One of my favorite songs on the radio right now is Cee Lo Green’s F*ck You. I was rocking out to it last week when my radiator exploded and overheated my car. Being traumatized to that song and later hearing a friend go “f*ck-it!” inspired me to touch on a subject I’ve been wanting to delve-into for a long time: F*ck-it Mode.

We’ve all been there, and we’ve all said it. We’ve had moments in our lives when we were pushed to the brink, and in turn, we said those satisfying words and adopted a temporarily insane lack of caring. I discovered in the two years of f*ck-it mode I lived at my last job, there are many layers of f*ck-it mode, like an onion, and they all serve a specific, stinky purpose. It’s not necessarily the profanity that defines f*ck-it mode. It’s the phrase you throw-in directly after.

Burnout F*ck-it 
This happens all too often. A job or task you have drives you to a realm of boredom that ensues f*ck-it mode.  You are trying to force yourself to input oodles of irrelevant data that you already know nobody will ever look at. Or, you are doing some pointless, mundane job that you know nobody, including yourself, will ever notice or appreciate. Then things get overwhelming, and you say “F*ck-it! I just don’t care!” Suddenly, every minuscule detail matters less because you realize you’re trying way too hard. Good work. You’ve finally learned to pace yourself! Just because you CAN have time sheets done on Tuesday morning doesn’t mean you can’t have them turned-in by deadline on Wednesday at noon. Sheesh.

F*ck-it! Like, really, you guys...f*ck-it...

Angst-ridden F*ck-it
The only way to survive a bad situation, professional or otherwise, is to adopt f*ck-it mode.  Think of it as that thick skin people keep saying you have to grow. By saying “F*ck-it! I Hate (insert person or task or job here)!”, you have enacted an overdrive mode like in Final Fantasy VIII, that will help you KO your enemy during a critical time.

Faux Confidence F*ck-it
Eventually, after other forms of f*ck-it, you hit a low that kindles a new fire of faux hope. It’s like, you feel so down about yourself that when put in a situation that requires you to put yourself out on the line, you say “F*ck-it! Why not?” It’s faux confidence. It’s a mental reset. Your high score counter hit it’s maximum and flipped back to zero, breaking your system. This is how I got my first voice over job. I was at a first lesson and asked to read a role. My thought was “F*ck-it! What have I got to lose?!” And, I got the gig, all thanks to false confidence. Eventually, this can turn into real self faith, but that new found courage found when you notice the risk is insignificant to you will work for now.

For Realzies F*ck-it
This is the only form of f*ck-it mode that I think is bad. This is when you seriously don’t care what anybody thinks about you. This is the most harmful form of f*ck-it mode. I’ve never been there. These are the people who speak loudly about their sex lives at the mall during Christmas while a little too close to the Santa area. This is the little league mom who curses-out the other little league mom at a game. This is the asshole who starts a fight after watching wrestling at a bar. These people took f*ck-it mode too far, and jail time seems to be the best cure.

Apart from the last form of f*ck-it mode, I actually believe it to be a healthy, slightly profane, defense mechanism. Life can be tough, and whether it’s a day, month or two years, we have to find a way to get the job done. Sometimes, the best way to beat life at its own game is to grow a tough skin, roll-up your sleeves, yell “F*ck-it!” and jump over those hurdles that make life so real, hard and wonderful. Like the onions mentioned earlier, the harsh, smelly, tear-inducing properties of f*ck-it mode add delicious depth and flavor to life’s casserole.

All this talk of onions and these phrases with the sound fuh, make me think of pho. Yum!

Now I'm Hungry!