18 Quest Inspiring Chris Guillebeau Quotes From The Happiness Of Pursuit

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Excerpt: Anyone can bring meaning into his or her life by undertaking a quest. Don’t believe it? Read these 18 quotes from The Happiness of Pursuit and find out for yourself.

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Introduction: The Pursuit Of Happiness Or The Happiness Of Pursuit?

Anyone can bring meaning into his or her life by undertaking a quest. This is the foundational principle in Chris Guillebeau’s book, The Happiness of Pursuit. And having visited all of the planet’s countries by the ripe age of thirty-five, Chris not only had first-hand experience with this idea, but he met people all over the planet who confirmed it, too.

What’s interesting is that, for many of the people Chris met, the quests weren’t travel oriented. Many of them were oriented around personal projects, meaningful life tasks, and accomplishing remarkable feats. What mattered for happiness, Chris discovered, wasn’t what kind of quest a person was pursuing, but that they had a quest to pursue at all.

This is what the Happiness Of Pursuit is all about—not arriving, but enjoying the act of traveling in and of itself. Not getting trapped in a pursuit for happiness—but in bringing happiness to where we are and what we’re doing right now. Not so that we can arrive somewhere that will make us rich, but so that we can enrich ourselves as we head towards the destination of our choosing.

Below, you will find our list of Chris Guillebeau quotes from The Happiness Of Pursuit that will inspire you to take a closer look at the quests of your life. Because without a quest, how can you know where to point the direction of your actions? What’s the point in taking action at all if there’s no pointed-to target? Picking a direction beats random wandering. And if you haven’t gotten a direction to head, maybe now is the time to pick. And maybe the quotes below will help inspire you to do just that. Good luck.

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The List: 18 Quest-Inspiring Chris Guillebeau Quotes From The Happiness Of Pursuit

“Many quests begin from a sense of discontent or alienation. If you find yourself feeling discontented, pay attention to the reasons why. Add action to discontent: Find a way to do something about the uncertainty you feel.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 38) (Read Matt’s Blog On This Quote)

“Find what troubles you about the world, then fix it for the rest of us.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 179)

“You know how you meet people and they ask, ‘What do you do?’ You can always say that you’re a teacher or a student, an accountant or an artist, or whatever your vocation. But once you have a quest, you have another answer, too. Your identity isn’t tied to a job; your identity is who you really are. I’m trying to visit every country in the world. I’m on a quest to publish one million processed photos. I’m going to produce the largest symphony ever performed.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 123)

“Must a dream have only one owner? Not if two or more minds see the world from the same perspective.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 175)

“If your family or close friends don’t understand your dream, you need to find people who do.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 175)

“If you’re going to worry about something, worry about the cost of not pursuing your dream.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 222)

“Regret is what you should fear the most.  If something is going to keep you awake at night, let it be the fear of not following your dream.  Be afraid of settling.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 220)

“The long, slow grind of working toward something is all about loving the process. If you don’t love the process, the grind is tough. The grind is also a dangerous time. It’s when you’re tempted to give up, call it a day, or at least cut corners.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 195)

“We can’t opt out of monotony, but we can choose which form it takes.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 150)

“If you want to make every day an adventure, all you have to do is prioritize adventure.  It has to become more important than routine.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 87)

“Even with the support of others, it’s hard to struggle through hardship without sufficient motivation of your own.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 175)

“Effort can be its own reward if you let it.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 164) (Read Matt’s Blog On This Quote)

“Understanding what bothers you is just as important as understanding what excites you.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 192)

“The right kind of misadventures—the ones that yield information—can produce confidence.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 222)

“The right time to leave is when you’re ready, not just when someone else makes the decision for you. When a good thing reaches its natural end, don’t drag it out. If you don’t like the menu, leave the restaurant.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 234)

“All of us will someday die. Yet not all of us live in a state of active awareness of this reality. In the words of a great Bob Dylan song, ‘He not busy being born is busy dying,’ and perhaps some of us are busier than others.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 58)

“Every day matters.  The awareness of our mortality can help us pursue a goal.  We all have a limited amount of time on earth.  Those who live in active awareness of this reality are more likely to identify goals and make progress toward them.  Or to put it another way: Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 268)

“As much as it sounds trite to ‘live like you’re dying’ or ‘live every day as if it were your last,’ that’s exactly what many people obsessed with a quest do. This shift from an intellectual awareness that we will someday die to an emotional awareness can be a guiding light to discovering what really matters.”

Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 54)

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Afterword: Understanding How To “Check Your Engine” Before You Journey

Before you take your car on a road trip, you get the engine checked. It wouldn’t be wise to drive a car that needed an oil change, fluids replenished, and parts replaced. Mostly because a road trip is an adventure and with adventure comes unknown setbacks, challenges, obstacles, etc. Having an unchecked engine would only contribute to the number of issues that might arise. And the goal isn’t to maximize the number of issues—the goal is to minimize them so you can focus your attention elsewhere—say, on the scenery of the drive. Well, your “why” is the engine for the journey of your life.

And when it comes to moving forward, in any aspect of life, you should always start your journey by getting your “why” properly inspected. Whether it’s a journey to become healthier, wealthier, more wise, whatever—your “why” is what will motivate you to get up and drive even when you don’t want to. It’s what will pull you through “road blocks” and excuses. It’s what will give you the courage to proceed and be bold, even when the driving gets a little risky or dangerous. But, if your “why” is weak, your engine will fail. And your journey will come to a screeching halt.

This is most people’s problem: their “why” is weak. At least compared to the challenges of their journey. Why else would so many people fail to complete their goals? If their “why” was bigger than their excuses, they would carry on. If their “why” was stronger than the hills of adversity, their engine would keep driving. If their “why” was smoother than the muck on the road, their gears would continue to turn. But, for most, this simply isn’t the case.

So, what to do? Either you check the status of your engine and invest what’s necessary to upgrade it or you drive your car at the speed and in the terrain it’s better suited to handle. Staying stalled on the side of the road isn’t an option. You either have to revert back home or continue moving forward to your destination. The side of a highway is no place to live. Now, in order to check the status of your engine, you have to ask the right questions. Here are some examples:

Whose idea was it to go on this journey? Yours? Or did someone else tell you to go? Are you on this journey for superficial reasons (social media reactions) or for deeply personal reasons (self-love)? Is this journey more important to you or to others? What would be the consequence of not completing this journey? Would going back to where you started really upset you or leave you comfortable? Is the pain caused by the idea of not completing your journey bigger or smaller than the pain required to do the journeying now? Is there any urgency or can this journey be done later?

To be clear, stalling on a journey isn’t the exception—it’s the norm. We all stall out at some point or another. Either our ambitions are too big for the car we’re driving in or we didn’t properly care for our engine to handle the challenges of the road. And what’s silly, is that most of us, I suspect, don’t even know what kind of car—let alone what kind of engine—we’re even driving in! It’s no wonder stalling is so common. In order to ensure the smoothest ride, we have to do the necessary prep work, invest properly, identify our engine’s capabilities, and drive on the road best suited for us. It’s how all of the most wonderful road trips begin—and end.

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