The Art of Non-Conformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel

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I read a lot of personal development books—probably at least two a month. Like most books of any kind, each one usually has some things worth learning and some things that aren’t valuable to me.

If there is one common theme to most of these books, it is that “following your passion” – or doing what you love to do—is the most important work we can focus on in life. According to this thinking, work should involve a number of things you really like to do and are really good at, not simply a series of tasks you do to make a living.

So far, so good, right? But sometimes the thinking goes even further. Not only will you feel better about yourself and provide more value to others, you’ll also end up making more money.

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Here’s a proposal for you: raise a quarter of million dollars through withdrawing your life savings, borrowing from family members, and maxing out your credit cards. Pay that to a company that will “give you a business.” Operate that business precisely how they tell you– no exceptions are allowed. Every decision from whom you hire to what services you offer to where you locate your store is defined by the company.

They’ll even tell you what color shirt you are required to wear to work in “your own business.”

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Until a few months ago, the last time I visited a Wal-Mart store was more than four years ago. There are no Wal-Marts in Africa (yet), nor are there any in central Seattle where I live now.

Last Christmas, however, I received a gift that I didn’t really have a use for. Attached to the gift was the original store receipt from Wal-Mart, so I decided to break my four-year unofficial boycott of America’s low-price leader.

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Every once in a while, I come across an article with the claim that a majority of people, usually men living in the U.S., would gladly give up a certain percentage of income in exchange for a certain amount of time. Usually, the cited figure is one day of work per week for a 20% pay cut.

In other words, according to this claim, most people (or at least, most American men) would readily trade money for time. Where the extra time would be spent is rarely specified—it could be more time with the family, or simply more time for themselves. The point is that many people feel they are giving too much time to their work, and not enough time to other parts of their lives.

According to the various articles out there, approximately 70% of American men would jump to make this exchange. Or would they?

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When I was 20 years old and enrolled in a graduate school program that I didn’t finish, I took a third-shift job working at the FedEx package processing center in Memphis from 10pm-2am four days a week. It was tiring work, and the worst thing about it was getting home close to 3am and having to go to class at 9:00. A schedule like that can work for a few days, but not for the few months I tried to sustain it.

Carrying boxes for FedEx 10 years ago was the last job I ever had. In between going to school and working the night shift, I realized I needed some more money. eBay was just getting popular at the time, and in those early days (1999), it was a seller’s market. You could put pretty much anything up for sale, and you had a good chance of selling it for more than it was worth. Buyers were hooked on the new format, so much that many of them weren’t very price-conscious. If you were a seller and didn’t really know what you’re doing, like me, this was a good thing.

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