Ask them how they got started, what motivates them, and how they think about navigating their life. Venture out of your existing bubble and reach out to someone who has taken an interesting path. We all have stories about who we think we are and why we must be that way but often, others have a better perspective on what makes us stand out. One of the easiest ways to begin this exploration is to send a message to a few close friends, asking them, “when have you seen me at my best self?” Their responses may surprise you and, perhaps, delight you. In our desire to be successful, we forget to notice how we are having an impact on others. The negative future version of me is financially insecure, does not have a predictable income, and is cynical and stubborn. This is all complicated by ongoing health issues which limit his energy and sometimes leave him semi‑bedridden for weeks at a time. He’s too stubborn to take a full‑time job and instead of admitting he might be wrong about his approach to life, he angrily tweets about how stupid everyone is working in traditional jobs. He goes a few months every year without income and is filled with insecurity about his finances almost all the time. He has a couple of kids, but is barely making ends meet and is ashamed of this fact. Here is my current sketch of the person I don’t want to be ten years from now: Paul is still committed to the pathless path, a fact that still draws skepticism from other people. While the grumpy guy in the cubicle is even harder to imagine now, there are still aspects of him that I want to avoid. On the pathless path, I take this exercise much more seriously. That was his calling.” With the introduction of a “calling,” Luther and then Calvin both wanted to undermine the authority of the Catholic Church to govern an individual’s relationship with God. Max Weber summarizes the shift, saying that the way to honor God, “was not to surpass worldly morality in monastic asceticism, but solely through the fulfillment of the obligations imposed upon the individual by his position in the world. Their angle of attack was one’s relationship to work. They had grown disappointed in religious leaders and attacked them for living idly in monasteries. In the 1500s, Martin Luther and John Calvin expanded this definition as part of what is now known as the Protestant Reformation. We see this articulated by 13th-century Catholic priest Thomas Aquinas, as he argues “labor is only necessary ‘naturali ratione’ for the maintenance of individual and community.” People should be expected to work, but the reason is to meet the needs of our families and communities. I must let go of my ego and my need to be seen as a “successful” person.Īfter reading this book, you should no longer be able to look at your current path and think, “this is definitely the only way.” 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. The pathless path is about opening yourself up to this emergence. Finding the work that matters to us is the real work of our lives.

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. We are all creative, and it takes some people longer to figure that out. We don’t need permission to engage with the world and people around us. Creativity is a real path to optimism, meaning, and connection. Here are some of my assumptions, many of which have been sprinkled throughout this book: Many people are capable of more than they believe.

Pathless path