You Don’t Have To Live Your Life The Way Others Expect
The Body, Brain, and Books Eleven Questions with writer Chris Guillebeau
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Chris Guillebeau is the New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Non-Conformity, Side Hustle, The Happiness of Pursuit, and other books. During a lifetime of self-employment that included a four-year commitment as a volunteer executive in West Africa, he visited every country in the world (193 in total) before his 35th birthday. His daily podcast, Side Hustle School, is downloaded more than two million times a month. He also writes the newsletter
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What are you reading now?
As a nonfiction writer I tend to stick more with reading fiction. My current favorite is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I never got around to it before but I’m certain it will be one of my “best books” for the year. And there are two more in the series to look forward to!
I also just finished going through at least five of Percival Everett’s books. I love that he defies categorization, even at the expense of his career. (See this recent profile in the New Yorker).
On the nonfiction side, I recently listened to much of Pooja Lakshim’s Real Self-Care. I also have an advance copy of Crypto Confidential by Nat Eliason, documenting his wild adventures in the world of finance over the past few years.
What are your most beloved books from your youth? Did you ever hide any from your parents?
What a great question! I don’t think I had to hide anything, at least not from my dad, because he was my biggest reading supporter. We used to go to bookstores and he’d buy me whatever I wanted. I didn’t understand until much later how rare that was.
In large part because of his encouragement, I read widely and often beyond my years. I read some of the classic kids books (Hardy Boys, others) but was really drawn much more to adult fiction as soon as I could read it. I grew up with a lot of genre fiction and then some more literary things as a teenager.
What’s your favorite book to reread? Any that helped you through a dark time?
I’ve read several Murakami books multiple times, including my favorite, A Wild Sheep Chase, as well as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Last year I also re-read most of Three Body Problem. I love deep, immersive works like that.
Again, as a nonfiction writer I tend to gravitate much more toward fiction for my own reading. Most of the “books that have helped me” have been there for me more as a form of escape or immersion, as opposed to guiding me through something specific.
What’s an article of clothing that makes you feel most like you?
I have a pretty simple wardrobe, mostly monochrome and blues/grays with occasional color in the form of fun shoes or a scarf.
For every book tour I have a new pair of shoes that I later think of as [name of book] shoes for whichever tour. For example:
Side Hustle shoes:
Gonzo Capitalism shoes:
$100 Startup shoes:
And so on.
What’s the best piece of wisdom you've encountered recently?
"If you have diluted focus, you get diluted results."
I heard this in a meeting last year and immediately wrote it down. Then I added it to my daily notes page, which I create every day in an app and work from.
It’s self-explanatory and not necessarily original, but for some reason it really stuck with me. I can see a lot of times in my life when I’ve had diluted focus, and therefore diluted results. Going forward, I want less of both.
Tell me about any special relationship you’ve had with an animal, domestic or wild?
Oh my goodness, what another wonderful question. I can’t help but think of my beloved cat Libby (short for Liberia), who I also called my assistant or manager from time to time. I said that Libby was in charge of comment moderation on my blog, so if anyone ever had a complaint about something, they should speak with her.
She was a nebelung, a breed I hadn’t ever heard of before but now enjoy seeing on Instagram because many of them look exactly the same.
She died at age 14 a few years ago and I still miss her in that way you love a favorite pet forever.
What's one thing you are happy worked out differently than you expected?
Applying to Ph.D. programs for sure. I didn’t get in, and I’m so, so happy about it. Around the same time I started the blog The Art of Non-Conformity and officially began my quest to visit every country in the world.
Getting rejected from my dream schools really was a dream come true. Sometimes in these situations people look back and rationalize their disappointment—but there is zero per cent of me that secretly longs for the alternate universe in which I became an academic.
Singing in the shower or dancing in the kitchen? Or another favorite way your body expresses itself?
More like … running. I run every day and have an 1,800+ day streak on my Apple Watch. I plan my schedule around it wherever I am, and get antsy if I haven’t closed the circles by noon. (Yes, I’m compulsive. It works for me.)
What are your hopes for yourself?
To be better in the future than I am now? That’s the first thing that comes to mind. I guess it’s a more positive twist on what I used to describe as my greatest fear: that my best days were behind me.
What’s a kindness that changed your life?
At several key points in my life, someone has seen something in me and elevated my position or role to a more visible status. This was incredibly kind because it enabled me to adapt and embrace something that was much more challenging than I would have chosen.
This happened in an especially key way in my early 20s when I was working for a medical charity in West Africa. The Executive Director switched me from being a person who moved boxes around in a warehouse (which was a fine thing to do!) into someone responsible for our entire team of programs staff—more than 120 people. I had to learn very quickly, sink-or-swim style, and it was ultimately very good for me.
11. What’s a guiding force in your life?
Two things:
First, the mission statement that has guided everything I’ve made or produced: You don’t have to live your life the way others expect. If more people understood this, I think the world would be a better place.
Second, an even shorter phrase that I think of as a personal mission statement: There is another way.
It has an infinite number of applications, and is something I try to remind myself of whenever I feel stuck. Maybe I’m stuck because I’m trying it someone else’s way … so I should look for something different.
If you enjoyed Chris’ questionnaire, you may also like Zoe Zolbrod’s:
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"There is another way." I love this simple thought that can lead to possibilities when I'm feeling stuck. Loved this.
amazing I’m so excited to read his new work and reconnect with Chris! He wrote about me once in his &100 start up book ✨❤️