THE RUDEST BOOK EVER

In this book Shwetabh shatters our existing beliefs.

So brace yourself. Because some lessons are going to be rude.

You might even disagree on some.

But once you read them all, you’ll realize how close they are to the reality.

And in this article, I’ll share 11 lessons that I have learned from the The Rudest Book Ever.

So without wasting any time, let’s quickly dive into the lessons.

What's Covered? show

1. You Are A Nation

Shwetabh gives you a very interesting angle of seeing yourself as a nation.

Don’t think of yourself as a person. Think of yourself as a nation.

Just as a nation has its own constitution, you should also have a code to live your life by.

When you start seeing yourself as a nation, the first thing that happens is that you take control of your life.

You become the authority.

You start to think for yourself and figure out what’s good for you and what isn’t.

When another person tries to attack you, you put your guard up.

Just as a nation has its army to defend itself, you should also have your self-esteem or self-respect to hold yourself up and fight obstacles.

Thinking yourself as a nation doesn’t mean that you don’t have to consider the relationship with other people.

A nation prospers when it holds healthy relations with its neighbors. And it’s the same with you.

Just as a nation can’t control other nations, you can’t control other people.

The only thing you can control is yourself.

2. Parents Aren’t Experts

Now, this may sound rude to some people.

And yes it is rude but true.

Our parents don’t know everything.

We believe that our parents are some specially designed creatures tailored just for us and they have a solution to all our problems.

Well, the truth is that they aren’t geniuses, and they don’t have a solution to every puzzle in our lives.

Parents are people too. Just like you.

And people are weird, says Shwetabh.

What do you think about people?

Can you even define people?

Everyone has his own way of defining people, and that too depends on their experiences.

To some people, people are confusing.

While to some, people are complicated and shitty.

Shwetabh calls people weird as it doesn’t define people in extremes.

Judging people in extremes is not a good idea.

For example, a person can be both good and bad. It just depends on the circumstances.

Instead of labeling people, we should embrace the idea that people are weird and be content with that.

3. Specialness Is Earned

Somewhere deep down in our hearts we all want to feel special.

But what does feeling special mean to you?

Do you want to get the recognition of other people?

Does getting approval of other people that you are special is what matters to you?

Do you even need to feel special in the first place?

Let’s say your colleagues or friends think that you are special. Even your parents have told you that you are special.

So do you become special when others say so?

The straight answer is no.

People aren’t qualified enough to decide whether someone is special or not.

Shwetabh says that specialness is something you earn. And for that, you must ask yourself if you are special or not by closing your eyes.

Your “self” will give you the right answer. Ask yourself.

If you need somebody else to tell you that you are special, then you have not done anything to earn it.
Shwetabh Gangwar

4. First Impressions Can Be Delusional

We love judging people being humans.

Whenever we meet someone for the first time, our mind gives a rating to them and decides whether they are better than us or not.

But that’s the wrong way of judging someone.

This is because when you are judging someone for the very first time, you don’t have any real-life data about them.

Most of the judgment is based on their outer appearance or how they present themselves in front of others or what others say about them.

The caveat here is, everyone these days try to market themselves as someone they are not.

You never know (unless you are wise) when you are being sold a bullshit idea.

That is why relying on first impressions is a shitty way of making a judgment.

The best way is to look at their actions and wait until you gather enough real-life data.

Making assumptions without the right data will never give you an accurate analysis of a person.

5. Rejections Are Normal

This world is a jungle where all humans compete for their survival.

You will be rejected at some point in your life.

Here is the thing with rejection: it makes you doubt your self.

When you get rejected, your self-esteem takes a big kick in the behind.

And these questions start creeping in your mind:

“Do I lack something?”

“Why am I like this?”

“What is wrong with me?”

It’s also possible that you will get motivated after being rejected.

“Now I will show you what I’m capable of.”

“You will regret rejecting me after some time.”

Do these sentences sound familiar?

Getting motivated by rejection is also a bad idea.

So how do we deal with it?

In order to deal with it, you need to realize that rejections have nothing to do with you.

Rejections don’t really mean anything and shouldn’t bother you at all.

This sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

It is you who has to decide your self-worth.

Nobody knows “you” more than you.

Getting depressed or motivated by rejection only means that you are desperate for another person’s approval, which you definitely shouldn’t be.

