One of the jobs I’m working at the moment has a lot of downtime. The library needs someone to be at the desk in case someone comes by, but not very many people do. As such, I usually fill the time with reading. Tonight I read Chris Guillebeau’s “A Brief Guide To World Domination,” available here.
I gotta say, it really kicked my butt. Languishing in an unremarkably average life is a fear that’s haunted me for a while, but if I’m honest I haven’t done much to break out and become remarkable.
Guillebeau’s manifesto might be able to help me (and you, if you feel the same way) out of my slump. He asks (and makes you answer) two questions:
- What do you really want to get out of life?
- What can you offer the world that no one else can?
Pardon me while I get a bit navel-gazey while I talk about my answers – I’m thinking that if I make them public I’m more likely to follow through. I may tweak the language of my answers over the next couple days, but the sentiment should stay the same.
For the first question, my answer was “To earn respect as a storyteller;” for the second, I said “My point of view, my imagination, and my sense of humor.”
Part of me worries that answer #1 is too self-focused, that it ‘should’ be something like “inspire others with storytelling” instead. I’m pretty sure that would be the wrong path, though, and here’s why: being respected is the goal, not the how. Earning it says I don’t just want it handed to me. The how is telling inspiring stories, stories that resonate with their audiences, and telling them well.
The two storytellers who I’m thinking of as examples or role models are Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon. Both are incredibly respected at this point in their careers, both have inspired millions – but I’m certain that when they come to the page, their goal isn’t to write something inspiring. It’s to tell the current story in the best way possible.
Anyway, Guillebeau says the next step is to write down three things that I can do (immediately or in the near future) that will bring me closer to my goals, do them, and replace them with three more things. And so on, and so on. I don’t have my three things yet, but I can tell you what they’ll cumulate in: finishing a story and putting it out on the market. I graduated with a writing degree four years ago, and since then I’ve started lots of projects and have finished any of them. I don’t know if it’s because of a short attention span, or just the fact that I don’t have a professor or writing group expecting a finished product, but I’ve just been starting things and then letting them drop by the wayside haphazardly. Well, no more. It’ll take me breaking bad habits and starting new ones, but I want to change. I need to change.
A couple weeks ago, I posted something on Facebook that essentially said, “2011 has the potential to be an awesome year. All I have to do is step up to the plate.” I want to make this happen. Will you join me in this quest?