Book Review: Chris Guillebeau - The Art of Non-Conformity

There's probably many a good reason that in all the years I've been maintaining this blog, I've never once thought to write a book review.

The only one which springs to mind right now though, is that, perhaps with the exception of Paul McKenna's excellent NLP programme Change Your Life In Seven Days, I've never actually read a book which was so instrumental in influencing the path I chose for my life, the decisions I would make to guide me along that path and the courage to make those decisions.

That was until I read Chris Guillebeau's excellent The Art of Non-Conformity,

I first heard of Guillebeau's work through his website of the same name, digging deep into an archive of fascinating, insightful and inspiring posts about life, work, travel and entrepreneurship and promptly signing up to his newsletter for more of the same.

The posts were exactly what I needed at the time in my life, and spurred me on towards making some huge changes that I had long felt were necessary for me to enjoy life. The best bit was, they were all completely free, so when I finally stumbled across the Art of Non-Conformity (AONC) book in my local Waterstones last Autumn, stumping up £10 to take it with me was a no-brainer.

Was it worth the money? Absolutely.

In the early pages, Chris reminds us of a question often put to us by our parents when we were but small children: 'If everybody was jumping off a bridge, would you?'

This question, says the author, was put to us to encourage us to stand up to peer pressure, be our own person and follow the right path. Yet, as we grow older, being our own person suddenly doesn't seem to be what the world expects of us, the question instead becoming 'Hey! Everybody else is jumping off this bridge, why aren't you!?!'

AONC is not written for those bridge-jumpers, but rather for those who look for a different path, one of independence, self-worth and a life spent working productively on projects which both make us happy and add some greater value to the world at large.

For those people who decide jumping off a bridge into a life most ordinary may not be the best course of action for their life, the author offers up a series of suggestions on how to dream big and live bigger, creating instead a life most awesome.

For those people, or indeed anybody who likes to think they could become one of those people, AONC is practically invaluable.

From early chapters on life-planning, goal-setting and other such tools which are perhaps to be expected in any book of this genre to creating a 'legacy work' which may well out last your own life time and hopefully help others, what becomes apparent is that this isn't just another book on how to get more out of life in the rat race.

Rather, this is a book about how to create your own race, hurtle along its path doing amazing things which inspire others and instil in you a sense of happiness and complete satisfaction, then arrive at the finish line being able to look back with nothing more than the knowledge that you've lived life on your own terms.

You'll notice I said earlier that AONC offers a series of suggestions, not lessons or even advice. If you're thinking about taking a leap into doing something remarkable with your life but need somebody to hold your hand and jump first to show you what will happen when you land, you're probably not going to find that here.

What you'll find instead is a writer who shares both his own experiences and those of other people doing incredible things in life, channelling the lessons they learned into a practical, useful and inspirational guide to how you could have those experiences too, if you really want them.

It was after reading this book last Autumn that I made a firm commitment to leaving a job I no longer derived any satisfaction from and begin to make plans to work independently, just as I'd often dreamed of doing.

It was after reading the book a second time this spring that I jumped on a plane to spend three months out here in Minnesota, meeting awesome people, working on awesome projects and beginning to lay the foundations for the awesome life I knew was in my grasp.

But, and here's the thing. I didn't do it exactly how Guillebeau lays out in his book.

I couldn't. That was his journey, his life path, not mine. I could have followed his every step and set about things exactly as he did...

But it wouldn't have made me happy.

What I did do, however, was use the book as a guide, a list of suggestions as to how to get the life that I wanted.

I'll probably read The Art of Non-Comformity again, if not towards the end of this year, then certainly early next year, and I hope that when I do, I'm inspired to take another big step towards doing something remarkable with my life.

I hope too, that if anything I've said in this post has at least made you curious about picking up this book, that you'll approach it with an eager heart and an open mind and that you too will leap not from bridges into mediocrity and a life most ordinary, but into a wholly remarkable life doing awesome work.

Spotify Playlist - My Top 20 - W/E May 20th 2012

This week's Weekly Top 20 playlist is now ready for your listening pleasure.

As well as more Minnesota music from Murzik, Dark Dark Dark and Bethany Larson & The Bees Knees, I've got some love back home to England with tracks from the very awesome Junction23, Jeramiah Ferrari and Titors Insignia. I've also got some laughs from Stephen Lynch and tracks from a couple of my favourite bands in Pearl Jam and Live.

Please, enjoy.

Three weeks on the Iron Range

Just over three weeks out here on my latest visit to the Minnesota Iron Range, and life is good.

Over the past week or so, with my body clock finally in sync with the rest of America, I feel I've finally settled into a peaceful, enjoyable and productive routine.

Early mornings are for runs past the Mesabi Daily News office towards the giant water tower which stands ancient and proud as it casts a protective eye over Virginia and back again for coffee, e-mails and showers.

