Gary Bishop - Stop Doing That Sh*t

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in the US by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 2019

This UK edition published by Thorsons 2019

FIRST EDITION

© Gary John Bishop 2019

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Gary John Bishop asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008344412

Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008344429

Version 2019-04-17

I dedicate this book to the helpless and hopeless, the frustrated and defeated: today is a day when it can all begin anew. I don’t care about your past, and you shouldn’t either.

Thanks to my beautiful wife and inspiring sons, without whom I could never be the man I have become. Through your generosity and love, we are a family committed to making a difference in this world.

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright Dedication 01 Here’s the Rub 02 A Life of Sabotage 03 The Question 04 The Magic Little Sponge 05 A Throne of Throwns 06 Establishing the Truth 07 The Three Saboteurs 08 You 09 Them 10 Life 11 The Point of the Spear 12 Redirecting Your Way Outta This 13 You Can Finally Stop Doing That Shit—No, Really! Endnotes About the Author Other Books by Gary John Bishop About the Publisher Thorsons An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in the US by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 2019 This UK edition published by Thorsons 2019 FIRST EDITION © Gary John Bishop 2019 Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers 2019 Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Gary John Bishop asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green Source ISBN: 9780008344412 Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008344429 Version 2019-04-17

Dedication Dedication Dedication 01 Here’s the Rub 02 A Life of Sabotage 03 The Question 04 The Magic Little Sponge 05 A Throne of Throwns 06 Establishing the Truth 07 The Three Saboteurs 08 You 09 Them 10 Life 11 The Point of the Spear 12 Redirecting Your Way Outta This 13 You Can Finally Stop Doing That Shit—No, Really! Endnotes About the Author Other Books by Gary John Bishop About the Publisher I dedicate this book to the helpless and hopeless, the frustrated and defeated: today is a day when it can all begin anew. I don’t care about your past, and you shouldn’t either. Thanks to my beautiful wife and inspiring sons, without whom I could never be the man I have become. Through your generosity and love, we are a family committed to making a difference in this world.

01 Here’s the Rub

02 A Life of Sabotage

03 The Question

04 The Magic Little Sponge

05 A Throne of Throwns

06 Establishing the Truth

07 The Three Saboteurs

08 You

09 Them

10 Life

11 The Point of the Spear

12 Redirecting Your Way Outta This

13 You Can Finally Stop Doing That Shit—No, Really!

Endnotes

About the Author

Other Books by Gary John Bishop

About the Publisher

In your day-to-day life you are, for the most part, on autopilot.

Someone once asked me, “What’s at the core of every human being?”

“Bullshit,” I replied.

There were a few nervy moments of shoe-gazing silence followed by a gust of swirly, disjointed questions to cover the unease.

Apparently, they were expecting some new-age, metaphysical answer about untethered spirit or essence of ancient forests or particles of distant stardust sprinkled with fairy juice. But my response was (and is) unequivocal. In my experience of people (yes, I’m people too, as are you), if you set aside all of the positivity and hope, there is quite clearly a whole other animal lurking below the surface, a conversational bullshit if you like, something not quite as empowering or comforting as we’d all like to believe. Not evil or nefarious but rather something more akin to cynical, constraining, repetitive, and ultimately unfulfilling.

The kind of stuff that undermines a life. Sabotages it, to be precise.

This wee book is my take on finally uncovering and transforming your bullshit. The kind that constantly sabotages your life.

So, if you’re tired, overwhelmed, overworked, underloved, stopped, paused, bored, broke, too anxious, too analytical, lacking confidence, uninspired, disconnected, on the wrong path, headed in the wrong direction, bottomed out, mired in the past, worried about the future, disappointed, afraid, untrusting, unforgiving, suspicious, angry, frustrated, or just plain stuck in a cycle, I’m your guy and these are your pages.

No, really, they’re yours. Don’t just read them, use them.

Let’s get to the blackened heart of that bullshit, then root it out.

In my last book, Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life , I wrote about the constant internal chatter that we all deal with. The noise of opinion, judgment, reasons, fears, and excuses that rattle around in our heads every moment of every day. Sometimes it’s loud, sometimes it’s quiet, but nonetheless, it’s always there. Your self-talk is the locker room of your life. Where everything is strategized and worked out. Where your plans for yourself live and die.