you time in his retreat in Italy. And recommend his friends' books. And ... it all feels rather grubby.
We get to one star and we're sunk. There's a decent idea in there, but it is badly presented and rushed. And how on earth did he manage to spin this out to more than one book?
A strange thought occurs. As I was reading this, I got the overwhelming sense that the author was milking his one good idea. The book was poorly edited. Surely someone with knowledge of the publishing industry would have put a red pen through all that self-indulgent stuff about himself? Then I realised what had happened. He had written a hurried first draft to try to cash in on the success of his other books. At this point, most authors would have knuckled down to the hard work of revision and editing.
But no, f**k it, it's close enough. He couldn't be bothered to edit. It's good enough. Hit print.
And I am afraid the effect on me was another "f**k it" moment. I came across huge screeds of the book which were far too boring and badly written that I was skipping over them. I was saying "f**k it" - my time is too valuable for this.
And that, ultimately, is where "f**k it" falls over. There are times in your life when it's exactly the right sentiment. And 99% of the time when it isn't.
If this book hits you at the right time in your life, then you might think it's wonderful. I started the bidding at five stars. For everyone else, it's a one star.
Not recommended.
It started well. I like the premise of saying "f**k it" to life. It means that we shouldn't worry, we should do what we want, we shouldn't be afraid to take the big life-changing decisions. The book and I were merrily sailing along at five stars. Great book.
But then we hit an iceberg. The writing is frankly awful. It is very self-indulgent with a combination of convoluted sentences (such as, I'm sorry to say, too many commas), which have been badly edited (with too many long comments in brackets) and poor attempts at humour (such as commenting on the number of brackets). So I revise my opinion down to four stars. Good content spoiled by amateurish writing.
The ship sinks further when you realise that the author loves to talk about himself. Huge long screeds about his family, his life, his wife, the decisions that he faced. I wouldn't have minded if he was someone interesting and/or had done something noteworthy. But he isn't and he hasn't. We're down to three stars. Good content, but poor writing and he talks about himself too much.
Then it dawns on you. This is a very thin idea which has been streeeetched beyond breaking point. Sure, "f**k it" is a useful sentiment sometime. We all face occasions in our life when we need to have the courage to do something outrageous. But we shouldn't necessarily be like that all the time. Our lives would be much poorer if we hopped from one life-changing decision to another.
A case in point. He tells us about the time that Paul McCartney said "f**k it" to an office job and joined the Beatles. Chalk up a victory for "f**k it". Except it doesn't quite work. The Beatles didn't become the Beatles when Paul joined them. They honed their skills playing night after night in seedy clubs in Hamburg. So maybe "f**k it" brought them together, but they got good by putting in the hard miles. Every night in Hamburg they didn't say "f**k it" and have an easy life. They didn't give up on the hard work.
And not every person who gave up their day job to become a rock star turned into one of the Beatles.
The whole idea of this book is that you should give up your boring job and start a small business. That's not a wholly bad idea - I've done it - but it won't be for everyone. Sometimes you have to stick at something and find a way to get joy from something you are already doing. Too much "f**k it" can lead to indecision and constantly changing your mind.
We're down to two stars and still sinking. Then you get to the end of the book and the author tries to sell you something. Actually, he tries to sell you lots of things. Apparently he's written other books on the same theme. He will cheerfully sell you time in his retreat in Italy. And recommend his friends' books. And ... it all feels rather grubby.
We get to one star and we're sunk. There's a decent idea in there, but it is badly presented and rushed. And how on earth did he manage to spin this out to more than one book?
A strange thought occurs. As I was reading this, I got the overwhelming sense that the author was milking his one good idea. The book was poorly edited. Surely someone with knowledge of the publishing industry would have put a red pen through all that self-indulgent stuff about himself? Then I realised what had happened. He had written a hurried first draft to try to cash in on the success of his other books. At this point, most authors would have knuckled down to the hard work of revision and editing.
But no, f**k it, it's close enough. He couldn't be bothered to edit. It's good enough. Hit print.
And I am afraid the effect on me was another "f**k it" moment. I came across huge screeds of the book which were far too boring and badly written that I was skipping over them. I was saying "f**k it" - my time is too valuable for this.
