{"id":205,"date":"2011-10-10T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs\/"},"modified":"2011-10-10T19:22:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-10T19:22:00","slug":"qualifications-and-tradeoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html","title":{"rendered":"Qualifications and Tradeoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From a Google+ forward by Thorn Coyle<\/a> comes this website titled \u201cThe Art of Non-Conformity \u2013 Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel<\/a>\u201d by Chris Guillebeau. It\u2019s another example of a person who has rejected the mainstream world and is living life his way. His blog entry today is titled \u201cQualifications<\/a>\u201d and he gleefully lists his own lack thereof, which hasn\u2019t stopped him from doing what he wants to do.<\/p>\n

I have very mixed feelings about messages like this.<\/p>\n

On one hand I\u2019m happy that someone has found a way to make a decent living doing what he loves \u2013 in this case, travel the world. His success is a testament to the fact that magic works \u2013 magic in the sense of Aleister Crowley<\/a>\u2019s definition of \u201ccreating change in conformance with will.\u201d And if he motivates someone to walk out of a dead end job and start doing something less soul-sucking or even rewarding, great. <\/p>\n

But I still remember that there are dirty jobs that someone has to do<\/a>. I don\u2019t think anyone dreams of working in a factory or picking up trash or standing behind a cash register at McDonald\u2019s, but I\u2019m glad some people do. And I\u2019m very glad there are qualifications and gatekeepers for doctors and teachers and health inspectors. Some things really do require formal training. <\/p>\n

Beyond that, there is an element of privilege in Guillebeau\u2019s method. He couldn\u2019t do what he does if he had a parent with a chronic illness he had to care for. He couldn\u2019t do what he does if he had small children who needed to be in school. <\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t do what he does if he was rotting in jail for stealing cars at age 14. One wonders if his life might be very different if his skin was darker\u2026 But in fairness, that\u2019s more a comment on our society than on Guillebeau himself. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m skeptical of \u201cmotivational speakers\u201d \u2013 in part because most of them make their living by selling you something, whether it\u2019s their books, CDs, or \u201clife coaching\u201d services. Guillebeau is upfront about who he is and what he does. Dig into his site a bit and he says he expected to make $48,500 in 2009, while traveling the world. That\u2019s a nice income for doing what most people would pay to do, but it\u2019s hardly getting rich. He\u2019s not claiming you can be a millionaire next month.<\/p>\n

What his approach comes down to is this: we all make tradeoffs in life. He decided that experiences were more important than material possessions. That\u2019s a lesson I learned a bit late\u2026 and even now I haven\u2019t taken it to anywhere near the extent Guillebeau has. <\/p>\n

But he made his tradeoffs consciously. That\u2019s more than most of us can say.<\/p>\n

I like his e-pamphlet <\/i><\/a>A Brief Guide to World Domination<\/a><\/i>. He talks about deciding what you want most, figuring out what you can offer that no one else can, setting goals, and then doing the hard work of making it happen. Here\u2019s a very important paragraph:<\/p>\n

If you want it badly enough, and are willing to make some changes in your life to cause it to happen, you too can take over the world\u2026 or do anything else you really want to do. Yes, you really can have it all. The only things you\u2019ll need to give up are assumptions, expectations, and the comfort zone that holds you back from greatness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s not entirely true. You can have or be or do anything you want \u2013 you just can\u2019t have everything you want. You have to make tradeoffs. The question is whether you will trade away what mainstream society says you should want, or if you will trade away the desires of your heart. <\/p>\n

We all must make our decisions. Make yours with your eyes wide open.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From a Google+ forward by Thorn Coyle comes this website titled \u201cThe Art of Non-Conformity \u2013 Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel\u201d by Chris Guillebeau. It\u2019s another example of a person who has rejected the mainstream world and is living life his way. His blog entry today is titled \u201cQualifications\u201d and he gleefully lists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nQualifications and Tradeoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From a Google+ forward by Thorn Coyle comes this website titled \u201cThe Art of Non-Conformity \u2013 Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel\u201d by\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Qualifications and Tradeoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From a Google+ forward by Thorn Coyle comes this website titled \u201cThe Art of Non-Conformity \u2013 Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel\u201d by\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-10T19:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html\",\"name\":\"Qualifications and Tradeoffs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-10T19:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-10T19:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"From a Google+ forward by Thorn Coyle comes this website titled \u201cThe Art of Non-Conformity \u2013 Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel\u201d by\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/qualifications-and-tradeoffs.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Qualifications and Tradeoffs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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