I have something special for you today.

If you haven’t heard of him yet, Chris Guillebeau is an incredibly gifted writer, entrepreneur, and world traveler who has a simple goal.

He wants to travel to every country in the world (already 125 down) while helping people like you and me ‘live unconventional lives, make their own choices, and change the world.’

Not a bad way to live.

I wrote to Chris about a particular article I thought you would like. He graciously gave me permission to reprint it below.

For more from Chris and his unconventional way of thinking, visit his Art of Non-Conformity blog at ChrisGuillebeau.com.

Enjoy!

Jason

The Decision to Be Remarkable

by Chris Guillebeau

re-mark-able [adjective]: worthy of being noticed, especially as being uncommon or extraordinary

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If you want to break out of the mold of average, the first thing you need to do is to make a decision to be radically different. Most remarkable people are people of action, and for a good reason: if you don’t take decisive action, nothing will ever change.

But this first step is entirely mental. It calls for a clear decision to rise above the culture of mediocrity. And then, of course, it calls  for action.

How do you decide to be remarkable?

1. Stop making excuses. Just stop. No one wants to hear why you couldn’t do something, so make a conscious decision to stop talking about it.

2. Take responsibility. This is the opposite of giving excuses. Take responsibility for your own success, and take responsibility for the  success of projects you work on. When something goes wrong (it usually does), take responsibility for that too.

3. Start questioning rules and expectations. Always ask questions and pay close attention to the answers you hear back. Some good starting questions are: Why is this rule in place? Who benefits from this rule being followed? What are the consequences if I don’t follow this rule or meet this expectation? What is the worst thing that could happen if I don’t follow this rule?

4. Find work that you love and do it well. Depending on who you are, this requires up to two big changes in your life: first, you have to find work that you love, and second, you have to do it well. Do it better than expected and people will be amazed.

5. Begin living your own life. This is what it’s all about–the life you were meant to live. If  you don’t know what that is yet, start looking for it. Why would you want to live someone else’s life?

6. Take it up a level. Take what’s already working well and exponentially add to it. Grow your business 300%. Apply for the position of CFO when you’re the Accounts Payable Clerk. Visit five countries instead of one on your next trip (or if you want to explore one place well, stay three weeks instead of one).

Beware of Excellence

But watch out: being remarkable is addicting. It’s like regular exercise or healthy eating. When you first start a new exercise routine or diet, the adjustment is hard for a while. But after about 3-6 months of following it consistently, you build up a natural addiction to it.

Once you get used to regular exercise, you’ll feel bad when you’re not doing it. The same is true with being remarkable: do it once, and it’s scary. Do it a few times, and you love it. Stop doing it, and you’ll get depressed.

Many remarkable people deal with depression and anxiety all the time because they see the world differently than average people do. Their own failures and perceived failures are magnified. When others say, “Don’t worry about it,” they can’t understand why someone would think something like that. For this reason, a lot of geniuses throughout history have been chronically depressed.

Those are the hard things—and you also have to think about the critics, the skeptics, and the competition. We’ll come to those later. On the other hand, there are some great benefits to being remarkable:

HELP FROM A COMMUNITY

As you proceed with your plans for world domination, or whatever you want to do, you’ll be naturally drawn to others who have made the same decisions to be different. Even better, they’ll be drawn to you. You’ll learn from them and vice versa.

Whether you live in the Dilbert Cube, the Ivory Tower, the public sector, or are out there on your own somewhere, there are lots of ways to be remarkable. The specific application is up to you, and when you choose to make your own way, other people who “get it” will seek you out.

Remarkable people are all minorities in a world of average living.

HELP FROM THE UNIVERSE

You’ll find help in all kinds of unexpected places and from people you never knew before. No one really knows how this works, practically speaking. It’s okay; just accept the gifts that are given to you. They are given for a reason.

The Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho put this best:

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

All you need to do is 1) start something, and 2) stick with it long enough to see results.

WHAT GOES UP STAYS UP

Instead of shrinking over time, your vision will actually get bigger. The funny thing about big goals is that they often take less time to achieve than you expect, and once you achieve them, you’ve already mentally moved on to bigger and better goals. As you proceed with questioning authority, building your army, achieving your goals, and helping others, the vision keeps expanding.

This is why it is not much more difficult to grow a business from $1,000 a month in sales to $10,000. The challenge is in getting that first $1,000 together.

This is why artists scrape together a meager living for an average of seven years before being noticed. Most of them drop out along the way, but for those who stick with it, all of sudden they’re selling paintings for $8 a square inch. (And by the way, art that sells for $10,000 isn’t always better than $100 art hanging in the coffee shop.)

