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

Here’s the truth you have to wrestle with: the reason that art (writing, engaging, leading, all of it) is valuable is precisely why I can’t tell you how to do it. If there were a map, there’d be no art, because art is the act of navigating without a map. Don’t you hate that? I love that there’s no map. SETH GODIN

where I consistently earn at least $200 a month.

Austin Kleon, a prolific creator and writer, says that “creative work runs on uncertainty; it runs on not knowing what you’re doing.”⁠

It might surprise you that in Greece, during the time of Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago, work was simply considered a necessary evil. The prime aim of life according to philosophers was “Eudaimonia,” which translates literally as “happiness,” but is better expressed as “flourishing.” In Aristotle’s words, “the more contemplation, the more happ

McKinsey & Company found similar trends across Europe and estimated that more than 100 million people across the United States and Europe are now “nontraditional” employees. McKinsey compared these workers to “traditional” employees and found that they were as satisfied or more satisfied across fifteen different work characteristics, such as in

Many self‑employed people are surprised to find that once they no longer have to work for anyone else, they still have a manager in their head.

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

To her, the “best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.”⁠

Taggart’s question remained in my head. I was fascinated by his claim that we lived in a time of “total work,” a state of existence in which work is such a powerful force that almost everyone ends up identifying as a worker first and foremost.