A few years ago the Baker Books acquisitions assistant at the time recommended Chris Guillebeau’s The Art of Non-Conformity to me. I loved the book. In it Chris points out that we don’t have to do life as it is almost always prescribed to us. We don’t have to earn a degree, get a job, and climb the ladder. Other, often more interesting ways to do life are available to us.

If that sounds at all interesting to you, I encourage you to check out the book. It was certainly a game changer for me. In fact, this blog may not exist were it not for The Art of Non-Conformity.

Since reading it I’ve been following Guillebeau, which led to my interest in the World Domination Summit. Cheekily named, Guillebeau’s summit is for entrepreneurs and creatives who want to get together, be inspired, and have a blast.

Chris Guillebeau takes the stage at World Domination Summit 2014

It was one of the best conferences I’ve attended largely because of the people who came. I have a sneaking suspicion a big part of the magic of WDS is its nonprofit status. Chris does not pay himself for the event, the speakers present for free, it’s largely organized by volunteers, and proceeds go to benefit charity and the attendees themselves.

The keynote presentations were uneven, honestly, but the energy of the community, the people I met, this insatiable desire for dream-catching that was thick in the air—it all made for a beautiful experience. Plus I got to hang out with some good friends like Kary Oberbrunner, Rick McKinley, Andy Traub, Jeff Goins, and Sandra Bishop. I also made some new ones like David Bourne, Austin Church, Lisa Bryan, Jessica Denninger, and Joshua Becker.

I wanted to share 3 lessons (3 superpowers!) that I’m taking with me from the World Domination Summit 2014.

1. Don’t be afraid to set aside something that isn’t working to try something new.

It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes the fastest way to succeed is to quit. Then quickly try something else. But don’t confuse failure with a small start, which leads to the next point.

2. Don’t be discouraged by the small start.

Dee Williams talks about life in her tiny house (less 100-square-feet tiny!).

Most big accomplishments start small. Sometimes we try something, and the initial result isn’t what we’d hoped for, and we get all mopey. We need to give ourselves permission to start small–to just try something and see how it goes and be grateful for any positive return. Getting discouraged by a small start is like taking the first step up a staircase and getting mad because you’re not already at the top! You’ll never get to the top without the steps beforehand.

The really sad thing here is that we can end up disparaging the very step we absolutely HAD to take to get where we want to go. Now imagine we get so discouraged, we stop. That would be the real tragedy, and it happens all the time. We need to be careful and vigorous about celebrating the small steps. That way we’ll stay motivated to keep moving.

3. Remember to pursue your dreams in a healthy way that nurtures your most important relationships.

Having fun with Kary Oberbrunner and friends.

Michael Hyatt shared vulnerably about his father who was a drunk when Michael was in early adolescence. Michael was and is a driven man. He could have just forged ahead, done his thing, and forgotten about his dad or just checked off the minimum duties as a son. This, in fact, is what he did for some time.

But later in life Michael decided to pursue his dad, to learn what he could about him. He learned that his dad had suffered terrible trauma in the Korean War, and that this contributed to his alcoholism. Michael found a way of reconciling with his father (even if his father never knew of the need for reconciliation). Accomplishing our dreams won’t mean much if when we get there we look around and all our important relationships are in tatters.

Book Proposal Academy

Speaking of starting things and accomplishing our dreams, I want to let you know I’ve just opened Book Proposal Academy. If you have ever thought about writing a book, I encourage you to enroll in the academy. It will remain open for just a few more days so a defined community of people can work on their book projects together. I think it’s going to be great. If you want to know more, click here.

Question: Let’s zero in on the second point. What’s a “small start” you need to take up this week or next week? You can leave a comment by clicking here.