I feel like I’ve read this book before.
The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World by Chris Guillebeau has a familar tone to it. It is another “define your goals” and “take on the world” book. I think how receptive you are to this style of inspirational book really depends on where you are in your life’s journey and how fresh these ideas are to you.
Although the general thesis of the book wasn’t new to me, I did walk away with a few interesting lessons.
- Not To-Do List – Make a list of the things you spend time on that aren’t benefiting you and then don’t do them. I’m a big fan of making To-Do lists, so the simplicity of this idea appealed to me.
- “Educational, Inspirational, Entertaining” – The author states that a good blog post will fall into one of more of these categories. I never thought about targeting an outcome in my blog posts. Looking back, I can now see why some posts got really popular and some were duds. I’m going to expand on this idea in a future post.
The author I agree on most topics. Travel is cool, especially if the destination is cheap. Debt is slavery. College and Graduate school are no longer worth it for most disciplines. Frugality is in. Experiences over Consumerism. These topics have been a well-beaten path on this blog for years.
The Art of Non-Conformity invites comparision to The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. If you like one, then you will most likely enjoy the other book. Both authors make the case for escaping from your office working for someone else to striking out on your own. With the exception of the fact this book has no index in the back, it is a good book.
I was going to link to the author’s blog, but he has one of those annoying splash pop-ups. A wonderful thing about the book is that you won’t be bothered to sign up for an email newsletter when you turn the pages.
UPDATE 2014: I forgot I read this book – which isn’t a good sign – and read it again. It isn’t very good. Very little substance.
Marian
Jun 27, 2011 — 9:57 am
Probably a silly question but have you read Your Money or Your Life?
MAS
Jun 27, 2011 — 11:35 am
@Marian – No I haven’t. Good book?
Marian
Jun 27, 2011 — 2:58 pm
AMAZING book, and right up your alley. The authors talk about how time is the ultimate currency, and how much it really costs you (in time) to accumulate “stuff” that has no meaning for you. Then they show you how to to decrease expenses, increase investments and live off savings. All stuff that you know of course, but I found the book very enlightening when I read it 15 years ago. It taught me to value experiences over possessions.