The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life

Why the disconnect between how people define success and how we think others define it? Just as when we talk about taking leaps and picking life paths, we simplify the messiness of human nature down to simple stories. When we talk about our goals, we disguise our intentions, especially if we think they demonstrate greed, envy, or pride.

WAITING FOR RETIREMENT The more we associate experience with cash value, the more we think that money is what we need to live. And the more we associate money with life, the more we convince ourselves that we’re too poor to buy our freedom. ROLF POTTS

How do your decisions change if retirement isn’t an option? What if you could use a mini‑retirement to sample your future plans now? Is it really necessary to commit fully to work to live like a millionaire?

More recently, John Steinbeck channeled this sentiment in a letter to his son, telling him, “If it is right, it happens—The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”⁠

So I might add to Steinbeck’s advice: nothing good gets away, as long as you create the space to let it emerge

And this is why I want to urge you to consider sharing with the world. You care. You want to do things in good faith. You want to help people, to listen, and connect with others who share your passions.

German mathematician Carl Jacobi. He told his students to “invert, always invert,” encouraging them to approach difficult problems by inverting the equation to gain a new perspective.⁠

No money is worth it if it undermines your desire to stay on the journey.

Embracing the pathless path can be a slow and frustrating journey, one that happens at a different speed for everyone. It took me years to build up the courage to quit my job and then several more years to find a mix of work, people, and a way of orienting in the world that felt like it was a path I was meant to be on. Don’t rush things. Remember:

After reading this book, you should no longer be able to look at your current path and think, “this is definitely the only way.” Instead, I hope you are able to shift to a place where you know that you have more freedom than you think, and your path can become something you choose again every day.