1. 1-Sentence-Summary:
1.1. Born For This shows you how to find the work you were meant to do, which actually might consist of many different forms of work over the course of your life, by showing you the power of a side hustle, proper risk-assessment, creating your own job and pursuing all of your passions – one at a time.
2. Favorite quote from the author:
2.1. "Select the job title you want, don't choose from existing ones." - Chris Guillebeau
3. 3 lessons:
3.1. Create a set of if-then sketches as fallback plans so you’ll sweat risks less and feel more confident.
3.1.1. Imagining your world when everything that could possibly go wrong would often makes you realize that it wouldn’t be so bad and that you’d likely be able to recover.
3.1.1.1. This feels reassuring and makes it easier to take the next step.
3.1.2. In Born For This, Chris takes it a step further by suggesting that you make so-called if-then sketches.
3.1.2.1. These are specific backup plans for what exact action you’ll take if you run into a problem.
3.1.2.2. An example:
3.1.2.3. This will make you feel very safe and confident about moving ahead, and even if things don’t work out right away you always know exactly what to do next.
3.2. Get your side hustle off the ground fast with a 100 People Project.
3.2.1. To find the right work for yourself, make a list of:
3.2.1.1. The skills you’re good at (and not just the ones you learned about in college)
3.2.1.2. The things you hate doing
3.2.1.3. What other people ask you for help with.
3.2.2. It’ll take some time to figure out what kind of business you want to start, but once you do, this is how you can get it off the ground fast.
3.2.3. Chris calls this your 100 People Project.
3.2.3.1. Let’s say you’ve decided to offer customized meal plans to help people gain muscle because your friends keep asking you for fitness advice.
3.2.3.2. Now you can assemble a list of 100 people from your contacts, social media networks and other sources where potential customers hang around.
3.2.3.3. If all you do is send a short message to everyone on the list, offering a free, 15-minute Skype consultation, this will greatly improve your marketing skills, show you how you can be most helpful, start building your customer base and maybe even get you your first paying clients
3.3. Learn to be okay with the seasons of life, your life isn’t a straight line, after all.
3.3.1. Do you know what’s depressing?
3.3.1.1. Having to pick just one option out of a myriad of choices.
3.3.2. Do you know what’s even worse?
3.3.2.1. Having to live with that choice for the rest of your life.
3.3.3. That’s why you’d never do it when buying pants, a car, renting a house or even deciding on a partner
3.3.4. But when it comes to picking a career, we’re still stuck on the idea that we have to settle for one thing.
3.3.4.1. If Gene Wolfe had done that, he’d probably still be working on new kinds of chips to create, long after it’s been clear that the world will remember him for his greatest gift: Pringles.
3.3.4.2. Luckily, Gene didn’t fall for it.
3.3.4.2.1. He didn’t want to be “the Pringles guy.” He refused.
3.3.4.2.2. He liked writing. So, for the past 60 years, he’s written a page a day.
3.3.4.2.3. He’s published over 50 novels with plenty of different themes, many of which have won awards and become bestsellers.
3.3.5. You never signed a contract agreeing to only do one thing for the rest of your life. So don’t act as if you did.
3.3.5.1. Life is seasonal and it’s perfectly okay for your career to reflect that.
3.3.5.1.1. You might grow potatoes in the summer and record Jazz music in the winter.
3.3.5.1.2. There’s enough time to devote yourself to all of your passions throughout your life.
3.3.5.1.3. There’s just not enough time to do all of them at once.