quit your day job.

The first time I read this book, I was sitting in the cafeteria of a huge corporation, wondering how the hell I’d gotten there.

I’d spent my life either training for or doing the family business, and by the time I realized how unhappy I was, I was completely stuck. I realized that I had to get out, but had no idea how to do so. The wonderful thing about thoughts and feelings is that they can be counted on to create our experience, whether we want them to or not. This can be a positive thing, when we take an inspiration and make something beautiful. It can also feel very negative, as when we bottle up sadness for years and then eventually explode.

Ahem.

While I give thanks for it now, my escape from that life was pretty ugly. There were hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and an awful lot of shouting. Without any support network of any kind, I went from unemployment to doing odd jobs to selling used cars. When I got a chance to get paid to sit in a cubicle and make websites, I jumped at it.

And then, as things calmed down and I got to where I could pick up the phone without fear of it being a creditor or Abraham Maslow, it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I have a pretty good handle on that now, but at the time I was clueless. Roadtrip Nation was written by some college kids who didn’t want to end up where I was.

A couple of school buddies, faced with the prospect of graduation, responsibility, and all the evils that are waiting when one emerges from the bong-scented cocoon that is university life, decided to put the brakes on. Maybe there was more to life than what societal expectations and guidance counselors had to offer. Maybe the last thing the world needed was another MBA. Maybe it was possible to find a path that brought meaning, or at least fun, to life. After all, there were certainly lots of folks who disregarded convention and did great things.

The authors of RTN decided to find them. They borrowed an old Winnebago and hit the road, interviewing rockstars from all walks of life. While the people and the paths were different, the questions tended to be the same: “How did you get where you are?” “What does it amount to?” “What should other people learn from your example?”

That said, there are some interesting disagreements. College is irrelevant. You need to get a good education so that you can be exposed to options and be ready for opportunities. Listen to what other people say. Disregard everything. Work your ass off and eat bitter. If it feels unpleasant, it’s probably not the right path for you. I love the fact that the authors didn’t try to forge consensus and make RTN into a self-help book. Hell, that’s what I would’ve done.

But there are some common threads. Keep your eyes and ears open. There are always opportunities. Acknowledge that you don’t know everything, but listen to your heart. Don’t be afraid to change your mind. Success has very little to do with money, and a lot to do with making things happen.

A big one for me was the concept that skill does not necessarily equal fulfillment. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you’ll be happy doing it. This was important to me, as I’d been wrestling with something along those lines. On the other hand, even if you’re terrible at something, if it makes you feel good, you should follow up with it. Your love will make you a badass. That’s the part I’m chewing on now.

The lesson that Roadtrip Nation holds for me is that you can make yourself into the better mousetrap; the concept of you as the commodity, rather than you as a processor of somebody else’s goods, is revolutionary.