This article was originally published by the Des Moines Business Record.

I can’t imagine a better time to write about The Happiness of Pursuit than early in a new year. If you want to think bigger and challenge yourself in a meaningful way, the examples, ideas, and inspiration found in Chris Guillebeau’s latest book will prompt you into action. 

This book focuses on one thing: quests. Not just traditional goals or good ideas, but epic projects that require focus and purposeful intensity in order to fulfill them. Rather extraordinary in scope and often several years in duration, I relate them to what Jim Collins and Jerry Porras refer to in their bookBuilt To Last as BHAGs – Big Hairy Audacious Goals – that can be established in any area of work, leadership, or life.

The quest begins with a dream because, as Guillebeau writes in the prologue, “If you want to achieve the unimaginable, you start by imagining it.” The quest presents a challenge, requires sacrifice, and leaves you a better person than when you started. The adventure changes you and brings meaning and fulfillment along the way.

Guillebeau begins by explaining his own quest: to visit all 193 countries before turning 35. He shares his experience throughout much of the book as well as highlighting others’ inspiring quests, such as:

• Circumnavigate the globe, solo, in a small sailboat.
• Take, process, and edit one million photos.
• Produce the world’s largest symphony.
• Refrain from talking for a period of time (which turned out to be 17 years).
• Read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica in one year.
• Give $10/day, every day for a year, to a different charity.

That’s just for starters.

Big. Bold. Time- and energy-consuming. Perhaps a little nuts, right? Guillebeau does a nice job addressing all of these components in the book. He emphasizes how your quest must come from the heart; it isn’t about impressing others, and in fact others may question, or even poke fun at, your quest. “Not everyone needs to believe in your dream,” Guillebeau wisely states, “but you do.”

I read with particular appreciation his ideas around fear. I have found in my coaching practice that many people hesitate to dream big or set bold goals because of fear – often the fear of not achieving them. I continually emphasize it’s not as much about achieving the goal, quest, or dream as it is about who you become in the process: What you learn, how you grow, the transformation you experience. Guillebeau adds, “You deal with fear not by pretending it doesn’t exist, but by refusing to give it decision-making authority.”

Your quest may come from a variety of sources: the idea floating around since childhood, the more recent thought that just will not let go, the thing that breaks your heart. Oftentimes, your quest will essentially find you rather than the other way around; you’ll know it when it strikes. And it will certainly evolve as you go.

This book is a particularly good read if you are:

• in a rut and need a burst of inspiration;
• ready to think bigger and bolder;
• feeling an inkling for “something more;” or 
• need a kick in the pants of any sort!

To be fair, I live in this space of big dreams and bold goals that Guillebeau writes about, so I am a bit biased. I believe everyone can benefit from creating some of these big, exciting projects in their work and life. They provide a sense of ongoing excitement and unusual focus. They allow you to get jazzed about something in the future while savoring and acting in the present moment. They help you prove to yourself that you are capable of what you set out to do.

On top of that, little compares to the feeling that comes with embarking on a significant, thrilling, not-fully-certain challenge – and achieving it.

COACH CHRISTI’S CHALLENGE:

Whether or not you feel ready to take on a quest just yet, there’s one activity sure to get your creative-dreamer juices flowing: Start your Life List (a.k.a., bucket list). What would you LOVE to do, try, experience, see, or create if time and money were in unlimited supply? Personally and professionally, solo and with others, self-focused and other-focused…what comes to mind (and more importantly, to heart)? 

Start writing those ideas down. Not in to-do list fashion, just as a fun Life List that you can add to whenever an idea arises. I have currently challenged the ASPIRE Success Club members to come up with 101 items for their lists, and I encourage you to do the same. Not only will this spark your creativity and open your sense of possibility, it will provide clues to your passions and purpose as well.

And who knows? You might just decide to turn one of those ideas into your next quest!

Dr. Christi Hegstad coaches leaders, executives, and meaningful achievers to succeed and make a difference in work they love! Learn more at www.meaning-and-purpose.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MAPIncFan, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/DrChristiCoach.