Of World Domination

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

This is the central message that Chris Guillebeau espouses in his report entitled A Brief Guide To World Domination, How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World. It is also the central theme of the social movement he's started, The Art of Noncomformity. Upon reading the title, I am instantly reminded of a book a friend named Rad lent me a few years back, Rules for Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki. But after reading a few paragraphs in Chris' manifesto, I confirmed my earlier hunch that his report wasn't about marketing.

I instantly like the guy. I've gone through a few of the most popular entries in his site where he chronicles his ideas on "how to change the world by achieving remarkable personal goals while helping others at the same time". Even his writing is impressive -- it's simple enough to be understood yet powerful enough to convey the intended message. If that isn't remarkable enough for you, what about going around the world, visiting every known country? Chris plans to achieve this by April 7, 2013. As of this writing, his site reflects that he has visited 94 so far. He's on his way to Cairo right now.

I think the world needs more people like Chris. As small children, haven't we all been taught to become not only productive citizens of this world but also agents of social change? I believe we can conform to this not in an unremarkably average sort of way, not that it's even easy to conform to both to begin with. A lot of us would readily say "yes" to being a "productive" citizen, but an agent of change? Chris implies both can be done: change the world, achieving remarkable personal goals, helping others. Not only does Chris have a good vision that is worth taking part of, he also has the courage to act on it. He certainly has a good grasp of reality based on what he's put on paper, what he's accomplished so far and the goals he's set for himself. Inspiring or rather, influencing individuals, no matter how few, to live a remarkable lives is indeed noble. But I'm betting it won't be just a handful.

Here's a toast to Chris, his continuing adventures on his way to world domination, and our very own contribution to this pursuit! Cheers!

The images here are cropped from his manifesto. If you haven't already done so, you can download the manifesto here.