Paul Millerd Quotes

American independent writer

Paul Millerd is an independent writer, freelancer, coach, and digital creator. He has written online for many years and has built a growing audience of curious humans from around the world. He spent several years working in strategy consulting before deciding to walk away and embrace a pathless path. He is fascinated about how our relationship to work is shifting and how more people can live lives where they can thrive

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Self publishing is just entrepreneurship

Having faith is admitting that you don’t have all the answers for what comes next. Another phrase I’ve found useful to describe this state of mind is what the spiritual teacher Tara Brach calls “radical acceptance,” which she says “is the willingness to experience ourselves and our lives as it is.

in the blogging era, the biggest names put the most at stake - personal stories, strong arguments. ideas win

in the age of video, the game is to be visually appealing, have the most viral/algo-friendly takes. many put almost nothing at stake. performance wins

People hate considering that your life’s work may involve working less for pay

The path that feels exciting and great to be on is also filled with a lot of unmapped territory. This writing and publishing path feels good because there are just so many things I’m not that good at or want to get better at.

that most people, including myself, have a deep desire to work on things that matter to them and bring forth what is inside them.

a life of steady success sort of requires being fully absorbed in a worldview of seeing succcess as a fundamental building block of life

I think when you leave this, it can take quite a bit of time to let go of needing things to work

Success in business has more to do with interest in business and finance more than almost every other factor

Now a successful life? That’s got many paths

This is what the pathless path is all about. It’s having the courage to walk away from an identity that seems to make sense in the context of the default path in order to aspire towards things you don’t understand. It’s to experiment in new ways, to remix your own path, to develop your own personal definition of freedom, and to dare to have faith that it will be okay, no matter how much skepticism, insecurity, or fear you face.

when you reinvent your life and steer in a new direction, there is a wandering phase almost all must pass through

you can put this off and distract yourself for years

but thou shall wander through the lostness of life one way or another

life is not a personal project on yourself

Please stop just doing things

Pause, breathe, wander

Then just do things

This is what the pathless path is all about. It's having the courage to walk away from an identity that seems to make sense in the context of the default path in order to aspire towards things you don't understand. It's to experiment in new ways, to remix your own path, to develop your own personal definition of freedom, and to dare to have faith that it will be okay, no matter how much skepticism, insecurity, or fear you face.

My books are not for everyone

I don’t want to “impact 1 million people” or anything like that.

I let go of most grandiose stories in my 30s

They are a distraction anyway

I write for the weirdos. The people who must find a different way. And I write in a way that feels good.

The word burnout was coined in the 1970s by Herbert Freudenberger, an American psychologist who studied workers in free health clinics. He found that the prime candidates for burnout were those who were “dedicated and committed,” trying to balance their need to give, to please others, and to work hard. He noticed that when there was added pressure from superiors, people often hit a breaking point.52