Name: The Pathless Path
Rating: 3.333333333333333 (3 reviews)

Paul  Millerd

The Pathless Path

Rayhan Gustian

I've come to a point where I'd rather fail as a writer than succeed as a lawyer, and I need to try and fail or try and succeed, but I need to do it. -Gretchen Rubin

Paul Millerd

Not all who wander are lost… Paul thought he was on his way. From a small-town Connecticut kid to the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, he had everything he thought he wanted. Yet he decided to walk away and embark on the "real work" of his life - finding the work that matters and daring to create a life to support that. This 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 contemplating the deepest questions about life, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to a life he is excited to keep living. The Pathless Path is not a how-to book filled with “hacks”; instead, it is a vulnerable account of Paul’s journey from leaving the socially accepted “default path” towards another, one focused on doing work that matters, finding the others, and defining your own success. This book is an ideal companion for people considering leaving their jobs, embarking on a new path, dealing with the uncertainty of an unconventional path, or looking to improve their relationship with work in a fast-changing world. Reader feedback: “It’s a rare book in that it is tangentially about careers and being more focused and productive, but unlike almost every other book I have read about these topics, I finished this one and felt better about myself and my career.” “The themes are timeless. The content is expertly written. The advice is refreshingly non-prescriptive.” “If you have questioned your own path, or a nagging lack of intention in your choices you need this book. If you have felt a gradual loss of agency in your direction you need this book. You are in the grip of an invisible script that was not written for you.” “The writing is fantastic - Paul's writing is approachably poetic; a quick read that weaves together his own experience moving from a 'default path' overachiever to a 'pathless path' seeker of passion and curiosity, deep research into the history of work and collections of perspectives from years of podcasting, friendship, conferences, and meetings with other 'alternative path' life-livers."

Imagining a New Story for Work and Life

A few interesting insights here and there. However, personal anecdotes do not make a real practical guide to the author's pathless path. For many the path proposed is a path to poverty, not that one shouldn't take a chance. Many of his explanations of working to live and working for what one needs are important -- even extremely value insights -- it unfortunately falls flat as a waving flag where the author gloats at this own success. I did like the daily reminder the author used to remind himself daily  about his goals: health, relationships, creativity, and career. Nevertheless, the book's gravitation to personal anecdote was not helpful and came off as insensitive, somewhat divorced from reality. A lot of the realities the author lived simply just don't and can't apply to many of us. It just feels like this platonic ideal that the author hypes with no real practicality. 

The Pathless Path

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