Reset

Life

, , , , ,

The $24,213 Thank-You Letter

Dear Friends,

I got up at 5am in Anchorage last Monday to publish this post, all about a business offer I was partnering with to donate my proceeds to our Ethiopia project.

At the moment I pressed the publish button, I knew it was a good promotion and I trusted Karol and Adam—but I wasn't entirely sure how readers would respond. We had no pre-launch to let people know this was coming, it was a busy time of the year, and I was just wrapping up our own only-once-a-year sale at UnconventionalGuides.com ...

Read More

111 Comments

Life

, , , ,

Chasing Daylight: Some Thoughts on Mortality

I recently read two books about the choices people make when faced with the knowledge of their forthcoming death. The first book is called Last Acts, and was written by a doctor who worked predominantly with hospice patients. Throughout the book, people make different choices—some seek to create closure with their loved ones and prepare as much as possible to say farewell to life as we know it. Others refuse to accept the reality of their forthcoming death and try to fight as long as possible ...

Read More

Life

, , ,

Happy Thanksgiving from Southeast Portland

If you don't live in the U.S., you may wonder why the internet is so quiet today. Everyone else around the world, this is the day you get the internet to yourselves. Use it well, friends, because America will be back online and shopping tomorrow.

I do have a sale going on at UnconventionalGuides.com until Monday if you're interested (use discount code "PUMPKIN"). It's pretty much the only sale of the year over there, so it doesn't need much hype.

Read More

81 Comments

Life

, , , ,

The Unconventional Strategy in Action

Most of the time, the obvious way around an obstacle isn't the only way. Looking for another option is called the unconventional strategy—when you have the same goal as anyone else, but you find a different way to achieve it. It works in education, career, personal finance, social causes, politics, relationships, etc. Oh, and it can even work in sports and contests too.

Read More

53 Comments

Work

, , ,

Killing Time

I did a media call for a journalist on the subject of “time management” recently. When I heard the topic, I was worried: one, I don't think I'm that great at time management ... and two, I'm not even sure such a thing exists. You can't manage time; it exists independently of any choice you make. I tend to think more about managing energy and managing projects—as for time itself, that's another story altogether.

Read More

141 Comments

Life

, ,

Who You Are and What They Say

If you are confident, they will say you are arrogant.

If you are deliberate, they will say you are too sure of yourself.

If you have a sense of purpose, they will say you are self-absorbed.

If you know who you are, they will ask, “Who are you, anyway?”

If you believe in kindness and compassion, they will say you are naïve.

If you are a dreamer, they will say “join the real world.”

If you are a rebel, they will try to shut you down.

Read More

Work

, , ,

Unconventional Book Tour Mini-Documentary

For everyone all over the world who isn't able to come out to the Unconventional Book Tour, this 4-minute movie gives you an idea of what it's about.

This mini-documentary was filmed and produced in Durham, North Carolina by Crystal Street at StorytellingTraveler.com. Crystal spent a lot of time on this project as a volunteer—check out some of her other great work on her site, or subscribe to her newsletter to stay connected with her.

Read More

67 Comments

Work

, , ,

How to Get Paid for What You Love

I'm no consultant, but from time to time (as in, several times a day) people ask for my opinion about building some kind of online business. I'm happy to give $0.02 for whatever it's worth, and I'm sure there are times when it's not worth more than that.

How can you do something you love and make a good living from it? Much of my Unconventional Guides business is devoted to answering this question in one way or another. And as discussed before, often when we ask for advice, we don't really want advice—we want someone to say “That's great! Go for it!”

Read More

64 Comments

Work

, ,

Starting Over

The question comes up a lot: "If you were starting over with this project, what would you do differently?"

In my case, I probably wouldn't put the domain on chrisguillebeau.com. If you have chrisg.com, that works—but Chris Garrett got to that one first, and for some reason, a lot of people have a hard time with Guillebeau. Oh well.

I would try to have a better understanding of my readers from the beginning, instead of waiting 6-12 months to figure it out. And I would have an agenda and a clear message of what kind of change I was trying to create.

Read More

Around the Web and the World