There is a new book out by a guy named Chris Guillebeau. I have bought two of his books in the past and generally like what he has to say.
One is called The Art of Non-Conformity, and the other is The $100 Startup.
He seems to write about subjects I am also interested in reading about in the “self-help” genre.
I am still into the idea of authenticity (the inverse of conformity),
and although the idea of a “business” doesn’t get me too excited, I do applaud the idea that the last thing you want to do is go into debt and risk enormous amounts of money on a business idea that is 95% guaranteed to fail.
Guillebeau has a new book coming out soon (or already out) about people who love their careers. It’s called Born for This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do.
Well, do tell us, Chris! how does one do this?
I may have to buy this one, too.
This is a topic that has fascinated me and perplexed me all my working life.
I don’t think I am as optimistic as Guillebeau about it.
I think I fall more into the Studs Terkel “work is hell” for most people camp.
But I do share the desire to reduce the suffering that comes as a result of needing to work for the man.
And I do believe that we are individually better designed for some types of work than others.
Chris feels like he won the career lottery, and he is probably right.
From the earlier books I have read by him, I do know that he is a risk taker.
He rolled the dice on a couple of big initiatives that seem to have paid off for him.
My memory is a little hazy, but what I recall from The Art of Non-Conformity is that Guillebeau decided to go somewhat nomadic.
He set a goal to visit every single country in the world.
At the time of its publication, he was way up in the 150+ range.
I think I later read that he had completed this goal.
He also started an annual conference, I believe held in Portland, OR, called the World Domination Summit.
Sorry, Chris, that was a very cringy name for the conference.
But it sounded like a lot of people who went got a lot out of it.
Here’s what I heard him say in a recent interview.
First, when he was in grade school, he wanted to work for Burger King when he grew up because he thought it was the best restaurant in the world.
And he is glad he grew out of that idea.
That caused me to pause and think to myself: Why are you glad? What is wrong with working for Burger King?
Look, I don’t mean to be obtuse here, but really, why do some people work for Burger King while some people get to lead this wild life of world travel and domination?
It is myths of competition, progress, and virtue that I think fuel this.
And I get it, and have certainly not been immune to them.
I would not have reached FIRE status if I had not wrapped my working life within these myths.
And we don’t seem to have any better alternatives. Do we?
Virtue is something I can still get behind.
The pursuit of excellence in one’s work and craft is fantastic.
It’s competition for the sake of comparison and the cult of entrepreneurship that bother me.
I get why Chris is glad he didn’t pursue a lifetime career of working at Burger King.
It is comparison and a belief that one deserves better than something so pedestrian.
When I was a senior in high school, my father lambasted me, saying I was probably going to be a “garbage man” if I didn’t straighten up and fly right.
It freaked me out.
It made me want to “better” myself.
It caused me to put a lot of effort into separating myself from ever needing to rely on, or being relegated to, a career in a basic service-level type of job.
But God bless the waste management personnel.
What would we do without them?
Is it right that they, or any one of us, should feel inferior because they handle other people’s refuse?
I don’t know, but when put that way, it makes me uncomfortable.
All I know is that Guillebeau is probably right about winning the lottery.
Some of us get better places in line for life experiences.
Some of us work hard to get to the front of the line, or further up.
But we all have to exist on this planet together.
Or not.
If I got the story right, Chris went and talked with exemplary people who have found the work they were meant to do.
He found they all had three things in common:
Joy, money, and flow.
Joy and flow make a hobby.
It is money that makes something a career.
He spoke about this as if it were written in the Gospels, or similar religious texts.
And I guess that bothers me, too.
But I don’t know what to do about it.
The idea of being a “successful” entrepreneur is a bit of a cult idea.
The cult of entrepreneurship had gripped me for most of my life, until about 10 years ago when I reached Lean FIRE.
It is sold as a form of escape.
It is sold as a “great payoff” in the sky.
And dang it, I get it.
And unlike Elvis, the idea has not completely left my building.
I think it is why I am struggling with the idea of devoting my encore life to a pursuit of music.
What is my great payoff in the sky for pursuing something that brings me Joy and Flow but no money?
Thus, I think about what Guillebeau’s new book is about. “What work are you really meant to do, dude?”
It’s a vicious cycle, and I have no answers.
What I know is that I don’t relish the idea of late-night shows.
This summer, I gravitated toward open mics that started earlier in the day.
Well, how does one become any kind of “real” musical artist or performer if you only want to work during the day?
What I also know is that I don’t want to have a career where I need to be on social media to “promote” myself, either.
Another thing I know is that I don’t want to sell “merch” to make up for a lack of money made by streaming songs.
And I am also not a “vinyl head.”
I am a minimalist; I don’t want to throw more plastic trash onto the funeral pyre of humanity.
But wow, I would sure love it if the world loved my songs.
Maybe it will happen.
In the meantime, maybe I should get an application for Burger King?