Chris Guillebeau released his new book yesterday, The Art of Non-Comformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change The World.
When I started flipping through it last night, I saw a great list from Chris that I had seen before. The list originally appeared in his free manifesto entitled, A Brief Guide to World Domination?.
Here’s the list.
Eleven Ways to Be Unremarkably Average
- Accept what people tell you at face value
- Don’t question authority
- Go to college because you’re supposed to, not because you want to learn something
- Go overseas once or twice in your life, to somewhere safe like England
- Don’t try to learn another language; everyone else will eventually learn English
- Think about starting your own business, but never do it
- Think about writing a book, but never do it
- Get the largest mortgage you qualify for and spend 30 years paying for it
- Sit at a desk 40 hours a week for an average of 10 hours of productive work
- Don’t stand out or draw attention to yourself
- Jump through hoops. Check off boxes.?
Chris’s new book isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK. There is no shame in living an average life. That average – “the life performance average” if you will, could be a bit on the high side. But chances are we’re on the low side of things. But hey, don’t sweat it, it’s only an average.
If you’re unremarkably average, Chris is going to push you to ask yourself some tough questions. He’s going to push you to try something outside your comfort zone. Chris repeatedly gives you ways, throughout the book, to back out. Many will back out. The average will put it down, or send it back for a refund. The average will smile and smirk as they read Chris’s suggestions for a life of non-conformity.
Do you see yourself in this list? Do you care? Or is average and unremarkable good enough for you?
Then again, maybe Chris’s book is exactly what you’re looking for.
