Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 110
June 13, 2013
Human Behavior, Compliance, and Identity
In thinking through how to make some changes in my business, I’ve been thinking about identity in general.
One of the strongest drivers of our behavior is to comply with the person we believe ourselves to be.
If you want to do something different, you have to adopt the identity of the kind of person who would do that thing.
What would that person focus on? How would they think? How would they behave?
If you want to quit smoking, for example, you have to take on the identity of a non-smoker. Y...
June 10, 2013
The Challenge and the Opportunity
Once upon a time I lived in the small country of Togo in West Africa. I was based on a hospital ship docked in Lomé, the capital, and the team I worked with had a project three hours’ north in a village.
One of our team members needed to be there during the week, but not over the weekend. Because we had a lot of projects competing for transportation, we couldn’t allocate a vehicle specifically to her. She could have stayed in the village over the weekend, but life in the village gets old afte...
June 6, 2013
The One-Year, Alternative Graduate School Program
What if learning wasn’t confined to a rigid program in a university? What if you could begin learning now, without going back to school?
The One-Year, Alternative Graduate School Program was one of the more popular parts of the original AONC book, in the same chapter where I compared the value of my graduate school degree to my career as an independent writer. I’ve since heard from a number of “students” of all ages who implemented this practice in a variety of forms.
The point isn’t to dispa...
June 3, 2013
When to Buy and When to Sit it Out
Whenever I release a new product, I always get questions from people wanting to know if they should buy it. For years I never knew how to answer this question—I just said, “Sorry, I’m not good at providing personal recommendations on products. If you’re uncertain, skip this one and read the blog for free.”
I said that for a couple of different reasons. First, I never want anyone to feel any kind of pressure to sign up for something if it’s not an amazing fit for them. I like product launches,...
May 30, 2013
Stuck in San Francisco (Also: A Product Launch! Yeah!)
A funny thing happened on the way to San Francisco. I was headed down on a super-quick trip (just three hours!) to do some filming for a friend. I’d leave PDX in the morning and be back in the early evening. No big deal, right?
Tuesday morning I grabbed my laptop bag and headed to the airport by taxi. The whole time I was en route, something felt weird: I didn’t have my usual carry-on bag. I take that bag everywhere, even for a single overnight trip, and am never without it while traveling.
E...
May 29, 2013
Adventure Capital Returns: Grow Your Small Business Through Deliberate Action
This morning we reopened Adventure Capital for general admission! It’s been nearly six weeks since our initial beta launch, and we’re now ready to welcome a wider group of members.
–>Check out the site over here, or read more below.
Adventure Capital is an intensive, 12-month series of modules. Each month you’ll receive a new module focusing on specific strategies and tactics you can apply in your business.
I want to help a special group of people over the past year with this project. It’s def...
May 27, 2013
Memorial Day Roundup
It’s a holiday in the U.S. today. If you’re not working, this is a great day to catch up.
The chance to build something for yourself is greater than any holiday you could ever have.
Are you building something? Are you making regular progress?
A few things happening over here:
*I went to Seattle for Chase Jarvis Live, a great program. I love all of Chase’s work (see this amazing campaign for an example). He’ll be one of our featured speakers at WDS this year.
*I’ll be in London next week to spea...
May 23, 2013
Win an $1,800 Scholarship to Adventure Capital
Four weeks ago, we launched Adventure Capital to a small group of beta members.
We’re now gearing up to launch it more widely… next week! Wednesday, May 29 is the day when our initial group will be available to refer new members, and a few special partners will be writing about it as well.
But first! In the spirit of adventure, we’re giving away two full scholarships to the entire year-long program.
Win a Full Scholarship (Short Version)
It’s very basic. Adventure Capital is all about helping new...
