My nice university-sponsored health insurance is ending soon, so I thought it would be good to go in for a check-up. On Friday morning I headed down to the university clinic right next to where I used to go to school.
The good news is that I’m fit and healthy, as I expected to be. The bad news is that I’m not sure what they think of me over at the clinic anymore, because the medical history review got off to a rocky start.
“What do you do for work?” the doctor asked me at the beginning of the interview.
“Well, I’m trying to start my own social movement.”
(There was a long pause, but he didn’t ask anything else about that. Instead, he looked at the next item on the list.)
“Do you take any medications?”
“Not usually, but when I need to, I buy them in Africa.”
(Another pause.)
“Do you exercise regularly?”
“Yes, I just ran a marathon on a cruise ship last week!”
The doctor put down the pen for a while before making a long series of notes. The whole time I was thinking, I have no idea what was just added to my medical records out of that conversation.
Truth-Telling in a Crowded and Noisy World
I may not have made a good impression on that guy, but it’s nice to know that many of you here are enjoying my nonconformist journey. There is a shortage of authentic truth-telling in the world today. When you find a way to tell a unique, authentic story, people will pay attention.
At least that’s my theory—I guess I’ll find out for sure tomorrow morning. Speaking of that…
Tomorrow morning I’ll release my long-promised manifesto, A Brief Guide to World Domination, here on the site. You can get your free copy tomorrow morning at 9am PST (or anytime after that). The report is completely non-commercial with no affiliate links—it’s just some good stuff for you to think about.
It includes more of my own story, as well as the stories of some other cool people—Leo from Zen Habits and Randy Pausch (the “Last Lecture” guy), for example—but more importantly, the focus of the report is on you.
See, I have to make a confession. From time to time people ask me for advice about what they should do with their lives, and I really have no idea how to answer that.
There are plenty of people out there who can give you therapy or all kinds of B.S. answers, but I am not one of them.
In the end, you are the only person who can really figure out what you are good at and what you really want to do. I write a lot about personal development, but I know better than to pretend to know the answers for someone else’s life.
I have no idea what you should do. Sorry to break it to you.
BUT, here’s the real secret—I have learned a few things in ten years of living life on my own terms while helping others at the same time. I passionately, wholeheartedly believe that if you can figure out the answers to two important questions, then you can truly change the world for the better.
The first question focuses on what you can do for yourself, and the second question focuses on what you can do for those around you.
Skeptics need not apply. But for everyone else, you can read more about the questions in my free 29-page manifesto tomorrow morning.
Feedback
If you have enjoyed the journey thus far, I’m glad—because I have a lot more planned for the rest of the year and beyond. After you read the report, I would be tremendously grateful if you would return to the site and post a short comment.
I am also soliciting feedback on how my writing has helped people. I am looking for specific examples of decisions you or someone else has made as a result of reading the manifesto or any of my other writing. Please contact me if that’s the case.
Some of these comments will be included in my book proposal, which I hope to complete over the next couple of weeks while traveling in the Baltics.
By the way, since I started this project in February, a lot of people have asked, “What do you hope will come out of this?”
Here’s a short quote from the manifesto that answers that question:
“If you want to know who your real friends are, start telling your craziest idea to everyone you meet. Some people will slowly back away from you as if you really are crazy, but others will latch on to your idea and help you any way they can. The people in the second group are your real friends.”
See, I’m interested in the people in the second group. Focus on the ones who care, and don’t worry about the critics.
Critics never change the world, because they are too busy complaining.
See you tomorrow?
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Image by Swanks
I’ll be in the countryside with no connectivity for a week so it’ll be great to have something interesting to read!
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