1459: Humility, Three Lessons, and a Birthday by Chris Guillebeau on Entrepreneurial Life

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Work Daily. Humility, Three Lessons, and a Birthday by Chris Guillebeau of Chris Guillebeau.com.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: There are a few things more awkward than sitting in a bookstore by yourself with a row of empty chairs in front of you.

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: As people approach, you hope they're coming to say hi until they head to the gardening section.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Other people walk by with bags that look like they might contain cupcakes and your heart lifts for a brief moment.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: At dozens of cities in the weeks prior to this evening, people drove for hours to come and cupcakes were brought by the Baker's dozens.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But tonight you're in a shopping mall bookstore with the empty chairs, the very nice staff smiling and offering to bring you water or coffee.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: This, you slowly begin to remember, is where the work is actually made.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: You think about the book signing you stumbled on two years ago, where a lone author stood by himself trying to smile and awkwardly displaying his stack of books.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: You went over to talk to him about his book and tried to make him feel better without being too obvious.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And as you said farewell and wished him good luck, you resolved this would never happen to you.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: But here you sit, looking out at empty chairs.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It matters not how many Twitter followers you have around the world since apparently none of them live in this small town.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You ask yourself, would you still do this work if no one cared?

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a hard question, but eventually you answer, yes I would.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So you sit there and write these notes, determine to express gratitude for the chance to be alone and write.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what a writer does, yes?

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And then someone shows up, who has in fact driven in from another small town an hour away.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You ambush him and make sure he sits down in a chair as quickly as possible.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So glad you're here, you say, and the statement has never been more true.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: A meet-up with one attendee is a lot better than a meet-up with zero.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Then someone else arrives with several children until.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I love large families, you say, for the first time in your life.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: The kids are occupied with iPod and Nintendo DS games, but you're thrilled to see that each small child takes her own chair, thus improving the visual effect to passers by.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: A couple of other people wonder in trying to decide whether to stay or leave, and then they stay.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a big crowd by any measure or even a medium one, but hey, people show up.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You enlist the kids in helping to color in the map you've been lugging around all across the continent.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: You talk for a while with everyone, and some of them even buy books, and you sign them.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You say, good night, you say thank you to the kind store managers, and then you go home to the hotel.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It's now past 9 p.m., so all the nearby restaurants are closed.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Small towns may be known for many good things, but nightlife is not usually one of them.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: You find a small pizza place run by a Chinese family.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It's closed too, but you brazenly approach the counter anyway,

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: spying two pieces of mushroom pizza on a warming rack.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Bad news, the pizza's cold.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: No more oven than man explains.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Good news?

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He'll give you the two cold slices for the price of one.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: You pay for only one slice, he says again to make sure you understand this valuable offer.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: You pick up the two slices, paying only for one, and walk through the snow back to your hotel,

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and establishment chosen strictly for its close proximity to the bookstore.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You shake off the blizzard outside and get out your secret stash of vodka to enjoy with your cold pizza.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The next day you go to a big city, and the day after to another one.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: There you have no difficulties drawing a crowd, people come from all over.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The store employees scrambled to find more chairs.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We had no idea so many people would come, they say, as you smile and remember the other night with far too many chairs.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Cupcakes are brought and consumed.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: A good time is had by all, and you prepare to advance to a new stage of adventures.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But before you move on, you reflect back on the contrast between the events and ask,

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: What's the lesson here? You decide on three things.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: One embrace humility.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes you'll fail, and while failure is overrated, having known them both intimately or fairly certain that success is much better,

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: you know you can still learn something from every experience.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's always good to keep it real.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Two, an artist makes art.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: As lovely and exciting as everything else can be, never forget to focus on the source, a painter paints, a musician makes music, a writer writes,

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: wander from the source at your own peril.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And three, when you ask for adventure, you don't always know what you'll get.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: That's how adventure works. You could choose the safe route and avoid the risk of disappointment,

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: but a good adventure would never do that.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And for all these things and more, you are glad and grateful.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: You recall the sensation that every traveler knows well,

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: the oddsense of deja vu and wonderment of being in yet another place.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You have been to so many places already, and you'll go to so many more, who knows what the future holds.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: If you've learned nothing else through your quest of joy and two for one pizza, you've learned it's better not to know.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: For too many people, lead lives of quiet desperation, but you know better, so you'll keep pursuing adventure to big cities and small towns alike.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This, you believe with all your heart, is the only option worth choosing.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listen to the post titled Humility, Three Lessons, and a Birthday by Chris Gillibot of Chris Gillibot.com.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: This show is sponsored by Better Help.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: We're all marveled at how quickly kids learn, and that sense of wonderment they have well doing it.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But as adults, sometimes we lose that curiosity.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, if there's something you've been wanting to learn, know that therapy can help you reconnect with your sense of wonder,

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: because your back to school error can come at any age.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And make no mistake, therapy is for everyone.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not you've been through significant trauma, therapy can be a great tool for setting boundaries, learning new skills,

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately becoming the best version of yourself.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're thinking of starting therapy, give Better Help a try.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Read Discover Your Curiosity with Better Help.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Visit betterhelp.com slash work daily today to get 10% off your first month.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: That better help, HELP.com slash work daily.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you to Chris.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: He started his site which he called the Art of Non-Conformity in order to chronicle his journey to every country in the world,

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: which he in fact completed before his 35th birthday.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He has a few books worth checking out as well.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The Art of Non-Conformity, which was translated into more than 30 languages,

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: then the $100 start up which was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller,

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: selling more than 700,000 copies worldwide.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And his book The Money Tree is all about finding the fortune in your own backyard.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He also hosts the popular World Domination Summit in Portland and you can come by ChrisKillabo.com for a lot more,

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and I have his site including the spelling of his name.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, linked in this episode's description.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that does it for me today.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I thank you as always for being a subscriber to our show.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Hope you have a great rest of your day,

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.