The rest of the morning is dedicated to meetings, running errands with Stace and otherwise taking care of what I like to call 'Life Admin' before the baking Minnesota sunshine reaches its apex some time just beyond noon.

Then, as the heat wraps all in its path in a sweet, heavy air, it's time to head outside. Sit and read a book (I've just finished Chris Guillebeau's excellent The Art of Non-Conformity for the second time, very much recommended), share good conversation and plenty of laughs with Stace, or just ignore the world for a while and take a nap.

Eventually, evening brings about a cooler air, a gentle breeze and skies that gradually simmer into a light blanket of nightfall, the distant sound of freight trains scrambling desperately along the railroad tracks en route to (or from, I'm never sure) the local mines and a nearby cricket chirping within earshot.

It's at that point that I arm myself with a laptop, notebook, pen and more cans of Mountain Dew than should probably be good for me, and set-up camp at the dining table, where I work away until the late hours on a number of different projects.

In the run-up to Dylan Days, I'm having fun helping out to promote the event via social media, not only through my own networks, but by taking on responsibilities for both the official Dylan Days page and the page for Zimmy's, too. It's been encouraging to see a couple of extra people hitting the Like button on those pages each day and great to get to know a couple of people heading down for the event.

That includes the musicians too, and I've really been enjoying listening to Murzik and The Adjustments, the latter of whom perform on the opening night of Dylan Days 2012 next Thursday night.

When I'm not in Dylan mode, or promoting my own new Facebook page, a place to share updates on my writing, I've been getting stuck in to helping out with The Lyric Center for the Arts here in Virginia. 

I have a couple of tasks on that front. Firstly, I've volunteered to design them a brand new website, which I hope to have done some time in the next few weeks. Then, with my Marketing and Publicity hat on, I'll be helping the very wonderful people I've met at the center so far in promoting their upcoming 100 Year Anniversary event.

This is sure to be a fantastic evening, raising money for the center through a mix of music, theatre, storytelling and visual arts, and I'm thrilled, not only to be a part of it in some small way, but to find a place and a group of people passionate about community arts events such as this.

All in all then, I'm having quite the wonderful time out here, and whilst I'd love to stop and talk more about life on the 'range and some of the other projects I'm working on, the Minnesota sun is sweltering, fatigue is settling in and I'll have to save those conversations for another time.

Til then, here's The Adjustments performing Dylan's classic Like a Rolling Stone.

Dylan Days 2012 honors '50 years of Bob'

Dylan Days 2012 honors '50 years of Bob'
By CHRIS SKOYLES
For Dylan Days
Reposted from:
http://www.dylandays.org/a/j/announcements/20-hibbings-dylan-days-2012-honors-50-years-of-bob

HIBBING, Minnesota - Artists, musicians, writers and fans from across the globe are heading for Hibbing as Dylan Days, the grassroots arts festival celebrating one of the city’s most famous sons, rolls around for the eleventh year running.

2012 marks fifty years since the man once known as Robert Zimmerman first released his debut album, Bob Dylan. Some 600 compositions, 34 studio albums and a never-ending string of tour dates later, Dylan’s significant impact on American culture was recognized earlier this spring with the announcement that the Duluth native and Hibbing alumnus would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the White House.

Back in Hibbing, that cultural impact, not to mention the creativity Dylan’s work has inspired in generations of musicians, wordsmiths and visual artists, will once again be celebrated at Dylan Days.

With many of the activities and contests which have made the event one of the Iron Range’s most popular grassroots festivals returning, Dylan Days 2012 begins on Thursday May 24th with a formal reception at the Hibbing Chamber of Commerce, followed by live music from Duluth-based outfit The Adjustments.

Other highlights over the four-day festival include the return of the famous Dylan Days singer-songwriter contest, in which musicians from all over the world pay tribute to the event’s namesake by performing one Dylan cover alongside one original piece, plus the ever-popular Bobby Zimmerman Bus Tour, taking in many of the venues and places of interest which shaped the childhood of a young Robert Zimmerman.

“The idea behind Dylan Days is to keep the arts alive in Hibbing and celebrate that creative spirit that Dylan himself found here and took out with him into the world to succeed,” said Dylan Days co-founder and proprietor of Zimmy’s, the Dylan-themed bar and restaurant on East Howard St.

“The people who come here, whether they’re local residents or Dylan fans from as far away as Australia and England, they come here to meet with like-minded people and share their passions and creativity.

“It’s those people who feel a certain connection, to one another and to Hibbing, as though there’s something in the atmosphere that brings them together, and it’s that intangible connection they feel that helps them fall in love with Hibbing’s charm and that makes them reach the end of their stay with us saying they never want to leave Hibbing.”

Dylan Days 2012 runs from Thursday, May 24 through Sunday, May 27. For more information visit www.dylandays.org.

Spotify Playlist - My Top 20 - W/E May 13th 2012

So it's been a while since I put my weekly Top 20 playlist together. I did actually have one in mind this Sunday just past, but for reasons which much escape me, I never created it.


