Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 3

Do Hard Things Because They Are Hard

Last week I went to Utah to run an unusual marathon. My time was well over two hours slower than any marathon I’ve done, but that was by design—I was running with someone who was doing a series of extreme events back-to-back, every day for 100 days in a row.

The pace, therefore, was slow.

His name is James Lawrence, more popularly known as the Iron Cowboy. I’d heard of James a year or two ago after watching a documentary of his previous quest where he attempted (and completed, with a...

The Present-Day Time Machine

“Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” -Lin-Manuel Miranda, from Hamilton of course
—

Most of us can think of times in our lives that we’d like to relive. Some of these memories may consist of experiences we’d like to redo—those things we wish we could go back and change. Other memories, however, are so pleasant that we wish we could turn back time just for the sake of experiencing them again.

For the purpose of this experiment, let’s ignore the existential question...

Regret Is an Unreliable Emotion

I have long believed that thinking about regret is a powerful motivator for action. When you’re feeling indecisive, trying to figure out if a particular step is a good one, consider how you’ll feel if you don’t take the step. Often this leads you to what seems like the right direction.

But while mental models can be helpful, most of them also have limits. Lately I’ve realized there’s a flaw in the logic of focusing your attention on the avoidance of regrets. Simply put, regret is an un...

The Greatest Story Ever Sold 💵

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how money mistakes are temporary. My main argument was that unlike other kinds of mistakes, money mistakes rarely have permanent consequences.

I’ll return to that in this post, but first let’s consider a few things that have happened this month:

We’ve all been hearing about NFTs, also known as “non-fungible tokens,” also known as digital art that can be reproduced over and over but sells for a ton of money. The NBA has sold $230 million on these intangibl...

Money Mistakes Are Temporary

A common TV trope features someone who’s down on their luck and forced to borrow from someone with questionable moral scruples: a loan shark, the Mafia, a representative from Wells Fargo.

As fate would have it, they fall further and further behind, until they’re in an even greater bind. Soon they’re being pursued by the loan shark, who threatens to break their legs, or by Wells Fargo, which forces them to remain on hold for hours. The rest of the story unfolds as the protagonist despera...

Travel Hacking Opportunity: Easy Way for Small Business Owners to Earn 110,000 Points

Link: 110,000 Point Bonus Offer (Must have an LLC or S-Corp)

I haven’t been writing much about travel recently, for reasons that are probably obvious. Travel doesn’t exist at the moment! At least not in the same way it used to.

But it will again, especially with all that we’ve learned in the past year and vaccination well underway. I’m convinced that when it does, there will be some amazing deals and opportunities. (My friend Gary Leff called it the New Golden Age of Travel, and I’ve...

Do This When You Visit a New Place

Pandemic life has taught many of us to appreciate moments in life that might otherwise pass us by. I’ve been trying to pause and take note of how I feel at the end of the day, often as I walk in the park or one of my nearby neighborhoods.

With that in mind, here’s a tip inspired by The Art of Stopping Time, a book by Pedram Shojai: whenever you visit a place that’s new to you, consider the sense that you might never be there again.

Just imagine: this might be it! Your one and only opportunity ...

How to Conduct an Annual Review (2020 Edition!) 🗓

Every December for the past fifteen years, I’ve completed an exercise I call the Annual Review.

This year is different in some ways, but then again, so is every year for one reason or another. In fact, that’s one of the things that’s so beneficial about the Review: in the midst of whatever craziness is happening, it helps to ground your attention and give you something to work on over the next year.

This post contains an overview of the process, along with links that might be helpful for your o...

How to Conduct an Annual Review (2020 Edition!)

Every December for the past fifteen years, I’ve completed an exercise I call the Annual Review.

This year is different in some ways, but then again, so is every year for one reason or another. In fact, that’s one of the things that’s so beneficial about the Review: in the midst of whatever craziness is happening, it helps to ground your attention and give you something to work on over the next year.

This post contains an overview of the process, along with links that might be helpful for your o...

How to Conduct an Annual Review (2020 Edition!)

Every December for the past fifteen years, I’ve completed an exercise I call the Annual Review.

This year is different in some ways, but then again, so is every year for one reason or another. In fact, that’s one of the things that’s so beneficial about the Review: in the midst of whatever craziness is happening, it helps to ground your attention and give you something to work on over the next year.

This post contains an overview of the process, along with links that might be helpful for your o...