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

by Paul Millerd

This is the pathless path. Where the journey leads is to the deepest truth in you.

The pathless path is an alternative to the default path. It is an embrace of uncertainty and discomfort. It’s a call to adventure in a world that tells us to conform. For me, it’s also a gentle reminder to laugh when things feel out of control and trusting that an uncertain future is not a problem to be solved.

This is the trap of prestigious career paths. Instead of thinking about what you want to do with your life, you default to the options most admired by your peers.

The philosopher Andrew Taggart believes that crisis moments lead to “existential openings” that force us to grapple with the deepest questions about life.16 He argues there are two typical ways this happens. One is the “way of loss,” when things that matter are taken from us, such as loved ones, our health, or a job. The other path is the “way of wonderment,” when we are

In Weber’s view, a “traditionalist” view of work is one where people work as much as they need to maintain their current lifestyle, and once that aim is achieved, they stop working.

The ultimate way you and I get lucky is if you have some success early in life, you get to find out early it doesn’t mean anything. – David Foster Wallace

This kind of approach, focused not on being brave, but instead on eliminating risk, is common for people who take unconventional paths.

The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours. — Amos Tversky

the search for work worth doing is the real work and one of the most important pursuits in life.

the era of living your entire life in a small, local, and familiar community is over. Whether we want to or not, we’ll have to keep reinventing ourselves.

“time is now currency, it is not passed but spent.”