A Brief Guide to World Domination

Aug 14, 2009 by Sebastian Johnsson    11 Comments    Posted under: personal development

I’ve just spent the last two hours reading Chris Guillebeau’s (@chrisguillebeau) manifesto “A Brief Guide to World Domination – How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World” and going through the related material.

All I can say is wow, that manifesto really makes you think about things. At its core, the manifesto (as well as Chris’s movement The Art of Non-conformity) revolves around one core principle:

You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.

Two Questions

Besides the core principle, the manifesto also revolves around two very important questions:

1. What do you really want to get out of life?
2. What can you offer the world that no one else can?

These questions are designed to help you realize how you can become or create something truly remarkable and live life on your terms, not someone else’s.

What do you really want to get out of life?

This is probably THE most important question one should ask themselves. What is your ultimate goal in life? What is your purpose?

One thing you definitely should do (and something that’s also recommended in the manifesto) while trying to answer this question is to go through Paul Myers’s “Ideal World“-exercise.

It’s a great goal setting-exercise that revolves around the idea of visualizing an ideal day in your life and then making adjustments to make it happen.

What can you offer the world that no one else can?

This can actually be a really tricky question – it sure was (and still is) for me. Basically, it’s about realizing how you can turn your passion or your interests into a specific expertise.

You really need to devote as much time as it takes to find out what you can offer the world that no one else can – and when you’re ready – the world will be amazed by your awesomeness.

Challenges

In the manifesto, Chris mentions a few obstacles that one should be vary of when they’re starting their journey of non-conformism. According to Chris, one should be ready to be challenged by:

• Gatekeepers – people whose purpose is to control or withhold the flow of information and the ability to create change, and
• Critics – expert pessimists critical towards anyone else who thinks differently than they do.

The Toolkit

When starting out on the journey to be remarkable, Chris mentions that a few tools are necessary:

• Relentless Passion – You must have an intense passion for your cause. You have to be willing to give your all, and fail and fail again. There will a long period of time with potentially few rewards.
• A Very Specific Goal – Why are you different? How will you make a difference?
• Expert Status in Skills That Help Others – You have to add value to others, or no one will want to help you. You need skills that will radically improve the lives of others.
• A Small Army – You need to start a following or recruit an army of believers that will aid you in your cause.
• Enough Money – You need enough money to accomplish the goal – no more, no less.
• Enough Time – You have to be able to devote a lot of time to improve your skills. You’re striving to be remarkable, not just ‘good’ or ‘decent’.
• One-Way Communication – You have to be able to speak to your following/your army directly through e.g. a blog or a web site.

What you do not need

Contrary to what most people believe, Chris mentions that the following isn’t needed:

• Qualifications
• Introductions
• Endorsements
• … or other credentials that are commonly required in the “normal” world.

What you need to do

Take action. Just start doing something – fail, learn, improve.

The choice doesn’t matter – just do something.

Now, go read the whole manifesto and take over the world! And oh, I highly recommend you to follow Chris on Twitter as well.

The best experience of my life so far

Apr 5, 2009 by Sebastian Johnsson    11 Comments    Posted under: Travelling

So I guess I haven’t really jotted down my general thoughts of my experience in Australia – so here we go. A bit of a warning though, this might turn into some deep stuff.

I’ve been here almost two months now and I can’t seriously remember the last time I felt so happy and excited about life. Doing this journey and traveling by myself is hands down the best learning experience I’ve had in my life so far.

What I’ve realized is that by traveling by yourself you’re automatically forced to be outgoing, sociable and keen on meeting new people. Since I came here I’ve become a lot more social and a lot more confident compared to what I used to be.

Basically, this little journey has forced me to take care of a lot of shit I didn’t like about myself, stuff I needed to improve upon in order to become a better person.

For those thinking about going by themselves somewhere, just do it. It’s the best possible way to learn a new language (or improve an existing one), get to experience a new culture and meet a lot of awesome people. And yeah, you’ll also be able to get to know yourself in a way you won’t normally be able to.

And regarding Sydney… all I can say is it’s abso-fucking-lutely fantastic. Yeah sure, you can see pictures of the place and get a hint of what it’s like but Sydney is as much about atmosphere as it’s about awesome scenery. There’s always something going on, always people on the go. One minute you can run around in the central business district and be surrounded by high rises and a few minutes later you can chill with the fruit bats (by the way, they’re kinda ugly) in the Botanical Gardens.

Well yeah, going from a town with a population of 40,000 to a city with a population of 4,5 million people can also be a part of why I’m so fascinated. But just slightly though :).

To all of those I’ve met here, thanks for making my stay here extremely awesome. I really appreciate it.