I get in my own way far more than anyone or anything. Fear, anxiety, the what-ifs, imposter syndrome, or just plain ol’ procrastination worm their sneaky ways into my head, and ultimately, I don’t accomplish all that I set out to do. Gary John Bishop’s book, Unf ck Yourself Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life, isn’t groundbreaking in its message, but it’s a message we need to hear and re-hear to keep from falling back into the same mental traps.
As I was reading this book, I realized that the advice Bishop is providing can be summed up by the succinct phrasing from the immortal and frustratingly wise Yoda in Star Wars.
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Sometimes though, we need to be told, then re-told, and then told again in a thousand different ways for the practice of the message to actually take hold. I can think about how great I’ll look and feel after 30 days of yoga, but until I actually start doing it, I’m just daydreaming and spinning my wheels, choking on my own self-created dust.
The same goes for this website. I can start my morning by drinking coffee, reading success stories, dreaming of the day when all that passive income starts rolling into my bank account, or I can take that time and write something that actually helps create that income.
It’s not that there isn’t value in learning from other’s experiences and how they accomplished their goals, but at some point, it’s just another time sinkhole.
While the title, Unf ck Yourself, might be a turnoff to some people, Gary John Bishop is just trying to get your attention and help shake you out of whatever rut you’re currently stuck in. I found the book motivating, so be sure to click the link if you’re interested in reading. Below are the quotes that I found most helpful and will re-read when I start to slip into any old ways of thinking.
18 Top Quotes from Unf ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 1: In the Beginning…
1. “We sometimes avoid simple things like folding laundry and unloading the dishwasher, when they actually take little time and effort. With enough of these little persistent items hanging around it’s easy to collapse them in with the bigger, more important things until we find ourselves overwhelmed or exhausted by life.” (pg. 12)
2. “In fact, Stoic philosophers like Aurelius believed that outside events hold no power over us at all. We create our own reality with our minds.” (pg. 14)
3. “How willing are you to consider that your life is the way it is, not because of the weight of your circumstances or situation, but rather the weight of self-talk that pulls you down? That what you think you can and cannot do is influenced much more directly by some subconscious response than by the reality of life itself?!” (pg. 14)
4. “It all starts by making a conscious choice to talk in a way that’s helpful rather than harmful.” (pg. 17)
5. “A simple way that I reframe my own everyday “problems” is by relating to them as opportunities. They instantly become items in my life that I use to educate and expand myself. I become curious and engaged with them rather than my usual default annoyed and frustrated self!” (pg. 18)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 2: “I Am Willing.”
6. “You cannot, I repeat CANNOT dwell in any blame game in your life. Even blaming yourself is completely useless.” (pg. 31)
7. “you must first accept that while there are things that have happened in your life that you had no say in, you are 100 percent responsible for what you do with your life in the aftermath of those events. Always, every time, no excuses.” (pg. 31)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 5: “I Embrace the Uncertainty.”
8. “You’re never going achieve your true potential if you’re hooked by what other people think. In fact, you could change your life overnight if you simply abandoned the notion that other people’s opinions matter.” (pg. 109)
9. “But if you want to win, you have to be willing to be judged by others and not let it get to you. If you want to do something truly great, you’ll have to accept that some people are going to think you’re delusional or an idiot or self-righteous.” (pg. 109)
10. “Life is an adventure. It’s absolutely filled with opportunity. But it’s up to you to embrace those opportunities fully and completely in all of their majestic, unnerving, and invigorating uncertainty. Focus on the things you can control and release yourself from worrying about what you can’t, like the weather, the Dow Jones, or what your neighbor thinks about your haircut.” (pg. 112)
11. “’I embrace the uncertainty.’ This one simple statement can completely change the way you live, moment to moment to moment. The only thing that’s guaranteed in life is that it’s uncertain. The only thing we know is that we know nothing.” (pg. 113)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 6: “I Am Not My Thoughts; I Am What I Do.”
12. “You change your life by doing, not by thinking about doing.” (pg. 126)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 7: “I Am Relentless.”
13. “From the nervousness and doubt we feel when we take risks in our careers, to the muscle soreness and shortness of breath we experience pumping out another five minutes on the treadmill, our biggest successes are born out of discomfort, uncertainty, and risk.” (pg. 144)
14. “At this point, when you don’t know whether you’re up or down, how far you have to go or how far you’ve come, there’s only one thing that can keep you going. That thing is relentlessness.” (pg. 146)
15. “Sometimes you just have to grind it out, stake your claim, and hustle for what you want. You will need to quite literally make it happen.” (pg. 150)
16. “Because when you’re trekking through the jungle, you don’t know if you’re three days from civilization or thirty minutes. All you can do is walk. The only way out is forward.” (pg. 159)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 8: “I Expect Nothing And Accept Everything.”
17. “Love the life you have, not the one you expected to have.” (pg. 183)
Unf ck Yourself Chapter 9: Where Next?
18. “The only difference is that successful people don’t wait. They’re not waiting for the “right” moment. They don’t wait for inspiration to strike or for some cosmic event to force them to action. They get up and they do, and they try, and they fail even before they may feel ‘ready.’” (pg. 197)
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