And that, ultimately, is where "f**k it" falls over. There are times in your life when it's exactly the right sentiment. And 99% of the time when it isn't.
If this book hits you at the right time in your life, then you might think it's wonderful. I started the bidding at five stars. For everyone else, it's a one star.
Not recommended.
September 6, 2016
I should've said f**ck it and don't read this book
January 6, 2017
This book was clearly written for profit and nothing else. Useless waste of paper and ink. I thought it would be a refreshing read but it's just repetitive and full of braggadocious anectodes about the author's experiences... with not much content.
I stopped reading the book after coming across the following paragraph:
"David became sick and exhausted after a critical decision had been made. This is often a good indication of whether a decision, or a route we've taken, is right for us, and consistent with doing what we love."
Really, Parkin? Becoming ill = good decision? Is this what you really going to push on us?
DO NOT RECOMMEND
I stopped reading the book after coming across the following paragraph:
"David became sick and exhausted after a critical decision had been made. This is often a good indication of whether a decision, or a route we've taken, is right for us, and consistent with doing what we love."
Really, Parkin? Becoming ill = good decision? Is this what you really going to push on us?
DO NOT RECOMMEND
March 20, 2017
I persisted for about 100 pages before I too said "f**k it". What a complete load of self-congratulatory crap. There are better books out there that can help you find what makes you happy and I suspect you wouldn't have to wade through 300 pages of life-sucking, disconnected writing.
February 16, 2016
I came across this book in the airport shop, and I thought it was a sign- I thought it would give me the tools/ the impetus to improve my daily life. But it really didn't. I found that the author concentrated so much on his own life and his own achievements- it was immensely self-congratulatory and autobiographical. The mantras didn't do anything for me- they were so many/too many. The author spent so much of the book 'blabbing'- it was like he was inflating the content to reach a quota. It wasn't inspiring, and I'm someone who is easily inspired. If you wanted to boil the book down to serious content that would help towards what you thought it would, it would come down to less than a fifth of the book. It should have been much better.
March 11, 2019
Pirmiausia paaiškinsiu, kodėl nusprendžiau paimti šią knygą į rankas: tikėjausi, kad ji man suteiks šiek tiek daugiau pasitikėjimo savimi, ryžto bei drąsos įvairiose gyvenimiškose situacijose, nes prisipažinsiu, šių išvardintų asmenybės savybių manyje trūksta. Nutiko priešingai, nes knyga visiškai man nepagelbėjo, nes autoriaus požiūris, mintys, patarimai bei jo „f**k it mantros“ absoliučiai prasikirto su mano požiūriu bei asmenybe. Mano nuomone, ši knyga yra atstumianti, skatinanti neatsakingumą ir egocentrizmą. Taip, tiesa, gyventi reikia dėl savęs ir sau, tačiau nepamirštant elementariausio žmogiškumo bei gerumo, todėl tikrai nerekomenduoju niekam šios knygos, jeigu norite būti visapusiškai geras žmogus.
December 31, 2016
If you are earning thousands of pounds and you want to buy a huge house in the country somewhere exclusive, this book is for you. You will have to get past the authors annoying writing style, it is not funny just irritating.
Back in the real world where debt, low wages, renting from the people that this book is ultimately aimed at, it is a ridiculous concept and a constant advertisement for their expensive retreats in Italy.
Back in the real world where debt, low wages, renting from the people that this book is ultimately aimed at, it is a ridiculous concept and a constant advertisement for their expensive retreats in Italy.
November 1, 2018
Let me summarize this book. If you don’t like your job, f-it, if you don’t like your life, f-it. Work part time, watch four hours a TV a day and write a book that has no structure and is written in 15 different forms of font. Don’t waste your time reading this book.
Read
February 8, 2017First of the F**k It series I've read and also the last. I ended up skimming parts of it because it was that bad. It was basically a big ad for their retreat, e-books, courses, music, etc. The author goes as far as to suggest hiring a cleaner to come to your house so you have more time to do what you love. *side eye* I couldn't take him seriously at all. Boring. Repetitive. Pointless.
July 4, 2016
I love the title and the book's premise - it definitely drew me in, but I wasn't in love with the book. The author has a lot of nice, inspirational ideas, but I felt as if I was reading someone's personal blog rather than a book of substance.
