I was greeted by neat and tidy typography on the home page that read as follows, “How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World.” By Chris Guillebeau
That was two nights ago, I am now going to sharing some thoughts and extracts from this marvelous manifesto that you can download below
A Brief Guide to World Domination.
How is this for an introduction:
“If you want it badly enough, and are willing to make some changes in your life to cause it to happen, you too can take over the world… or do anything else you really want to do. Yes, you really can have it all. The only things you’ll need to give up are assumptions, expectations, and the comfort zone that holds you back from greatness.”
Chris also provided a disclaimer:
“Who Should Read This Report? I should warn you now that this report is not for everyone. In fact, it’s probably not for most people.”
“It’s a lonely road for those of us who choose to be remarkable, and the path of convention can sometimes be appealing.”
Live the life you want:
“What you need to know first: You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.”
Brilliant advice:
“Here’s a quick side lesson: if you want to know who your real friends are, start telling your craziest idea to everyone you meet. Some people will slowly back away from you as if you really are crazy, but others will latch on to your idea and help you any way they can. The people in the second group are your real friends.”
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
-martin luther king, jr.
Here are the two most important questions in the universe: (According to Chris)
1: What do you really want to get out of life?
2: What can you offer the world that no one else can?
More brilliant advice:
“Another side note: the fascinating thing about setting long-term goals is that once you get serious about planning for them, you may find that you fulfill them much faster than expected. This is because we tend to overestimate what we can complete in a single day, and underestimate what we can complete over longer periods of time.”
“Your relentless passion can do more than just help you take over the world for yourself. You can also use it to radically improve the lives of other people.”
“Contrary to what you may hear from the latest self-help book, true success does not come from passive visualization or wishful thinking. It takes action, planning, and sacrifice. Like surfer-turned-songwriter Jack Johnson says in one of his coolest songs, “Don’t let your dreams be dreams.” Make them real.”
“Remember that it’s far easier to stand back and criticize someone else than it is to put your own beliefs forward.”
Critics:
“Critics are not happy people by nature,but they seemingly enjoy putting other people down. You need a strategy to deal with them, but in the end, don’t give up. You’re not working for them, and critics will never change the world.”
Here is Chris’ toolkit for world domination:
- Relentless Passion – By far the most important thing you need in the toolkit is an intense passion for your cause that can not be hindered by critics or your own shortcomings. You have to be willing to give it your all, and for a long time with potentially few rewards. In the short run, few people will notice, but in the long run, everyone will. Or at least, everyone you need to influence in your campaign will notice.
- A Compelling Story – I went to West Africa in 2002 because I heard the story of how a hospital ship needed volunteers to come work in desperate countries like Sierra Leone. It was a compelling story that profoundly affected my life, and my wife and I made a two-year commitment to work for free without even visiting first.
- One-Way Communication – Yes, social networking is here to stay, but you also need some kind of pulpit. You need to be able to speak to your army directly. This can be done through a web site, a blog, a newsletter, an email list, a phone broadcast, or something else.
- Enough Time – You have to be able to devote significant time to improving your skills. You don’t just want to be good enough; you want to be remarkable. What this means is different for everyone – some people are able to pursue world domination in their off hours, while others will need more time.
- Enough Money – Your goal will probably require some amount of money. How much do you need? Simply put, you need enough money to accomplish the goal—no more, no less. Figure out what the true cost is and then figure out how to get it. Work the math out backwards.
- Friends of Friends – A small army is critical, but in the long run, the friends of your friends may end up helping even more.
- A Small Army – You need to recruit a small army of committed believers who will support your cause and add their own resources in support of it. How many people do you need? Well, obviously it varies, but 1,000 true fans is a great start. In fact, a small, devoted army is far better than a large, uncommitted mob.
- Expert Status in Skills that Help Others – As we’ve seen here, you can’t just take over the world for yourself. You have to add value to others, or no one will want to help you. Therefore, you need to have skills that will radically improve the lives of others. Does your world domination plan have an educational component?
- A Very Specific Goal – In the modern-day classic Good To Great, Jim Collins tells the story of his wife deciding to compete in the 1985 Ironman race. One day she looks up at the breakfast table and says, “I think if I give up everything else—grad school offers, the full-time job, most of my other hobbies—I can actually win the Ironman.” Just like that. And then she makes it her very specific goal, devotes every day for three years to achieving it, and comes in first place despite a severe hamstring injury that caused her a lot of pain on the 26.2 mile run.
“By the way, planning is great, but when it comes to acting, I prefer the ready-fire-aim method, and I prefer to start sooner rather than later. You can always make changes later on, but if you never begin, you’ll never know what could have happened if you tried.”
Visit http://chrisguillebeau.com/ for more inspiration.
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I found this while reading Di Smith‘s book You’re Awesome, it’s the opening paragraph of a chapter entitled Conquer Your Fear. (Disclaimer: she is a client of mine.)
Hello, my name is Tyron Bache. This is my personal blog, the views (remarkable, biased, opinionated, stupid & impulsive) expressed on these pages are mine alone unless otherwise stated. Proud co-founder of 
