A blogger and author, Mark Manson is an individual working his own way through life’s challenges and thus he shares personal anecdotes often in the book. What he reveals of his own story is generally a means of conveying a point. Much of the book's subject matter derives from lessons that Manson gleaned in direct life experience or learned by studying the lives and philosophies of others.

As a self-help book, unorthodox as it is, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck manifests Manson’s personality throughout. He’s not a detached expert offering commentary; rather, he’s a participant in much of what he writes about. For example, in the last chapter, in which he discusses death, Manson offers a sad anecdote from his own life, which exposes him as a young man trying to make sense of a friend’s death. There’s something universal in this story, something generally relatable for anyone who has experienced loss.

At other times in the book, Manson assumes a somewhat brash demeanor. He presents himself as such in opening the book with his over-the-top use of the F-word and, later, in his frank, almost arrogant discussions of his sexual history. The no-holds-barred image that he establishes in the book’s opening chapter soon gives way to a much more thoughtful, reflective persona, but his purpose here is to show the reader that he’s an example of what he espouses in the book.