The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life (The Pathless Path Collection Book 1)

by Paul Millerd

traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it.”172

If the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own.

It’s to experiment in new ways, to remix your own path, to develop your own personal definition of freedom, and to dare to have faith that it will be okay, no matter how much skepticism, insecurity, or fear you face.

Many people are capable of more than they believe. Creativity is a real path to optimism, meaning, and connection. We don’t need permission to engage with the world and people around us. We are all creative, and it takes some people longer to figure that out. Leisure, or active contemplation, is one of the most important things in life, There are many ways to make money, and when an obvious path emerges, there is often a more interesting path not showing itself. Finding the work that matters to us is the real work of our lives.

didn’t write this book to provide you with a set of how‑to instructions for embracing the pathless path. Instead, I want to inspire you to dream a little bit bigger, add some nuance to how you think about life decisions, and give you models and ideas that might enable you to embrace the spirit of the pathless path.

First, question the default.

Second, reflect. When I started reflecting on my true self, I was able to start building a life around the things I valued.

Third, figure out what you have to offer.

Fourth, pause and disconnect. To improve your relationship with work, I believe it is necessary to disconnect. Unfortunately, a typical one or two-week vacation isn’t going to cut it. I believe that the minimum effective dose is at least a month away from work.

Fifth, go make a friend. Venture out of your existing bubble and reach out to someone who has taken an interesting path.

Sixth, go make something. Remember, you are creative! Almost everyone has a desire to create something and to put their energy into the world in a positive way.

Find a way to create. Host a dinner party, organize a volunteer event, write a blog post, start journaling in the morning, paint a picture, or host a cooking class for your friends.

Seventh, give generously. Generosity is not only an amount of money, it is a skill we need to practice. It is a way of orienting towards the world that will help you start to understand your own definition of “enough,” grapple with your hidden money scripts, and enable you to decouple your belief that security and money are perfectly linked.

Eighth, experiment. The default path does not leave much space for experimenting with different ways of structuring your life.

Ninth, commit. Many people falsely think that escaping work is something worth aiming towards.

Finally, be patient. In a famous letter to his friend Hume, Hunter S. Thompson argued that searching for the right path in life was important, even if it required many attempts. He told Hume that if he tried eight different paths and failed, that he must keep searching: “you must find a ninth path.”178