January 1, 2024
Complete waste of time, the only thing I liked was writing a letter to my 20 years older self... The book keeps repeating itself; the ideas are nothing special.. If you are new to these things maybe might catch your attention...
March 26, 2017
I only made it 37 pages in by OH MY LORD! This is the most revolting piece of word vomit I've ever read. And this person charges people money to teach them how to lead a better life? I'm absolutely flabbergasted!
Read
March 30, 2021Didn’t like the voice. And while I understand being coy and spelling it "f**k" on the cover but have the courage of your convictions and spell it out properly in the book.
February 6, 2017
A good idea stretched too thin. Terribly written.
June 11, 2018
Gaila, bet nėra ką pasakyti.
Turėjau vilčių, pradėjus skaityti linksėjau sutikdama su autoriaus idėjomis. Mintis aiški - daryk su gyvenimu ką nori, spjauk į kitų nuomonę, nusimesk pančius ir eik savo keliu. Tačiau viskas ką toliau randu, tai lengvabūdišką pasakojimą kaip autorius pasiekė to ar ano naudodamas tokius ar anokius metodus. Paslaptis ta, kad kiekvienam savo ir tas siauras nutiestas takelis neduoda jokios naudos. Faktiškai į rankas pakliuvo autoriaus dienoraštis apie jo sėkmingus sprendimus. Kas nėra labai naudinga norint kažką pritaikyti sau, o ir skaitymas apie tai, kaip kažkas labai didžiuojasi savimi, ilgainiui pasidaro nuobodus.
Nežinau kam galėčiau parekomenduoti tokią knygą. Gal tiems, kuriems patinka sėkmės istorijos? Man tai pirmoji knyga, kurios nereikia savo kolekcijoje.
Turėjau vilčių, pradėjus skaityti linksėjau sutikdama su autoriaus idėjomis. Mintis aiški - daryk su gyvenimu ką nori, spjauk į kitų nuomonę, nusimesk pančius ir eik savo keliu. Tačiau viskas ką toliau randu, tai lengvabūdišką pasakojimą kaip autorius pasiekė to ar ano naudodamas tokius ar anokius metodus. Paslaptis ta, kad kiekvienam savo ir tas siauras nutiestas takelis neduoda jokios naudos. Faktiškai į rankas pakliuvo autoriaus dienoraštis apie jo sėkmingus sprendimus. Kas nėra labai naudinga norint kažką pritaikyti sau, o ir skaitymas apie tai, kaip kažkas labai didžiuojasi savimi, ilgainiui pasidaro nuobodus.
Nežinau kam galėčiau parekomenduoti tokią knygą. Gal tiems, kuriems patinka sėkmės istorijos? Man tai pirmoji knyga, kurios nereikia savo kolekcijoje.
July 23, 2016
The dates are completely wrong, I don't pay attention to things like that.
I really enjoyed this book as it is pretty relevant to my life right now. What with searching for a new apprenticeship and my burning desire of wanting to become an author it really helped me put things into perspective and has really helped me to achieve a much more positive outlook. If you feel trapped or lost then I highly recommend this book.
It has a lot of f**k it mantras that can spur you into action and a lot of evidence to back up what John has to say.
I really enjoyed this book as it is pretty relevant to my life right now. What with searching for a new apprenticeship and my burning desire of wanting to become an author it really helped me put things into perspective and has really helped me to achieve a much more positive outlook. If you feel trapped or lost then I highly recommend this book.
It has a lot of f**k it mantras that can spur you into action and a lot of evidence to back up what John has to say.
March 4, 2018
I found this book pretty helpful and eye-opening. I think it's nice to see that the author has actually been through the things he teaches about and that way it's not just someone telling you what to do without even knowing what it's like. I also found this books to be helpful and I liked reading about other peoples experiences and how it worked out for them
October 16, 2018
DNF- couldn’t get into this one, the name and cover got me curious but I should have read the reviews.
April 14, 2019
Terribly written. Weak advice and examples. Do not waste your time.
May 14, 2024
Rereading this as I needed the push and the courage to do what I love and paint! It's a mix of some exercises you can do, which I did find useful, but I didn't do them on my last read and still found the book helpful. There's a lot of books like it, let's be honest, but I find Parkin writes in an amusing style and breaks a lot of information down into bite-sized chunks.
