Good Work: Reclaiming Your Inner Ambition (The Pathless Path Collection Book 2)

by Paul Millerd

Once you discover your good work, take it seriously and protect it, as it can be one of the most powerful ways to show up in the world, contribute, and feel useful.

The reality is that good work is simple, but hard: it requires self-reflection, trial and error, and having faith in yourself and the world.

“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent.”⁠1 PARKER PALMER

came up with a mantra for future decisions: “Coming alive over getting ahead.” It was a reminder to choose work that lit me up, rather than work that merely serves to earn more money.

This is why freelancing is often a useful, but temporary, first stop for people on unconventional paths. It involves work you are good at and perhaps even enjoy somewhat, but if you try to turn this work into a business or your new identity, you end up creating a job for yourself that includes everything you wanted to escape in the first place.

Releasing my grip on the world was terrifying, but by letting go, I opened myself to a path that has helped me be more connected with myself than I ever thought possible.

wrote about a wide range of emergent interests, including writing, studying neuroscience, learning design and website design, reading classic books, creating visual summaries of books and podcasts, and more. As she concluded: “All this made me realize just how many opportunities for meaningful work would come up if I simply followed my curiosity, created things as I explored, and shared some of those with the world.”⁠3

This is exactly what good work is about: noticing the season of life you are in, right now, and seeing what work you are called to do.

But our obsession with getting “good” jobs undermines our ability to notice the kinds of work that may not fill a bank account, but will nourish our souls.

Helping people live courageously so that they can thrive is one of the most important things in the world. I want to see people live the lives they are capable of, not just the ones they think they are allowed to live.

We have one life! Why spend it doing things you don’t want to do?

This is a crucial point: by worrying first and foremost about figuring out what people will pay for, too many people on the path toward good work short-circuit their own interests, curiosity, and energy. Instead of searching for skill-market fit, you should start with person-interest fit. What are the activities you absolutely must do? What do you truly care about? As the popular saying goes, “the reward for good work is more work,” so you better like doing it!

“You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.”⁠1 ELIZABETH GILBERT

#1 Follow your interests. Ask yourself: when was the last time you felt like you were fully alive and connected to work of any kind?

#2 Slow down to move forward:

#3 Appreciate the non-monetary benefits of good work.

#4 Question the default path and work scripts

#5 Embrace the long, slow, stupid, fun way

#6 Bring your insecurities along with you.

#7 Find a positive “edge

#8 Don't mistake a good job for good work

#9 Solve the puzzle of good work

#10 Don’t “should” yourself.

#11 Look for unconventional trade-offs

#12 Have faith in good work.

#13 Reclaim your inner ambition.