Every so often I come across people online who inspire me to do more and be more in my own life. Chris Guillebeau is one of those people. He’s interesting, talented, generous and a world traveler to boot. Plus he’s just a genuinely likeable guy. I wanted to share this interview with you in case you haven’t met him yet and if you have, to hopefully allow you to learn something new you maybe didn’t know.

Q: I have read before that you have been an entrepreneur your whole life? Where do you think this spirit came from?

A: It wasn’t very deliberate in the beginning. My initial motivation was to find a way, any way, to avoid working for someone else. I valued my freedom more than anything else, even if it meant taking risks or living on less money for a while. Over time (10 years and counting) I’ve developed more of an appreciation for entrepreneurship as an important venue for world-changing and building something bigger than yourself, but in the early days, I just wanted to pay the rent.

Q: Can you recall a time when being an entrepreneur, paving your own way was a struggle and you thought about just throwing it in and getting a conventional job? What made you stick it out?

A: For better or worse, I’ve never really been qualified for anything else, so I haven’t been tempted to start sending out CVs on Monster.com. I did work as a volunteer for a medical charity for four years in West Africa, but that was also a fairly unconventional job. I’m not really sure what I’d do if I “had” to get a real job.

Q: What kind of a traveler are you? Active or observer?

A: Maybe a bit of both? I don’t visit a lot of museums or typical tourist attractions, but I don’t think that kind of travel is bad; it’s just that at this point, I’ve seen a lot of those kinds of things. I enjoy walking for hours around unfamiliar cities and seeing what develops. I don’t read a lot about a place ahead of time.

Now that I have readers around the world, I’ll often meet up with them and they take me around to various things. It’s added an interesting, fun dynamic to what is usually a quiet, introverted experience as I go around the world.

Q: What is one of the most memorable experiences you have had in your travels?

A: I have so many. This week I traveled on a 15-hour Russian train through Azerbaijan and Georgia. A couple of days ago I came down to Armenia in a minibus where I was the only Westerner. Before that I flew First Class on Lufthansa to get to the region, and they have this fun service in Frankfurt where you go down a private elevator and a Porsche drives you directly to the plane outside. All three of those experiences are from the past ten days, so I think it’s fair to say I have a range of memorable experiences everywhere I go.

Q: You make most of your money these days through writing. What one piece of advice would you give people who want to make a living as a writer?

A: Find the convergence between what you’re passionate about and what other people are also interested in. Without this convergence, it will be hard to make a living.

Then of course, you have to actually be willing to work at writing over a long period of time, to the point where it becomes an ingrained part of your identity. My impression is that a lot of people want to be writers, but they don’t actually want to embrace the writing process.

Q: I’m a firm believer in rituals, especially when it comes to writing. Do you have any rituals that help you get in the mood and stay focused on your work?

A: I believe in rituals too, but I’m probably not as good as you at keeping a regular schedule. Mostly I just try to always be thinking about the next group of projects. I don’t watch TV and I don’t go to meetings — that helps keep me on track.

Wherever I am, I’m always trying to be one step ahead of things. Also, I say yes to as many things as I can, which I know is different from some people who advise paring down. I’ve tried paring down, and I like scaling up a lot better.

Q: On the flip side what are the things that take you out, that get in your way of accomplishing what you want in your life, your work? How do you deal with them?

A: This could be a long list. Let’s start with the obvious: low self-esteem, fear, insecurity, fatigue… how’s that? I acknowledge the place of each of these things in my life, even though I might prefer they’d go away. But then, most importantly, I try not to give in to them or make decisions out of fear.

Q: You are working on a book right now. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

A: Yes! It’s called The Art of Non-Conformity (same title as the blog) and comes out in September 2010. I describe it alternatively as an assault on the status quo or “self-help for people who wouldn’t usually read self-help.”

I’m looking forward to the publication and I’ll be traveling throughout North America — and hopefully beyond, later — to meet readers.

Q: This last one is my favorite question to ask people. What can you not help but be? In other words what walks in the room before you do and stays after you leave?

A: I like the old quote from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.” I guess in my case, the values I’d choose are growth, challenge, gratitude, and so on — I’d like to think those are reflective of who I couldn’t help but being.

But it’s hard to say for sure, right? That’s why we have to do everything we can to make a meaningful impact on the world around us.

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If you want to learn more about Chris, visit here. He’s written a slew of Guides that are great and well worth a read. Thanks Chris!

Stay tuned for more in this series of people who design and LIVE lives that rock. I’ll be highlighting some of my favorite lifestyle designers, creatives and writers that are worth knowing about.