April 24, 2021
Well I truly appreciate the effort and I got the wonderful message to DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY AND WHAT YOU LOVE THE MOST
May 23, 2022
This book will show you how ridiculous and simple the life is
March 7, 2023
So many papers were wasted on a basic concept that could've been done in a brief article.
Funny book by the way but a big waste of time
Funny book by the way but a big waste of time
May 17, 2023
I found this to be very repetitive and boring.
July 11, 2024
1⭐️
Don't do it. Capitalism makes you hate it in the end.
Don't do it. Capitalism makes you hate it in the end.
May 21, 2018
This book provides help and advice to do exactly as the title suggests. It starts out by asking the reader if they are doing what they love, then goes on to help readers discover what they love to do, how to do what they love, living doing what they love and finally making a living from doing what they love! In the last chapter, the author John Parkin, uses a character from Fargo: The Series (Lester Nygaard, played by Martin Freeman) to illustrate points on creating pain or pleasure in order to provide a relief or satisfy a need with a product or service (as Lester does to sell insurance). Whilst this particular example was not that relevant to me, it was a sort of "sign" to me as Fargo is close to my heart especially as I was a background performer and a photo double on that series! Acting is what I love and I'm on the road to figuring out how to make a living from it. Also, I read the F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way shortly after my stint on Fargo.
March 13, 2018
I am a sweary type of person so I picked this up thinking it sounded promising. I write notes in books like these as I read but I'm finding my notes for this one look a lot like my edit notes when I'm proofing a book instead of my inner thoughts when I read a book for information. The writing style is painful to read and has more than once made me say "WHAT THE FUCK?" out loud in public. Some, well truthfully, a lot of this feels like pointless word padding. The writing exercises are probably worthwhile, and I've done what I've read through so far, but this seems like it could have been condensed just to the exercises as a workbook instead of this stream of consciousness word vomit that it is. On the back cover it says "THIS IS NOT A BOOK, IT'S A CALL TO ACTION." Parkin got that half right anyways.
February 17, 2023
- cringey rather than funny at times
- very autobiographical which I guess is good for perspective but I just don't care (sometimes a bit entitled actually and "oh look at me")
- dwindled badly towards the end and some things could be explained in a sentence - just dragging endlessly, I had to convince my self to finish it because I don't like not finishing a book!
- I did like the idea of "not going to your grave with your song still in you" but that is about it to be honest. The only good things were the quotes, not his mind you.
- fuck it, don't read it and waste your money. Thank God I found it in the station where they have a book drop off because it is clear that the writer doesn't write sincerely.
- very autobiographical which I guess is good for perspective but I just don't care (sometimes a bit entitled actually and "oh look at me")
- dwindled badly towards the end and some things could be explained in a sentence - just dragging endlessly, I had to convince my self to finish it because I don't like not finishing a book!
- I did like the idea of "not going to your grave with your song still in you" but that is about it to be honest. The only good things were the quotes, not his mind you.
- fuck it, don't read it and waste your money. Thank God I found it in the station where they have a book drop off because it is clear that the writer doesn't write sincerely.
May 21, 2019
Full confession..I didn't finish it all. I read it while on vacation and left it behind mistakenly.
I did like what I read though. Although the author says "F#ck it" so many times it actually became a bit funny.
The only thing that I did not love is that the author was so motivated..and the feeling I was getting was that he thought everyone could be as motivated as he is. Now I know that isn't true! It's something I find on these types of books sometimes.
I respect the author's message. It was a fun read.
I did like what I read though. Although the author says "F#ck it" so many times it actually became a bit funny.
The only thing that I did not love is that the author was so motivated..and the feeling I was getting was that he thought everyone could be as motivated as he is. Now I know that isn't true! It's something I find on these types of books sometimes.
I respect the author's message. It was a fun read.
February 11, 2018
I understand some of the other reviews about tone and focusing on his own experiences/achievements (though I have mixed feelings about that since sometimes that can be useful) but I think this is the kind of book that can Hit you at the right time. I read here exactly what I needed which I know is very contextual but that's often how these things go. The same weekend I read this book I made plans to quit my full time job and pursue flexible working so I can focus on my writing....and I did just that. The perfect book? No. Just what was needed? Fore sure.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews