The Most Impactful Book Simone Biles Has Ever Read

As the Olympics start later this month in Paris, gymnastics fans will undoubtedly have their eye on Simone Biles. This is the athlete's third Olympics, with her first being back in 2016 when she won four gold medals in Rio. She then went on to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (which were held in 2021 due to Covid), but ultimately dropped out of the competition citing her need to put her mental health first. Now, three years later, Biles is back and ready to give it her all.

In 2021, Biles sat down with New York Magazine for an interview in which she revealed the last book she had read and its powerful impact on her. "The girls were laughing at me whenever I was reading that, like, 'You are just so nonchalant about everything now,'" Biles told New York Magazine. "Like, 'This is so nice. How do you do that?' I said, 'Just read the book. You'll learn.'"

The book that Biles is talking about is "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***" by Mark Manson. First published in 2016, the book currently has over 140,000 reviews on Amazon with more than 100k of those being five-star ratings. On Goodreads, it has over a million ratings, of which 400k have five stars. It's a book that's not only loved by Biles, but hundreds of thousands of others and one you might want to add to your list, too. 

Written by self-help author Mark Manson, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***" immediately became a New York Times #1 bestseller and as of 2022, has sold a whopping 12 million copies. True to its name, the book is about realizing what matters, picking your battles, and letting go of the stuff that weighs you down and doesn't add anything to your life. Which, honestly, is difficult for many people to do.

"If seeing things online or hearing things your co-workers say is really affecting you that much then you need to look at the values in your life," Manson told HuffPost in 2016. "If your emotions are constantly being pushed this way or that way, and you feel like you're never in control, it's probably because you're valuing a lot of the wrong things."

It's not about trying to be positive in the face of negativity or trying to find happiness where there is none. Instead, it's a guide to seeing things clearly and knowing when to wash your hands of a situation that's not doing you any favors. Again, something that's not easy for many, many people. 

Frankly, at this point in our collective history, it's a book we may all want to read. Although "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***" was written in 2016, the need to stop giving a f*** is more important than ever. Why? Well, the political climate is a mess, the earth is on fire, and sometimes, just getting up in the morning is hard. As important as it is to give a damn, it's just as important to know when you're fighting something that's beyond your control. There's no weakness in admitting defeat if it means you're protecting your mental health. As long as you know you did your best, that should be the takeaway, as opposed to hanging on to what could or should have been. It's a waste of time and energy to linger long after it's become clear that there's no winning. It's very much the same thinking behind the "let them theory." You reach acceptance, then you let go.

Whether you need a new book to read or you just want to feel the same impact that Simone Biles felt from reading this one, then consider picking up a copy of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***." Hundreds of thousands of five-star ratings can't be wrong and, honestly, we can all use a little help in the "I don't give a f***" department.