Tag: Chris Guillebeau

Books on my nightstand

Books on my nightstand
Books on my nightstand

While my reading time has diminished quite a bit over the last two weeks, the books on my nightstand (and/or dresser) continue to grow in number.

I’m currently reading:

The Art of Non-Conformity – by Chris Guillebeau
While some of the ideas in this book aren’t new (if you read Chris’ blog), reading the nuggets from his own story have been great. Chris was actually in town on Oct. 22, the day after the boys were born, and I was sorry to miss his book signing/event. But this is a great book showing that “You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.”

Lots of inspiring nuggets of truth throughout the book so far.

Eat This, Not That! 2011
This is a great little book that blows open some of the misconceptions about the food we eat on a regular basis. It’s amazed me how so much of the food I’d usually consider as “healthy” is actually worse for us than the other food on the menu.

Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals
A companion to the book above. I haven’t cooked anything from this book yet, but the recipes are simple alternatives to meals we typically spend far too much on from many chain restaurants. The vast majority of the recipes are also under the 350 calorie mark so not only are you saving money – but calories too.
Continue reading Books on my nightstand

11 ways to be unremarkably average

eleven

The other day I shared 50 Ways to Love Your Neighbor over at something beautiful. Small things that could be considered insignificant or average – but things that we don’t typically do on a daily basis.

Today’s a new day and a new list from Chris Guillebeau, who incidentally has really been inspiring me a lot lately with his blog.

He’s chosen to live a non-conforming non-average life and has a goal of visiting all 197 countries in the world before he turns 35. I believe today he hit the 108 mark as he landed in Haiti.

Chris shares 11 ways to be unremarkably average in his manifesto A Brief Guide to World Domination (a free pdf download).

1. Accept what people tell you at face value
2. Don’t question authority
3. Go to college because you’re supposed to, not because you want to learn something
4. Go overseas once or twice in your life, to somewhere safe like England
5. Don’t try to learn another language; everyone else will eventually learn English
6. Think about starting your own business, but never do it
7. Think about writing a book, but never do it
8. Get the largest mortgage you qualify for and spend 30 years paying for it
9. Sit at a desk 40 hours a week for an average of 10 hours of productive work
10. Don’t stand out or draw attention to yourself
11. Jump through hoops. Check off boxes.

Let’s see I can check off 3, 5, 6 and maybe 7 (I’ve written the book – just taking my time too much time editing it), 8 and 9. Maybe even 11. Sounds like I’m still living a pretty average life. What do you think?

Is that good or bad? Do you see yourself in this list?

photo by dno1967

UPDATE: Order Chris’ new book: