Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 108

Sometimes Things Take Longer than You Think

I wrote in the original Brief Guide to World Domination manifesto:

We overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, but underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.

I continue to learn this lesson every day and every year.

So much is in progress. So much is yet to come. But on the day-to-day basis, it’s taking longer than I expected.

See you back on Monday with more news!

#onwards

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Image: Dave

Three Types of Happiness: How Do You Choose?

In The Happiness Myth, Jennifer Michael Hecht defines three types of happiness: a moment of happiness, a good day, and a happy life. Hecht suggests that no further definition is needed because the difference between the three is obvious when we use or hear the word happiness in context.

However, she points out that these three types of of happiness are rarely in harmony with each other other, which can make achieving happiness more difficult than defining it. “Anything we do,” Hecht writes, “...

Welcome, New Readers! (And old readers too…)

We’ve had a lot of new readers join recently, so I wanted to say hello (hi, everyone!) and explain more of what it’s about.

This blog (AONC) started in 2008 along with my goal to visit every country in the world by my 35th birthday earlier this year.

Throughout the past five years it’s grown to much more than a travelogue. Our core mission is to support and encourage non-conformity or unconventional thinking, as defined by this mission statement:

You don’t have to live your life the way others...

Life’s Priorities

Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don’t want to. But other things are harder. Try it: “I’m not going to edit your résumé, because it’s not a priority.” “I don’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.”

If these phrases don’t sit well, that’s the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’r...

Quarterly: A Box of Surprises In the Mail

Want to receive fun surprises in the mail … four times a year? I thought so.

Quarterly is a new subscription service that offers a surprise package each quarter from interesting people. I’m not sure why they thought I was an interesting person, but I liked the idea of sharing some of my favorite things with you—so a few months ago, we sent out a package to an initial group of recipients.

The deadline for the next mailing is very soon. If you’d like to get in on the fun, sign up before the end...

Writing and Speaking for Introverts

Greetings, fellow introverts.

(Is that not you? Then you can safely skip this post. Everyone else, keep reading.)

At every meetup I host, and most of the events I’m invited to speak at, I always mention that I’m a natural introvert. I know that there are likely many other shy, quiet, or introverted people in the room, and I want to make them feel welcome. Inevitably at least one of them will come up to me later and say, “Hey, that’s me too! How do you do this?”

In this post I’ll share a few tho...

First Videos from #WDS2013

The focus of WDS is on creating a strong in-person experience, so we don’t do any live-streaming. However, we also realize that many people who aren’t able to attend in Portland are interested in seeing what it’s about.

With that in mind, we recently released the first two speaker videos from this year’s extravaganza.

Darren Rowse

On the morning of the first day, Darren Rowse from Melbourne, Australia taught us about following a dream… from zero to superhero.

Don’t see the video? Try this link.

Ji...

Escape to Reality

Greetings from a tropical island in Southeast Asia.

It’s a fairly typical island, as these things go. It took a while to make it here, with connecting flights through Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. It operates on island time, where breakfast goes until 11am and happy hour is at least a four-hour period beginning in the late afternoon and continuing indefinitely.

Apparently there’s a beach of some sort. (I like looking out at the water, but I’m not a beach person.)

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beaut...

On the Road: First Week in Asia

When I awoke in Kowloon harbor at 4am, I knew it was a good sign.

The previous day I had flown 13 hours from San Francisco to Hong Kong with only a brief nap on the flight. Arriving at 8pm local time, I went to my hotel, settled in, and crashed out well before midnight. I’ll need more than five hours sleep most of the time, but five hours on the first night in Asia is a great start. With any luck I’ll take a couple of short naps today, maybe one tomorrow, and then I’ll be good to go for the r...

Starting in the Middle

Amy wrote in and said she was struggling with writing her book. “I know I have something good to share with people!” she said. “But I’m having a hard time just getting started.”

I’ve written about working through process a few times before—see how to make decisions, starting a business, and how to finish, for example.

But here’s a new trick: when you’re not sure how to begin any creative project, don’t start from the beginning—start from the middle!

The perfect introduction to a book or long ar...