I went to Chris Guillebeau’s book tour event tonight where he is promoting his new book Born For This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do.
I’ve been a fan of Chris’ work for a few years now. When I first quit my job a couple of years ago, I would go to the bookstore to pass time when I wasn’t hustlin’ for money. Plus, bookstores smell a lot better than libraries.
While I was strolling down the business aisle, looking through the very boring proper looking business books, the front cover of Chris’ book stood out.
The title was The $100 Startup and it had a picture of bicycle and a bag of money in the back.
It struck a chord with me. I loved it.
I loved that it was a bicycle and not a sports car. It was romantic. Book cover judged. I read the author’s bio, “Chris has traveled to every country in the world before his 35th birthday…” and I remember thinking, whoa that’s a lot of countries, who is this guy? I like him already.
I read the entire book there in Chapters in a couple of hours. The book covered the lives of people doing what they loved, quitting jobs, hustlin’, traveling and everything I was into. And ever since that day, I was a fan.
It was exactly what I needed to hear at that time in my life after quitting my job and heading into the unknown.
That was a few years back… who would have thought Chris would tell me what I needed to hear again at this time in my life.
Tonight, he spoke about mistakes. Even though, his talk concerned entrepreneurship, it applied to everything in my life right now. Mistakes are lessons that will help you make better choices for the future. Mistakes teach you about who you are. Mistakes do not define you, they refine you.
Thanks, Chris.
After the talk was over, there were some activities downstairs to partake in. One of them was a letter writing table, where they provided cards, envelopes, pens and other cute stationery to write letters. It was a huge hit and people flocked to it.
I made up a few cards to some loved ones and then I made one for myself.
It was the only card that was completely blank inside and outside. No one wanted it but me. I liked the emptiness of it, its readiness to be filled. I ended up taping a whole bunch of quotes on the inside and then finally decided that I wanted to put one on the front too.
It will rest by my bed tonight.
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