Book Review: The Happiness of Pursuit - by Chris Guillebeau | Find the Quest that will Bring Purpose to Your Life

The Happiness of Pursuit
by Chris Guillebeau.
Reviewed by TET

Unlike Chris Guillebeau's other books, such as The $100 Startup, The Happiness of Pursuit is less of a how to guide and more about finding inspiration.

The book is set out in a logical order of sections and chapters starting with why people go on quests, what to expect while on a quest, and then debriefing once a quest is achieved (or not). However there is no ten point plan or step by step guide to achievement.

Instead the book looks at many different case studies of people who have pursued seemingly insurmountable quests, what it took to get started, how they broke everything down into manageable tasks, the problems they faced, and their conclusions after having completed their goal.

Along the way Chris offers practical advice from both his research and as someone who also pursued a quest of visiting every country in the world.

Some of the real case studies include (and many probably wouldn't even spring to mind as a 'quest' in the traditional sense of the word):

Master Karate in Kyoto, Japan, as the first step to becoming a ninja.
Create a life orientated around 'serial crafting' projects.
Walk across the United States.
Abstain from motorized transport and maintain a vow of silence for 17 years.
Take, edit, and publish one million photos.
Cook a meal from every country in the world.
Set the world record for the most sighted birds.
Give $10 everyday to a different non-profit organization for a year.

If you're someone who has yet to find their direction in life this book suggests that pursuing a quest could help give you purpose. At the very least you'll learn something about yourself and what you're capable of. You may even realize that the quest you start out with is only a stepping stone to a more meaningful quest - that you may not have discovered otherwise.

I found The Happiness of Pursuit to be an enjoyable and easy read. It's not the strongest of Chris' books I've read in terms of giving you actionable steps to get you started but, if you are looking for some kind of life's purpose, this book will definitely encourage you to think bigger.

The main takeaway I got was that no dream is too small, big, silly, or seemingly impossible to be a quest, just find a path to work your way toward it. Don't be afraid to fail, re-evaluate, or change tack.

The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau is available from Amazon.

* This article contains Amazon Associate commission links that help keep this site free.

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