Yes, there are WAY more than three reasons to read The Happiness of Pursuit. I’m choosing to limit my list to three reasons that will more than illustrate why you should hop on over to your favorite local bookstore or power up your favorite piece of technology to order this gem.
The subtitle of the book provides a bit more clarity of what the book is all about: Finding the quest that will bring purpose to your life. How, you ask, can a mere book steer anyone to identifying their quest? Great storytelling, that’s how. Guillebeau is a master at weaving stories together to move his readers around the world from the comfort of their home as he shares a variety of quests focused on the happiness of pursuit.
Do we all have a quest? Maybe, maybe not. Are you happy in your everyday life? Do you go to work with a smile on your face? Or are you trudging through each day waiting for something to happen to bring a spark into your world? If the latter speaks to you and your humdrum life is getting you down, it just might be that your inner self (your gut feeling) knows there’s something you’re meant to do. A few hours reading this book. At a minimum, it will get you thinking; at a maximum, it’ll change your life.
Here are my top three reasons for reading The Happiness of Pursuit:
- Inspiration Meets Action. Guillebeau shares numerous stories of people’s quests. Some resonated with me in a big way; others, not quite as much. Each story, however, illustrated that small steps matter. Quests (which Guillebeau defines for the reader) are not accomplished overnight AND must have deadlines. This keeps the inner perfectionist from endlessly fine-tuning the quest rather than moving forward. As Seth Godin says: “Stop polishing andship Polished perfect isn’t better than perfect, it’s merely shinier.”
- Assistance Identifying Quest. Guillebeau outlines a few steps to put readers on the path to identifying their quests. Putting the brakes on, set aside some time to honestly assess your life, and see what happens. Use this book as a guide, not a crutch. That’s the beauty of Guillebeau’s approach: this book can’t (and shouldn’t) tell you how to find purpose in your life. What it will do, though, is lend a hand as you figure out just what the heck it is you’re meant to do with your life.
- Happiness is Important. Happiness means something different to each one of us. We go around once in this life. Our choices can make that ride a wildly fantastic experience, a yawn fest, or worse. Following someone else’s path to happiness isn’t going to work for you. What matters to someone else may not matter to you. Listen to that inner voice as you take time to figure out what happiness means and looks like to you: This is the difference for many of us between leading a life of drudgery and leading a life that counts.
Flipping the pursuit of happiness on its head, you can’t help but take a step back and rethink your approach to life as you read Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit. Discontent is a big motivator. As Guillebeau noted: “Dissatisfaction + Big Idea + Willingness to Take Action = New Adventure.” Take advantage of that discontent and find your quest.
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