Rejection from people should mean jack-shit to you.
Shwetabh Gangwar

6. Stop Chasing Happiness

What’s your ultimate goal of life?

I know it’s super hard to answer.

But if you believe that the ultimate goal of life is to attain happiness, then you might get into a bit of trouble.

There is a flaw in chasing happiness: you never stop chasing those things that make you happy or give you immense joy.

Once you get something pleasurable, you crave for more.

Happiness doesn’t last for eternity.

Therefore, one should always strive for self-satisfaction.

You have to say, fuck happiness. I don’t want to be happy, I want to be satisfied in life. I want self-satisfaction.
Shwetabh Gangwar

7. Know Your “Self”

You might have noticed the word “self” for quite a time now.

So what is it? Why do you even need to know your “self”?

According to this book, the “self” is the individual in you.

Your “self” is the silent voice in your head that you try to avoid all the time.

Instead of getting away from your “self”, you should embrace it.

Now the common problem with people is that they depend on others to grade them.

Instead of making their “self” the authority, they make others the authority who don’t have a f*cking clue about them.

That way they lose their confidence in themselves, and in the worst case, they lose their identity.

And in their dumb effort of pleasing people, they waste their precious time.

It’s important that you try to know as much as you can about yourself.

Knowledge of self will also help you in learning how to think. [More on this below…]

8. Quit Following, Start Admiring

If you have read any fiction books or watched any fictional movie, which you probably have, then you know that Heroes always win in the end no matter what the story is.

As Villains are bad and always lose, nobody loves them.

People love those who win and are followed by others.

It’s good to admire your heroes.

So what’s the point here?

The problem starts when you start following your heroes.

It’s not a good idea to put heroes on the pedestal.

There are no heroes and villains in the real world.

Heroes and Villains exist only in fiction.

In the real world, there are only people.

And as Shwetabh says:

“People are weird.”

Therefore, admire people, learn from them, but don’t become their followers.

9. Perfection Only Exists Online

In real life, people aren’t perfect.

People have so many flaws that even they themselves aren’t aware of.

But when it comes to online, they are nothing but perfect human beings.

Perfection sells really well online.

And when you see those perfect figures or people online, you realize that you lack something which they don’t, which causes self-doubt.

After that you see hope, and then starts a dream of achieving a fancy glamorous success as they have.

You might ask, what’s wrong with that?

The thing is, you don’t have any real-life data about them.

Putting simply, you have no f*cking idea what they are like in real life.

Getting online and posting perfect shots on Instagram doesn’t make you a genius.

Also, blindly following someone on social media is utter foolishness.

When you foolishly try to become like a celebrity, you tend to lose your individuality.

Remember that if something looks super perfect online, then it has gone through so many edits by professionals who are good at their game.

10. A Relationship Is A Partnership

The whole point of a relationship is to complement each others’ life.

But some people think that they would become happier if they would go into a relationship.

Remember that:

It is you who should have the authority to make you happy or self-satisfied.

The source of happiness must never be the other person.

That’s why going into a relationship just for the sake of getting happier is a terrible idea, says Shwetabh.

Others don’t dare to fuck with your nation if you have a strong leader. And when they do, the leader knows how to take care of you.
Shwetabh Gangwar

11. You Must Learn How To Think

From the moment you are born, you are taught “what to think.”

You might ask, why doesn’t anyone teach us “how to think”?

The thing is, people, even after they become adults, some even after crossing the fifties don’t learn how to think.

There are very few people on earth who can think something different than what they already know.

And since people, in general, are never taught how to think, you never get to learn how to think.

“What to think” is basically all the information fed in your brain.

Once you will learn how to think, you’ll be able to break the programming in your head and think original.

One way to learn how to think is to solve your problems yourself.

What do you do when you encounter a puzzling situation?

Well, these days, we have Google, and it knows everything.

So you simply go to google.com and search the solution to your problem.

You never really do the brainstorming part.

You simply accept whatever solution the Internet offers to you.

In short, you hardly practice thinking.

The surprising thing is, people, don’t really care about thinking.

The general idea is that the more you know the better. This isn’t true at all.

Also, only a small percentage of people would be able to tell you the difference between knowledge and intelligence.

Especially, in the times where Artificial Intelligence is on the rise, few people put the effort into learning how to think.

How do you expect to learn how to think when you hardly ever practise thinking!
Shwetabh Gangwar