This is your personal tipping point—not when everyone else starts adopting a new trend and makes it mainstream, but when everything comes together for your own vision. But you have to get in the game first, and you can do that by being remarkable.

***

Of all the steps required to change the world in the way you see fit, the decision to be remarkable is the most important. With this decision in place, other variables can be changed. Don’t rush this—it’s a big commitment.

Once you make the commitment, you need a vision to change the world. What will it be? Whatever you choose, make sure it’s remarkable enough to suit every gift you have ever been given. Once you decide to defy the expectations of being average, there will be a lot riding on your ultimate success.

Oh, and one final thing: don’t expect everyone to understand your decision, because plenty of people won’t get it at all. Don’t worry about them. Just be remarkable.

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Reprinted with permission from Chris Guillebeau: writer, entrepreneur, and world traveler helping to change the world through his Art of Non-Conformity Blog at ChrisGuillebeau.com.

Stress is serious business. It can break down our bodies just as quickly as it breaks down our minds. Try a few of these tips to see if you can limit its negative effects.

1.It’s the Little Things

With the tax deadline looming, it’s important to stay cool and not stumble into a nervous breakdown; major events have a way to bringing out the crazy in us. But did you know that small annoyances can actually lead to bigger problems?

Clinical professor at the University of Colorado, James Ehrlich, MD, says, “For some people, the little stressors we face every day are more damaging to health over the long term than the really big things, like a death in the family or a car accident.”

The reason, Ehrlich says, is that “Today, many people live in stress mode all the time, and the constant release of steroids like adrenaline and cortisol can lead directly to diseases like diabetes, heart disease, depression and cancer, and indirectly to bad health habits like undersleeping and overeating.”

A messy house or tiff with a friend might seem like a small matter, but it’s not. Take care of these little concerns and you’ll go a long way in cutting down on stress, protecting your health, and ratcheting up your happiness.

2. The Truth About Fog

I just found this statistic and had to share it with you. Not only is it interesting, but it can also help you regain perspective when things start to unravel.

According to the Bureau of Standards, “A dense fog covering seven city blocks, to a depth of 100 feet, is composed of something less than one glass of water.”

Can you imagine? Something so big actually fitting into a drinking glass.

It’s a lot like our worries. They seem enormous, but are actually much, much smaller. In fact, studies show that 92% of the thing people worry about: never happen (40%), can’t be changed (30%), are needless health concerns (12%), or are trivial worries that don’t actually matter (10%). Just 8% of what you worry about is worth all that worry. A mighty fog has been pushed into a tiny glass.

3. A New Route to Work

Here’s a simple tip you can use later today. Researchers at Ohio State University found that students who viewed a driving video of a scenic pathway through a park showed less signs of stress than students who watched videos of highway driving with strip malls and billboards.

It might take a bit longer, but a scenic drive to and from work may be just the break you need to wash the stress out of your system.

4. Quick Fix

Need to relax in a hurry? Lynn Ponton, MD, suggests lying on the floor with your hands under your face, breathing deeply and slowly, for five minutes. With how good it feels to relax, I think it’s worth a shot.

5. Ancient Wisdom

India’s 5,000 year-old medical guide, the Ayurveda, speaks of ‘marma’ points in the ears (aka. acupuncture points) that correspond to particular parts of your body. For instant relief, rub the outer edge of your ears with each hand. I’ve tried it. It works.

6. The Best Medicine?

Laughter has long been touted as nature’s best medicine. Not a bad thought, given the facts about laughter’s effect on the body. Did you know that laughing has been scientifically proven to reduce muscle tension, get the heart, lungs, and diaphragm working (easy exercise!), and increases the production of endorphins (natural painkillers)?

It’s true. And there’s more.

Not to go technical on you, but medical research scientists Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine found that laughing also “lowers serum cortisol levels, increases the amount of activated T lymphocytes, increases the number and activity of natural immune system killer cells, and increases the number of T cells that have helper / suppresser receptors.” In other words, you boost your immune system when you laugh.

Who would have thought the class clown could make you live longer?

Now, you could wait until something strikes you as funny. Or you could be proactive. With all of the benefits, why not put yourself in a situation that is likely to make you laugh?

Read humorists (I like Ian Frazier and S. J. Perelman). Page through comics (Calvin and Hobbes fan here). Listen to comedy albums (Bob Newhart, anyone?).

Watch funny movies. Learn new jokes. Go to a comedy club, spend time with a funny friend, or actually open one of the forty-seven forwards your co-worker sends you every day.

You could also fake it. Just as a forced smile can improve your mood, fake laughter can trigger the same benefits as the real thing. Go ahead, give it a try.

So, what about you?

What do you do to relax? And what makes you laugh? Leave your comments below.