Chris Guillebeau will help you find the work you were born to do

A week ago today I had the good fortune to venture on over to my neighbor city, Nashville.

I was there to visit with my friend Jeff and see Chris Guillebeau give a quick talk about his new book, Born For This. Since I had decided to make the drive on my own I thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to listen to the audio book that way I’d be well versed once I arrived.

It was a great drive. I felt so alive even though I was exhausted. Before heading to the launch I made a pitstop at my temporary pad, a cute home I found on Airbnb. I snuggled in bed for a minute or two, made some plans, then decided to make the unglamorous trip to H&M at Opry Mills mega mall. It was a hellacious journey, but it was nice to breath in a smidgen of Chicago while there. I miss living in the city more than I can say and being in Nashville, taking in some of the big city amenities, was exactly what I needed.

__

I felt like a friend was cracking open the operations manual to Life that I always hoped existed, but wasn’t sure did, and translating it for me in a digestible way.

As per usual I arrived late to the event, which was being held at a co-working space called Weld. Chris had already begun his talk and I sat and listened as he made his way through the main points of the book. What I loved about his talk (and his book) is that it’s super practical while being artful and inspirational. I felt like a friend was cracking open the operations manual to life that I always hoped existed, but wasn’t sure did, and translating it for me in a digestible way.

 __

joy + money + flow = born for this

For example, he walks you through really practical experiments to find the work you were born to do. The central theme of the book focuses on 3 factors in finding that work: joy, money, flow.

He then fills in this concept with real life case studies of what that looks like for everyday dreamers and workers like you and me. And what I appreciate more than anything is how he emphasizes, that while he’s practically unemployable (me too), not everyone is born to be an entrepreneur and that’s actually a great thing. You can be a self-employed employee and kill it at your dream job. So if you’re tired of the internet self-help phenomenon that’s going on right now, this book will give you peace of mind.

The main point that he left us with and what he kept repeating at the end of his talk was this,

It’s ok to make mistakes. There’s almost nothing you can’t recover from when trying to discover what it is you were born to do.

After the talk wrapped, I chit chatted with some seriously sweet people. Jeff has a way of bringing folks together because I felt like I was with my tribe even though most everyone there was new to me. I met a nice guy called Aubrey who’s a worship pastor. He encouraged me to keep pursuing my calling. I reconnected with my fabulous gal pal Katie, who’s basically putting on an event every time I see her. There were several podcasters, authors, writers, and artists in the room. I was even able to meet my internet friend and fellow writer, Ben Hardy, who drove all the way from South Carolina to be there. It was a fantastic night of cupcakes, lovely people, and provocative ideas to stir the soul.

__

Know when to fold em

Just before the thing closed up shop, I popped over to meet Chris and have him sign my book. We talked briefly about what it means to accept oneself and I even got to snag a hug. I was actually surprised to find that he was incredibly approachable always turning the questions and attention back to the people attending. It’s clear Chris has a very generous spirit.  I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that accessible (aside from Jeff of course). He even handed out his “Art of Non-Conformity” business cards with the offer to “text anytime”. What’s amazing is that I actually believed him.

On my journey to recovery, I’ve found it incredibly hard to accept my mistake making.  The fear of choosing wrongly or imperfectly has paralyzed me more times than I can count, but my biggest take away from the book is this: winners give up.

Winners know that when they no longer feel joy and that the work they’re doing is simply not working, it may be time to accept, adapt, and move on a wiser person. I feel this is very true for me. And in a sense I’ve been battling with all the questions that come with moving on: what if I lose their respect, what if I confuse people, what if I throw it away and can never get it back, what if I’m wrong in giving it up, what if I fail, what if I suck???

But I come back to his parting wisdom: it’s ok to make mistakes, just make today count.

__

How about you? Do you struggle to find the work you were born for? Do you have the same fears that I described above? Something tells me you just might. Tell me all about it in the comments below!