Here then, is a collection which mixes songs about Hibbing, Duluth and Wigan, tunes from old friends This Devastated Fan and a track from Dylan Days 2012 performers, Murzik with my two favourite Beastie Boys tracks and some good ol' fashioned hard rock.

Please enjoy.

Angry Mums, Aching Runs and Almost Famous

It's been a long, busy, scary, exciting and adventurous time since my last post, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure where to begin for the best.

So let's start the same day as that last post, shall we?

Earlier that morning, I was woken from the one lie-in I treat myself to all week by a heavy thumping on my front door. I tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend it was just a bad dream, but alas, the thumping persisted and I was woken from my slumber by a very angry woman.

Not just any woman, but the mother of a young guitarist I'd once worked with who took it upon herself to demand payment for gigs that had never had a fee attached, took things written on this very blog to be a personal attack ('Hey,' I thought, 'At least somebody reads this thing'), and otherwise accused me of being the Anti Christ.

Naturally, I did what anybody would do when confronted with such a psychotic display at 8.30 on a Sunday morning; I put on some sweat pants and took off to get coffee.

Was it a wise move? Probably not, but having sat here with Stace since eight this morning frantically hurling coffee down my gullet like some desperate addict, I'm sure she'll vouch for me when I tell you that, once you wake me, you need to give me at least a couple hours and half the contents of your average Starbucks before I'm even half ready to deal with anything beyond putting on pants and making some sort of low, deep groan.

Truth be told, I intended to deal with the complaint afterwards, at least post a response on this blog and give my thoughts on why parents of band members (especially ones who, for all intents and purposes, are fully-grown adults), should let their children get on with it, but so much time has passed since then that it hardly seems relevant any longer.

Without wanting to come across as arrogant, I know that I am good at what I do, and have others who can vouch for me on that respect. I treat people fairly, I'm up front and honest with everybody I work with, and, when all is said and done, I'd rather deal directly with the people with whom I have an issue than with their Mummy. Especially at 8.30 on a Sunday morning.

That little saga behind me, I then took off for London to take part in the 2012 Virgin London Marathon.

The whole weekend before the race was spent swimming in a cloud of self-doubt, almost convinced that there was no way I, with two knackered knees, a bad back and a multitude of other problems, could ever get round a 26.2 mile course.

Yet somehow, I did.

It may have taken me seven hours and seven minutes, I may not have been able to walk for about two days afterwards, but somehow, I completed the London Marathon.

It seems like such a cliche, but running that marathon instilled in me the belief that if I can run that marathon, I can do anything in life, and so can anybody else, and that no matter what limitations or handicaps a person may think they have, they really can achieve more than they believed.

It's these beliefs that I then took with me a week later when I left my job at Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust to continue full-time with the freelance work I've been dipping in and out of for the last ten years.

I'll be working on very similar projects; continuing to write, build websites and promote music (the latter of which through my new company, Almost Famous), though no matter which medium I work in, my values will be centred around helping other people.

I've been talking to a few contacts in Wigan about some work for various folks, though not until the end of summer when I return from my latest sojourn to Minnesota.

I landed out here early last week and have so far been and will be out here until mid-July. Partly, the idea of coming out here was take a nice, well-deserved break, putting some much needed distance between the events of the past few months and what I'm viewing as a new chapter in my life. Partly, the idea was to help out on a couple of different projects, including this year's Dylan Days up in Hibbing, and yes, partly the idea was to bring some comic relief to Stace's family as they unmercifully tear into my accent and British idiosyncrasies.

The piss-taking aside, I feel as settled and a home here in Minnesota as I do anywhere else I've lived.  The last time I was here, I spoke of a certain familiarity and affinity I felt with the Iron Range. Even now, it's still hard for me to quite sum up why I do feel that connection, though I know I'm not alone. Interviewing the ever-wonderful Linda, owner of Zimmy's Resteraunt up in Hibbing, yesterday for the Dylan Days press release, she too spoke of people feeling this magical connection to the area and coming in from all over the world, never wanting to leave.

I know exactly what she means. I know that, when July does roll around, I'll be incredibly sad to leave this place, but I also know that, until then, I'm going to relax, enjoy, and plan for a brand new chapter in my life.

Oh, and I'll probably blog a bit more often too, just as long as you promise not to wake me at 8.30 in the morning to complain about anything I've written!

Spotify Playlist: My Top 20 - W/E April 15th 2012

My latest Spotify playlist is yet another random assortment of some of the best songs I've enjoyed in the past seven days.

Featuring cuts from Counting Crows, the new single from erstwhile metal giants Pantera, more metal from the very awesome Element (taken from their album Corrupted Desires, out on Casket Records) and more.

The best thing about this week's list? Thanks to Spotify's brilliant new Play Button, I can embed the list right in this post, and if you have the service running, you can listen to it straight from this page.

Good, eh?