By the time I read this book, I had already read The $100 Startup, which is one of my all-time favorite books and one I try to reread every year. I also bought one of their Creative Live on Travel hacking courses, which was also very good.
For those unfamiliar with Chris, his true claim to fame and what he is known for is completing a personal quest of visiting every country in the world by the age of 35. Chris Guillebeau has a writing style that is very easy to digest.
For this book, The Happiness of Pursuit, he describes and provides sample case studies on how to find, measure, and complete your own personal journey. Reading The Happiness of Pursuit will (1) teach you how it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, (2) inspire you to select your journey (3) how to set and measure your achievement (4) set deadlines or know when you’re done (5) how to deal with distractions and stay focused (6) when to turn or quit
The case studies include both his journey and others that Chris has encountered through his travels and experiences. Not all of these trips involve travel. Some are from people who never left home. Those trips from home, and among my most notable favorites include Scott Young, who completed a self-directed bachelor’s degree program in Computer Science from MIT’s free course catalog within 1 year, all for free. (All of MIT’s classes and degree programs are available for free online, including courses, lectures, exams, etc., which I think is really awesome.) Like most of the book samples, Scott documented his experience on a blog.
What personal journeys has this book inspired me to undertake? Having finished the book a few days ago and had about a week to think about this topic, here is my current list:
-Cook my way through the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) textbook
-Travel and eat in all the restaurants that Anthony Bourdain filmed or wrote about.
-Speak, read and write nothing but Spanish for 2 months or until you have 80% fluency, whichever comes first. And then another language…
-Repeating the surf adventure from one of my favorite movies, The Endless Summer 2. Traveling to all the same beaches, and surfing the same breakers.
The Happiness of Pursuit is a good book, well worth reading and I can’t think of anyone who shouldn’t read it. It really is for everyone. I also love the play on words in the title. I’m sure some potential readers won’t see past the travel aspect and think they should pass because of childcare obligations or some other barrier, but one of my favorite case studies was Sasha Martin’s. Sasha herself cooked dishes from a different country each week until she toured every country in the world without leaving Oklahoma, so her newborn daughter could see the world across the kitchen table. All of these stories are about personal journeys that make you a better human being. Use this book to find the journey of developing and realizing your own Hero. It can change your life.
