<aside> đź’ˇ My Introduction
First, a look at the description of Paul Millerd’s book Pathless Path:
*The Pathless Path is about finding yourself in the wrong life, and the real work of figuring out how to live. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries and the goodwill of people from around the world, Paul Millerd pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to the good life and all of the existential crises in between.
This book is a personal journey of awakening and is an ideal companion for people considering leaving their jobs, embarking on a new path, dealing with the uncertainty of an unconventional path, or searching for better models for thinking about work in a fast-changing world.*
Heavy stuff. Especially if you find yourself gazing at your shoes at work. Or if you are a student who doesn’t know what they want to do. This book is excellent. You can find my praise in the Amazon review:
I’ve sent the book to several people. I marked up my hardcopy and then decided to get a Kindle copy to make it easier to copy and past excerpts. This document is a collection of excerpts re-factored by topic and interspersed with my commentary.
This document is meant to memorialize my takeaways but is not a substitute for reading what is a profoundly personal story. A story that vibrates with personal agony.
Please consider buying a copy.
I’ll even buy you a copy if you promise to tell me what you learned from it :-)
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Author Ramit Sethi describes “invisible scripts” as:
*truths so ubiquitous and deeply embedded in society that we don’t even realize they’re guiding our attitudes and behavior.
Like water to a fish, they surround us even if we don’t know it.
This is a topic that doesn’t get discussed often. Mostly because invisible scripts are revealing. And the things they reveal might be some tough pills to swallow.*
Paul’s use of the term “script” is effective. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder that we should wonder if we are living our lives or are we actors playing the role of someone else’s life. A role that was not written for us. I’m old enough to remember that questions like that comprise a good portion of 80’s arena rock lyrics.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3fjiaIx6KFssAz3C8TaUec?si=6cfc56808e17493f
If rebellion is a hallmark of youth and hair bands, then when do we become our parents? At some point, we start taking our cues from the societal reinforced by what Holly Mandel calls the “should computer”. You should do this. You should do that.
This excerpt pulled from the book’s conclusion shows how Paul is helping you re-widen your values:
*Here are some of my assumptions, many of which have been sprinkled throughout this book: 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.
The pathless path is about opening yourself up to this emergence. It’s about growing up and letting go. It’s about realizing that if I claim to care about something, I need to be willing to act, and also be willing to be wrong. I must let go of my ego and my need to be seen as a “successful” person.
After reading this book, you should no longer be able to look at your current path and think, “this is definitely the only way.”*
While the book is properly organized as a flowing narrative, I’ve assembled this reference around the idea of scripts.
<aside> 📜 Moontower Reference To Paul Millerd’s The Pathless Path
Remember: nothing good gets away, as long as you create the space to let it emerge.
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