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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Generally I’ve seen that finding a satisfying life path is easier if you quit your job before you are “financially independent” whatever that means to you.

Post exit founders often struggle the most because they can’t just turn it “on” again. Their skills is doing a whole years long pursuit. So there is more resistance to running that back. But for the most part they do just end up running it back. The happiest tend to be the ones that don’t do it to run away from the inner feelings that crop up post exit

The problem with making lots of money is that people tend to overindex on using the skill of making money as a way to spend one’s time.

Doing new things not only means less money but being bad at something.

Professor Tim Wu made this point in a widely read essay titled “The Tyranny of Convenience,” where he argues that convenience, “with its promise of smooth, effortless efficiency…threatens to erase the sort of struggles and challenges that help give meaning to life.

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

We need a fiduciary duty equivalent for literary agents.

I never worked long hours or grinded hard at the expense of other things in my life toward work goals.

There’s no law that says you have to grind hard or suffer with work

With work I want to create more consumer surplus than value I extract myself

Receiving a gift well is just as hard not harder than giving mostly because you are not just getting something. You are being asked to participate in a bigger trust dance of life

theres a widespread tech skepticism of prestigious paths in things like law, consulting, banking etc.

feels more like east coast envy than good critiques. many of these are great jobs, people learn a ton, and end up leading many companies (including tech ones)

most people who aren't wired for these paths, or approach it cynically, or try to play optionality dont actually last that long or eventually find a more stable regular sort of job

i think for the most part the critique is less about these jobs and much broader in that more people dont seem to do interesting things path wise even if they have wealth and income earlier in life

On the pathless path, the goal is not to find a job, make money, build a business, or achieve any other metric. It's to actively and consciously search for the work that you want to keep doing.

Most of the good life advice is antimemetic. If it somehow has become viral the person dispensing it has spent 10+ years on a spiritual journey and now communicates poetically

A lot of viral “advice” is really just tactics good for a year or two

Enough is the antithesis of unchecked growth because growth encourages mindless consumption and enough requires constant questioning and awareness. Enough is when we reach the upper bound of what’s required. Enough revenue means our business is profitable and can support however many employees/freelancers we have, even if it’s just one person. Enough income means we can live our lives with a bit of financial ease, and put something away for later. Enough means our families are fed, have roofs over their heads and their futures are considered. Enough stuff means we have what we need to live our lives without excess.125

If the marginal purpose of a post is to grow an abstract audience or make a dollar I think there is a hidden spiritual cost to this stance. I generally don’t think it’s worth it

I think hiring people to run social is usually a better decision because they typically do enjoy social and posting

do or do less, there is no try

Money only serves to buy freedom to do the thing or life you want

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.