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Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.”
-Alan Keightley
What This is About
The Art of Nonconformity site chronicles my writing on how to change the world by achieving remarkable personal goals while helping others at the same time. In the battle against conventional beliefs, I focus on three areas: life, work, and travel. Three times a week I write on one of these topics, and at least once a month I profile other revolutionaries who are also changing the world through unconventional goals.
Writing Days
Every Monday I write about personal development and life design.
On Wednesdays, I write about entrepreneurship and other topics related to work.
Fridays are for writing related to international travel and my journeys to more than 20 countries every year.
The key theme that links each of these topics is nonconformity. I define nonconformity as “a lack of orthodoxy in thoughts or beliefs” or “the refusal to accept established customs, attitudes, or ideas.”
If you’re looking for specific examples of what that means in practice, take a look through my archives or most popular essays. In 2009, I expect to finish my first book (working title: The Art of Nonconformity) that explores these ideas in greater detail.
Every Country in the World
The site also tracks my own stated goal for world travel. In my journeys so far I have visited more than 70 countries, and over the next five years, I plan to visit every country in the world. You can view my current progress here.
Other Work I Do
I recently finished a 2-year Master’s Degree in International Studies at the University of Washington. My course of study focused on Governance in Africa and International Development. Before coming to Seattle in 2006, I served as the Programs Director for a medical charity in West Africa for four years.
My primary entrepreneurial activity for the past year and a half has been to build a small publishing company called DBS Productions. Before that I managed Google advertising campaigns, imported coffee from Jamaica for reselling, and anything else I could think of to pay the bills without working for someone else.
I also help organizations and individual leaders who are change agents for their communities, and I recently completed my first decade of adulthood (ages 19-29) without ever holding a traditional job. As I expand The Art of Nonconformity project over the next year, I plan to do more teaching of the concepts I advocate and practice.
Why I Started Writing
I started writing for three reasons:
1. I felt I had something important to say.
2. I wanted to transition from helping a few people on an individual basis to helping more people through a broader platform.
3. I wanted to sleep at night.
In the nine months before I began this project, I kept waking up at night with more ideas. If I didn’t write them down, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I learned a while back that when you wake up feeling excited about an idea and can’t shake it, there’s usually a reason for it. It’s a good idea to pay attention to what you’re being told by the universe.
Since I started writing these things down, I’ve been advancing the vision of unconventional living, helping more people, and sleeping great at night.
One More Thing…
Thank you for visiting my site.
I don’t take your time and attention for granted, and I hope that my writing makes a real difference in your life. The first part of my life vision is “To Be the Change I Want to See in the World.” The change I want to see is more people achieving great things, finding their own meaning, and using that meaning to make a difference in the lives of others.
If you’ve read this far, hopefully I’ve done something right. Please continue to follow along through RSS, email updates, or checking back on the site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
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