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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Happiness of Pursuit summary
Find the Quest that Will Bring Purpose to Your Life
18 mins
Brief summary
The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau tells the stories of people who chose to follow their lifelong dreams, encouraging us to rethink our own goals and start our own quests to get the most out of life.
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The Happiness of Pursuit
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Many people share the desire to embark on a life-affirming journey.
What does sailing around the world have to do with spending a year living in a tree? Well, much more than you might think.
Both of these scenarios are quests. A quest is a journey that heads toward a specific life-affirming goal. A key feature of a quest is that it includes various challenges.
Here’s a great example of a quest: Tom Allen was a young British graduate who turned down a dream job to go cycling around the world, despite the fact that he was inexperienced as both a cyclist and a traveler.
He encountered many challenges along the way: Once he was forced to navigate the Sudanese desert without a map; another time, he caught malaria. But Allen confronted every challenge he encountered, eventually completing his quest. When he returned to England a year later, he was no longer the same naive young man he’d been before he started out.
If his experience sounds appealing to you, that’s because many people share the desire to go on a quest.
For some, this desire manifests itself as a response to uncontrollable external factors. This was Sandi Wheaton’s motivation. She embarked on a quest to document her journey on Route 66 after she was laid off from her job at General Motors.
For others, like Laura Dekker, a quest arises out of the desire for self-affirmation and discovery. Dekker was born on a boat and spent her whole life sailing. Ever since she was ten years old, she’d planned to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world by sailboat. When people asked about her motivation, she said, “I just loved the sea and wanted to do this for myself.”
Others pursue a quest as a way of taking a stand. Miranda Gibson, for example, spent more than a year living in a Tasmanian tree to protest illegal logging.
Ultimately, quests are born from hard-to-shake ideas or urges, and are typically intended to benefit either the individual or the wider world.
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What is The Happiness of Pursuit about?
The Happiness of Pursuit is about embarking on a quest to fill your life with a sense of purpose. It explains how the process of finding and following a personal journey can be deeply rewarding and life-affirming. The reader can expect to come across many interesting case studies of people who have followed their passions – from a young environmentalist who spent a year living in a Tasmanian tree to an Oklahoma woman who dedicated herself to cooking a meal from every country in the world.
The Happiness of Pursuit Review
The Happiness of Pursuit (2014) dives into the world of extraordinary quests and why they are worth pursuing. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- With intriguing stories from ordinary people who embarked on extraordinary quests, it inspires readers to find meaning and purpose in their own lives.
- Through compelling research and insights, the book explores the transformative power of setting and accomplishing ambitious goals, offering a roadmap to personal fulfillment.
- Written in a conversational tone with a mix of humor and depth, it keeps the reader engaged and motivated from start to finish.
Best quote from The Happiness of Pursuit
You can stop thinking about a hobby, but a quest becomes a total fascination.
—Chris Guillebeau
Who should read The Happiness of Pursuit?
- Anyone who wants to pursue their dreams
- Anyone who’s dissatisfied with their current life
- Anyone who lacks the courage to make a big change
- Anyone who’s struggling with a personal journey
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The Happiness of Pursuit FAQs
What is the main message of The Happiness of Pursuit?
The main message of The Happiness of Pursuit is finding happiness through purposeful and meaningful quests.
How long does it take to read The Happiness of Pursuit?
The reading time for The Happiness of Pursuit varies, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in a few minutes.
Is The Happiness of Pursuit a good book? Is it worth reading?
The Happiness of Pursuit is worth reading as it inspires readers to embark on fulfilling journeys and discover the true meaning of happiness.
Who is the author of The Happiness of Pursuit?
The author of The Happiness of Pursuit is Chris Guillebeau.
What to read after The Happiness of Pursuit?
If you're wondering what to read next after The Happiness of Pursuit, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- The Art Of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
- Dream Year by Ben Arment
- The Art of Work by Jeff Goins
- Eat Your Age by Ian K. Smith
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- Tell Yourself a Better Lie by Marisa Peer
- Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie