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.

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch

Robot Uprising Update: Robot Waiter, Fasta Pasta, South Terrace, Adelaide CBD, South Australia

On the second evening of my partner, Enigma, and I's weekend stay in Adelaide we decided to have dinner at Fasta Pasta . Strangely enough our hotel staff, at the Alba, had not mentioned Fasta Pasta as an option for an evening meal while their restaurant is closed for refurbishment, even though it is literally next door on the corner of South Terrace and Pultney Street. You may be aware that Fasta Pasta is an upmarket Italian restaurant franchise with its beginnings in Adelaide. Currently they have 19 restaurants Australia wide (with the majority in South Australia - we even have one in Gawler, our home town). I've never had bad food at a Fasta Pasta, and their food never looks like a franchise meal. You always feel you're at a restaurant that's a little bit more quality than your typical hotel/motel meal. Maybe it's because you don't see as much pasta based meals on an Aussie pub menu. Despite the name, it's not all pasta. I went with a basic plate of fish a

Looking for a Conspiracy Starter? Try The Conspiracy Theory Chart (2021) by Abbie Richards

Abbie Richards - creator of The Conspiracy Chart. I've never heard of Abbie Richards until today, while I was trawling the internet for something to post to this blog. She claims to be professionally obsessed with TikTok, a mis and disinformation researcher, and a research fellow at @TheARConsortium but she may just be an A.I. bot programmed by the far left to annoy right wing keyboard warriors, probably? Anyway Abbie produced an updated version of her Conspiracy Theory Chart to reflect more recent thinking (up until November 23, 2021 at least). Whether or not you believe anything listed to be a conspiracy or 'truth that will come out as more people wake up' the chart is a great starting point for anyone investigating 'new, enlightened thinking' with dubious connection to actual facts to draw their conclusions. Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don't understand how harmful they are. I made the original Conspiracy Chart over a year ago. An update was

Are Ion Thrusters the Future of Flying Cars? Spoiler - Probably Not But... Hover Boards... Maybe?

Undefined Technologies Ion Propulsion Drone prototype 3D concept image. You may have heard of Ion engines or, more likely, Ion thrusters. NASA uses them on their spacecraft to help maintain a craft's position or to propel them through space. Upon hearing that you might think they're big, powerful engines, but actually they are not. They work well in the vacuum of space but, once any kind of atmosphere and gravity is involved they'd be hard pressed to launch you off the ground if you strapped four of them to your lawn chair and yelled "up, up, and away!" I am no expert on Ion thrusters - they're basically magic that science has an explanation for. If you want to know the details, The Space Techie website has a layman's explanation . Build Your Own Ion Thruster Earth based Ion Thrusters work a bit different to their space based cousins by Ionizing the same air that we breathe to create thrust (an effect known as Ionic-wind ). While they sound highly soph

"Life's Tough, Get a Helmet" - Literally!

Imagine if we took this quote literally for any tough situation we had to face. I can just see it now. You hear a voice from the other room... "Honey, I think the baby needs changing?" Better go get your helmet. Not just any helmet either. You'd have a range of helmets to suit whatever life throws at you. Big presentation at the office? You'll have a helmet for that. Job interview? You'll have a helmet for that. Helping the kids with their homework. You'll need a helmet. Having the 'Talk' with your teenage children? I think you'll need a specially designed helmet for that! There seems to be some debate as to where the quote Life's tough, get a helmet originates from? Some attribute it to Denis Leary whilst others attribute it to the TV show, The Hills , and still others say it's from the TV Show, Boy Meets World ? Personally I think we can rule out The Hills but we'll probably need a helmet to resolve this. All in

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog