Lauren and I first talked when I was locked down in Taiwan in 2021.  It was amazing to connect with another nomad and writer after weeks of not seeing people.  I was also a bit stuck in my book writing process and she gave me a ton of helpful hints to take my book to the next level.

I was excited to interview Lauren because she just finished her own book, Global Natives about her own experience as a nomad (since 2013!) and also the past, present, and future of the movement.  I think she is one of the most thoughtful perspectives on the future of work and global mobility.

Currently, Lauren is Executive Director of Plumia, the mission to build an internet country for digital nomads at SafetyWing, a Y Combinator company that raised a $35 million Series B in 2022. She is also the author of the book Global Natives and writes the Counterflows newsletter) about borderless living. She tweets @LaurenRazavi.

Video & Podcast

Podcasts Episode: Choose Your Player

Conversation Topics:

1. Global Natives: Lauren discusses her book, “Global Natives,” which explores the history of nomadism and how the current digital nomad movement fits into these historical trends. She also discusses the future of this lifestyle and how we can be pragmatic about it at the policy and human levels.
2. Transition to Digital Nomadism: Lauren started as a travel writer after university, funding her way through grad school. She discovered co-working retreats in 2015 and went to Bali to profile a startup called Hacker Paradise, which organized trips for digital nomads to travel in the community.
3. Work and Productivity: The shift from time-based work to output-based work and how traditional companies need to adapt to stay competitive in a remote work environment.
4. Nomad Visas and Borderless Living: The trend of countries offering nomad visas, allows digital nomads to live and work in their countries. Lauren also talks about the concept of “subscription living,” where instead of paying rent to one landlord, you pay a global brand for access to flexible living spaces worldwide.
5. Real Estate and Nomad Living: The impact of real estate trends on nomad living, including the rise of nomad hotels and the potential for companies to invest in real estate in off-site locations.
6. Future Predictions: Lauren predicts that in a decade’s time, global natives might be subscribing to Plumia to get their nomad passport.

Links Mentioned

• Path Role Model: Pia Mancini
• Minimum viable state
• Book Recommendation: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Lauren Razavi on Digital Nomads and The Future of Global Mobility & Digital Citizenship (The Pathless Path Podcast) appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

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Hannah Wei has been living as a digital nomad for the last four years traveling across the US, Canada and Southeast Asia.  When she is not working as a product consultant, she trains in Muay Thai, photographs people, and collaborates on local initiatives.

Her transition to a nomad life might have been a bit more natural than for overs after growing up all over the world.  She was born in China, ended up moving to was somewhat familiar after being born in China and living across the world – attending nine different schools before entering high school.  

She ended up attending University in Canada but left early and built her first company when she was 21.  She ended up dealing with burnout and after several years in Toronto, she decided to sell her stuff and head out on a nomadic adventure.  Four years later, she is still on that adventure and still trying to make sense of how to balance success, creativity and community as she travels the globe.

In our conversation we touch on many things, including:

• Her upbringing in China and move to the US
• Her creative inspirations as a child and how that evolved as she got older
• Her experiment to code a bot to swipe on Tinder and tell people’s stories
• What she has learned from Muay Thai
• Her decision to compete in a professional Muay Thai fight in Thailand
• What Muay Thai that has taught her about burnout, performance and success
• How she defines success as a nomad depending on the region she is in

Follow Hannah

• Hannah’s Website
• Hannah on Twitter: @herlifeinpixels
• Her personal review Notion group
• How to pack up your life in eight steps
• Tinder Photography Bot Experiment

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Hannah Wei on her nomadic life, competing in her first Muay Thai fight, dealing with burnout & tinder experiments appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

In the months before the trip, I lost several projects and then lost a great project because they weren’t comfortable with me working remotely while I was in Asia.

I was feeling pretty crappy. I had turned down projects for a couple of months prior to focus on some creative projects, but was feeling pretty desperate to land some work so I didn’t feel so worthless in a busy American city.

A couple weeks before my trip, I had a client reach out about a potential project which was right in my wheelhouse. Towards the end of my pitch, I said “sooooo I have this trip planned to Asia. Would you be open to me proposing how I could still do this work remotely?”

They said sure. I was shocked.

The next day I sent them a proposal to spend 25% of my time working on this project from Asia for an hourly rate that would easily support my life over the next couple of months. They accepted it immediately.

A few weeks later in a surf-side cliff town in Uluwatu on the island of Bali, I spent about 5 hour working on the project for the first time from the location pictured below.

As I worked that day, it was one of the first times I was working and didn’t really have any resentment towards that work. How could I with such a view?

It was also the first time where I felt a little silly that I had spent almost a year freelancing and didn’t think about leaving Boston or New York to explore more of the world or visit friends. Especially if I could live here for $20 a night.

Almost a year later, I visited this same place traveling with my partner and realized that this moment, this day of working remotely and abroad at the same time, was a moment that forced me to dream a little bigger and question my own limitations I was putting on my life.

And now I always wonder, am I dreaming enough now?

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Are You Dreaming Big Enough? appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Arriving & Airport

If you are staying more than 30 days, make sure to buy the Visa on arrival which will allow you to stay up to 60 days (you have to extend it after that I believe), otherwise visa-exempt will do.  

• SIM: You should be able to get a good SIM card at the airport for $10-20 covering you for more than a week.  These can be recharged at many roadside cell phone places, so no need to buy the most data right away (airport price is higher).  I recommend Telkomsel for cell phone service
• Cash:  You will need cash.  I recommend getting a Charles Schwab checking with no international ATM fees.
• Transport (Cash only): You will be mobbed by drivers upon arrival asking to drive you to your hotel.  I recommend arranging something beforehand or using Grab. The typical scam of drivers is to tell you a price (example 200k IDR) and then add “airport charges” at the end and try to get 200 IDR.  With grab, you either need to sign up in the US before arriving or use your new Indonesian number to start an account. If you use grab, you need to walk through the exit and towards the parking garage and there is a sign that says something like “arranged driver pickup” or something like that.  The grab drivers are typically pretty skilled at sending you a message on where to go. Prices:
  • Grab prices: Seminyak: 75-125k IDR; Canggu: 125-175k IDR; Ubud: 150-250k IDR
  • Arranged car: 200k and up
  • Airport driver: probably 200k+ but negotiate for sure

Getting Around & Basics

I recommend getting a motorbike as you may find yourself moving around quite a bit as places are all very close, but not close enough to walk (plus sidewalks aren’t great).

Bike Rental: I rented a motorbike for 850k IDr for a month and another one for two weeks for 450k IDR.   You want to pay somewhere around these rates. You can probably go a bit cheaper. I recommend getting a Honda Scoopy as they are comfortable and easy to ride.  Typically your hotel can help arrange this.

• Beware: If you just walk up to someone you will likely be quoted something very very high for Bali.  I was quoted 4 million IDR for a month, which would have been a ripoff.
• Contact: I had a good experience with a woman (WhatsApp +62 819-3309-667) who will deliver directly to your hotel (I was in Canggu, so she may not do other areas)

Ride Sharing: There are two options – Go Jek and Grab on the island.  Both have very cheap ridesharing on motorbike and car. They also offer food delivery if you are looking to get some food while its raining or don’t want to leave your pool for the day.  I have only used Grab for a car ride, so can’t speak to the others, but they are pretty prevalent on the island.

Food: The food is a mix of indonesia and western instagram food.  The local places are called Warungs and can range in quality. The cheapest local food is Nasi Campur which is a plate of buffet style local eats which typically costs from 12k-25k.  Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng (nasi = rice and mie = noodle) are the other classics. You can find them for 25k-40k at almost any restaurant and are an amazing simple meal. If you go to Bali and don’t try either, you aren’t living right!  Warungs are also a great place to grab and drink a full fresh coconut, which is typically the cheapest drink on the menu.

In addition to local eats, this is food heaven for vegan, paleo, smoothie bowl fanatics.  If you use google maps, you can see many of the pictures posted of the food, which is a good guide.  You can eat epic meals for between $5-10 a person per meal.

Locations  

Kuta: Skip it.  Very packed and every other place offers the same things but in a better environment.

Garuda Wisnu Cultural Park (4/10): Everywhere you go in Bali, you see this giant statue emerging into the heavens and wonder “what the hell is that?”  Well it’s a massive hindu temple in a culture park.  Pretty cool place, but definitely skip it if you don’t have time.  Kind of a tourist trap and very modern (I think they built it pretty recently).  Here is a free view without going:

Seminyak (5/10): This is the place that will emerge the most if you google around on where to stay.  This is because there are the most number of resorts and high-end hotels on the beach.  If you are looking to stay in a high-end accommodation and not explore much, this could be a good option.  There is definitely some good food, partying, massages and shops in this area, but this is definitely the “Miami of Australia” where Australians come to party and hang out and party for a week.  

• Accomodations: This is the typical villa look (left) that is very prevalent in Seminyak and you can get for a pretty good price and then the beach resort views (right) which are a bit more pricey

Uluwatu (8/10): Beachside village that is famous for its cliffs and surfing as well as Pura Uluwatu, an amazing cliffside Hindu temple filled with monkeys who will steal peoples hats and glasses in exchange for snacks (true story).  Good for a 2-3 day trip as part of a longer trip.

• Accomodations: You can find anything from $250 a night resorts overlooking the ocean or a no-frills room for $20 a night also with the same view.  The two areas I’m familiar with are padang padang or Suluban beach, which is an amazing cliff with a hidden beach you hike down to.  It also has a bunch of cliffside dining ranging from top-shelf to local Warun eats (nasi goreng, etc…).  I think there are more top notch hotels in padang padang but I don’t know it as well.
• Attractions:  I definitely recommend visiting the Pura Uluwatu.  It’s an amazing cliffside view and a pretty cool temple in the middle of Bali.  Come for the view and stay for the Monkeys. Each time I went, I saw a monkey steal stuff off of people and then hold on to it until the trainers or people trade them snacks for their stuff back.  This is amazing to watch.

Canggu (9/10): I lived in Canggu for almost two months and absolutely loved it.  If you like sunsets, good foods and relaxed vibes, this is the place for you.  I think this can offer almost all of what Seminyak does but for a little less money and people.  Good for an extended stay or even 4-5 days.

I definitely recommend renting and riding a motorbike to get around Canggu.  The bike directions on google maps are pretty good and accurate.

• Accomodations: You can find anything from $15 a night to $300+ a night (example high-end resorts here, here, here and here)

For more detailed Canggu recommendations click here

Ubud (8/10): Ubud is an amazing and popular spot.  While the main area is packed with tourists, the outskirts are more chill than anywhere else I’ve been on the island.  The overwhelming views and colors of the rice paddies, volcanos and sunsets are enough to make you ask “why don’t I live here?” as many people who I know have decided.  Good for extended stay, 2-3 day trip or 5-7 day trip as well. Click here for detailed recommendations.

I only have been here for two separate day trips and two other trips of two days, so don’t have as much to offer, but have friends who have lived here long-term.  Let me know and I’ll help you figure out some places to eat/see!

• Where to stay: I don’t have any great recommendations, but I’d recommend staying slightly away from the heart of the city, renting a motorbike and finding a place with an incredible view and sunsets.  

Canggu Recommendations

Here are some of my favorites with a * by places that you must go

• Best beachside cheap eats: Warung Middle is my favorite spot for chilling with some cheap food (their mie goreng is amazing in a tasty, but not good for you instant noodles kind of way) and a $2 smoothie
• Best bang for the buck: Warung Ithaka is probably the best value for $, view, and ambiance you will find in Canggu.  You can eat an amazing Nasi goreng for 38k IDR (about $2-3) and watch the sky turn red over the ocean while drinking a $2 mango smoothie
• *Is this real life? La Brisa is one of the coolest places I’ve been to watch the sunset.  You will feel like you are in some sort of movie. I only went there once, but the Chef is the former private chef of Richard Branson (or so someone told me)
• Lunch Spots: The Shady Shack and Cafe Vida are two of the most popular (for good reason).  Almost everything I’ve had at both has been top notch.  $5-10 a person for a meal.
• Cool day spot with pool: I thought Bokacika was pretty cool with a pool to hang out in and a view of the rice paddy.
• Ride Paddy Cafe: Cool view off the back of the Cinta Cafe for some chill afternoon or brunch.
• *Best Warung: Warung Dandelion is an amazing experience, but be prepared to encounter an  entire staff that is very talkative and welcoming. Don’t go here if you want to be left along.  All of the food here is amazing.
• Other: For workout eats, check out Motion Cafe or Savage Kitchen.  For local granola and organic food,
• Coworking/Events: The best three places for coworking are Dojo, Tropical Nomad and Outpost.  Each have a lot of free events for the public, so just check the facebook pages (linked) and see what’s going on.  A cool way to meet local nomads and entrepreneurs. Dojo is the most popular and famous and also the most expensive – you also get access to Hubud in Ubud if you’ll be moving around.  If you just need good internet and the lowest price, Tropical Nomad is best for short-term travelers. Most cafes also are great spots to work..
• Exercise: You can check out S2S or Wanderlust Crossfit (most expensive) or Avenue ($10 a visit) or  Victory Fitness (cheapest, about $5 a week or $10 a month).  Odyssey MVMT comes highly recommended as well for HIIT classes and Yoga.  Also, if you search facebook for events, there are also a lot of bootcamp style events on the beach you can find.  For Yoga and meditation, there are also countless options, but I cannot recommend The Practice highly enough.  It’s an amazing venue and place to disconnect and even try Yoga or meditation if you’ve never done it before.
• Spa/Massage: I never made it there, but Amo Spa has the best reputation in Canggu.  People seem to love the massages and the day spa experience (free with $15 massage if you download the GU GUIDE app and grab the coupon).  Otherwise, you can get a pretty awesome massage all over from 80kIDR to 200kIDR ($6-$15)
• Tanah Lot: A touristy area about a 25 minute bike ride north of canggu.  Pretty cool temple in the ocean.  You can get some solid food on the sunset deck and watch the sunset.
• Sunsets: Check out the sunset at the different spots along the beach.  There are slightly different scenes at the end of Batu Balong, Echo Beach and Pererenan.
• Trip to Ubud: You can take a day trip to Ubud for about 150-200k on grab (maybe cheaper).

Ubud Recommendations

Attractions: Some things to do in Ubud:

• Monkey Forest: Good, not great.  Basically walk around for 100k IDR and see monkeys jumping all around.  Worth checking out for sure (not too expensive), but definitely a tourist trap
• Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Both a tourist trap and a must-see.  Absolutely beautiful.  Get there in the morning and grab a smoothie and some food before walking through the terrace from the road overlooking it.  

• Ran out of time, but the Campuhan Ridge Walk looks like a beautiful way to walk through the heart of Bali.
• Mindfulness/Yoga: As I said I didn’t get a ton of time to explore, but these are highly recommended by others: Pyramids of Chi: Sound healing and acoustic bioresonance sessions come highly recommended from a friend.Yoga Barn: One of the most popular spots for Yoga
• Coworking/Events: Hubud is the most popular coworking space and you can also get access to both Dojo (in Canggu) and Hubud with one membership.  Many cafes are also fantastic for working.
• Epic sunset/great food: A bit challenging to get to, but completely worth it.  Check out the sunset from Cafe Pomegranate or one of the restaurants on that road.  Beware: you’ll have to go down a very tiny strip in between rice paddies so if you are not comfortable with driving a motorbike, consider walking there.

• Sweet view/cafe: I didn’t eat here, but The Elephant offers a beautiful green-soaked view overlooking view of fields, the mountains and local terrace walk.
• Hidden Gem: Even though it is in the center of Ubud, Sweet Orange Warung has never been that packed when I went there.  You have to walk from the main street (use the google map directions).  It is a blissful paradise in the middle of a massive rice paddy.
• Other Recommendations From A Bali Friend/Five Year Resident:  Muse is a great cafe with a good view and good Tali dish. Clear Cafe is great for some healthy eats.

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Paul’s Totally Biased Bali Recommendations appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Jacqueline Jensen has been a digital nomad for 3.5 years, living and working globally.  It might surprise you to find out then, that she’s written a book called “Travel Isn’t The Answer.”  While counterintuitive, she argues for a return to awe and wonder with what is already around us.  She talks about different moments of wonder she has experienced (including a breathtaking view in Montenegro) and different techniques for how people can “Live With a Sense of Curiosity, Passion, and Awe Anywhere and Everywhere” (the subtitle of the book).

Listen: Itunes • Google • Overcast • Spotify

Last year, in a planned sabbatical she came face-to-face with the fact that work was the center of her world.  While she almost “quit” the sabbatical, she pushed herself to redefine her day and time to claim back some of herself from a sole focus on work.   She provides many actionable tips and perspectives that can help people question the role of work in their lives, take steps to increase the amount of awe in their lives and connect with people that matter to them.

More About Jacqueline:

• TedX Talk
• Twitter: @JackieMJensen & LinkedIn: Jacqueline Jensen
• Book: Travel Isn’t The Answer (Amazon)

Recommendation on getting outside of your comfort zone:

• Check out local music: sofarsounds.com
• Go to an art museum
• Travel-as-a-service recommendations discussed: Hacker Paradise, Recess Labs, Roam, Outsite
• App for re-aligning your day: Today

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Jacqueline Jensen on sabbaticals, rethinking work and building a “calm company” appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Conversation #1: Macro Trends (consultancies, journalists, politicians)

This conversation is typified by looking at trends and then working backward to see what the implications are for people.  Terms like “fourth industrial revolution,” “the end of work,” “post-work,” “artificial intelligence,” and “robots” are used prolifically.  McKinsey writes in a report on the future of work:

Automation, digital platforms, and other innovations are changing the fundamental nature of work.

…and Quartz:

Automation, advanced manufacturing, AI, and the shift to e-commerce are dramatically changing the number and nature of work.

…and finally, The Brookings Institute:

Robots, artificial intelligence, and driverless cars are no longer things of the distant future.

These trends are positioned as irreversible and having an impact on people rather than something we should question at a fundamental level. This conversation tends to center not around individuals but “the workforce.”  Think tanks and consultancies produce charts showing the numbers of jobs that will be eliminated by AI or show the types of jobs and skills needed in the future.

For example, The World Economic Forum writes:

Creativity will become one of the top three skills workers will need. With the avalanche of new products, new technologies and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes.

While it is fun to talk about the future, this conversation often falls short of the reality that many current jobs that require creativity and other “human skills” (teachers, social workers, retail workers) are still undervalued in our economy.

This conversation often lends itself to identifying policies to either reduce suffering or reduce inequality in the workforce or economy as a whole.  It often highlights long-term trends that do not appear to be shifting such as the decreasing labor share of income and increasing rent-seeking as a percentage of our economy.  Thought leaders propose work-related policies such as minimum wages, unemployment protection, health benefits, portable benefits, paid leave and other similar policies. For example, The Aspen Institute has proposed a $25 million innovation fund to experiment with new approaches for portable benefits.

While these are great in theory, they often only end up helping the types of people who already have good jobs and benefits in the economy.  When one digs deep into some of these issues and starts asking “why?”, especially in the US around why so many benefits are tied to employment, they are likely to end up in conversation #5 (see below) questioning some of the sacred cows of the modern workforce.

While many of the issues in this conversation are important, they are a bit distant from the reality on the ground.  The articles get a lot of clicks and are great for panels at conferences but hard for most people to understand what changes they should make when they show up to work the next day.

Examples:

• Politics: “The Future of Work” (US Senator Mark Werner)
• Consulting: McKinsey’s report on Technology, jobs and the future is probably one of the best reports on the subject; Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages (McKinsey)
• The 10 Skills You Need to Thrive In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum
• Journalists: “When Robots Take Our Jobs” (Washington Post)
• Think Tanks: Aspen Institute – $25 Million Portable Benefits Innovation Fund
• Books: Rise Of The Robots (Martin Ford); The Wealth Of Humans (Ryan Avent)
• Existential Questions on the Future of Work: 5 Part Series (Richard Arthur)

Conversation #2: The Gig Economy (Journalists, Companies, Consulting Firms, Talent Platforms)

Given media bias towards writing that gets clicks, this conversation tends to be geared towards the worst parts of the gig economy and perhaps misses some of the people who are benefiting from the increased freedom and flexibility of the gig economy.  McKinsey’s report mentioned previously highlighted this fact, showing that even independent workers “by necessity” into it were “as satisfied” or more satisfied than comparable traditional workers, with the exception of income security and level of income.  While I agree with the fact that lower incomes are not a great thing, it does appear that the gig economy is somewhat of a release valve for people to prioritize things that do matter to them like flexibility and independence.

Companies making money from the gig economy also tap into this conversation with mixed results.  Some of the material is transparent content with little usefulness, while others have been thoughtful additions to the conversation.  Talent platforms have added the most useful content to this discussion.  UpWork’s Freelancing In America report and Catalant’s Reimagining Work reports are a bit optimistic, but provide unique insight into the people using their platforms.

Nonetheless, the gig economy highlights a continued optimization of the productive class.  What makes it different in the context of the gig economy is that a movement from full-time work to gig work often means a lack of a sense of security, good health care coverage, and a consistent wage.  While this is great for someone with high earning potential, it is a disaster for people with lower wages.  These challenges are often framed within the context of the current economic system (pay higher wages, give more benefits), but I believe the true opportunity for transformation will come from looking backward and questioning our current employment paradigm as Marco Torregrossa, leader of the “freelance revolution” in Europe, has done, “We shouldn’t complain that Uber drivers don’t receive full-time benefits; we should reconsider why benefits and security come attached only to full-time jobs.”

This conversation also highlights a third way, if you will, showing the success that companies like Managed by Q and Hello Alfred are having by choosing not to use gig workers, investing in their people and culture instead and unlocking a value by using technology in all places except the optimization of their labor force.

Examples:

• Book: Gigged, Sarah Kessler
• Journalists: “Is The Gig Economy Working?” (New Yorker), “The Real Future Of Work” (Politico)
• The on-demand economy doesn’t have to imitate Uber to win (Sapone, Quartz@Work)
• “How the Platform Economy Gives Superpowers to Freelancers” (Medium)
• The Gig Economy And Alternative Work Arrangements (Gallup)
• “Managed by Q’s “good jobs strategy” is paying off for workers—and the company” (Quartz)
• “Uber, Lyft drivers actually earn less than minimum wage, MIT survey suggests” (USA Today) and Uber’s Response
• Content Marketing: “Future Workforce Report: Remote Work Is Set to Go Mainstream but Is Your Business Ready?” (Upwork) or “How To Invoice Clients Professionally (7 Steps)” (Bonsai)
• Talent Platforms: Catalant’s Report on The Future Of Work (disclaimer: I helped write the report) and Freelancing In America (UpWork)

Conversation #3: Evolving Organizational Ecosystem (Companies, Consulting Firms, Authors, Entrepreneurs)

Within the past ten years, the corporate world has stumbled upon the belief that “millennials” needed to be catered to.  While this makes sense as Millennials have become the largest percentage of our workforce, investing in people is not anything new.  Many companies have been screaming from the rooftop about how investing in people leads to higher returns for decades (see basecamp, Southwest, Atlassian, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Toyota).

I believe what has changed, however, is that social media has made it almost impossible to hide a bad culture and gives many an outlet to share the most egregious elements in public (LinkedIn, Facebook, Glassdoor, etc…).

While I was pretty optimistic at first, I am less optimistic now.  Companies are changing policies, launching new initiatives and creating new values, but are failing to take a deeper look at the underlying behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions of the organization.  What I have seen in my experience talking to leaders and working as a strategy consultant, was that many of these initiatives increase complexity and increase attention on bad elements of culture. It is often not much more than “Culture PR.”

One welcome addition to this conversation has been the tech industry’s willingness to invest in culture.  My cynical hypothesis of why this has happened is that software businesses lend themselves to high margins and high levels of automation.  This leaves many thoughtful educated people a lot of time to think about how to spend that cash to keep people motivated.  Google, basecamp, and Netflix have arguably done the most to advance this conversation, sharing their counterintuitive culture practices (self-nomination for promotions, maximum 32-hour work weeks, get rid of jobs that are not needed anymore.  Others like Gravity Payments have gained attention by raising minimum salaries to $70,000 a year.  Regardless of the impetus, all of these experiments are needed and a net benefit to workers.

There has also been an emerging conversation in the corporate world around corporate purpose.  This can get muddled very quickly if you start talking about individual purpose within the same context.  However, there has been a lot of evidence showing that purpose-driven organizations dramatically outperform other organizations.  However, outside of a few organizations with dramatic and clear long-term visions, it is often hard to find organizations that operate around a set of values beyond profitability.

Frederic Laloux wrote perhaps one of the most provocative elements of this discussion with his book Reinventing Organizations. In it he calls out this the hollowness of many corporate mission statements:

Executives, at least in my experience, don’t pause in a heated debate to turn to the company’s mission statement for guidance, asking, “What does our purpose require us to do?

He highlights organizations that have built companies around their people, rather than traditional ideas of how a company should be run.  In it, he talks about how these companies have something called an “evolutionary purpose”:

The evolutionary purpose is not the same as a vision statement. A vision statement usually reflects the ego-driven state of consciousness of the management team, who decide what they want the organization to be. The evolutionary purpose…reflects the deeper reason the organization exists

He gives examples of Buurtzorg (“Helping home-based patients become healthy and autonomous), Patagonia (“Use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”), or FAVI (“Two fundamental purposes: the first is to provide meaningful work in the area of Hallencourt, a rural area in northern France where good work is rare; the second is to give and receive love from clients”)

His book, if read in the context of many of the current practices of the business world, is revolutionary.  Hopefully one day it is just seen as business as usual.

Examples:

• Crisis At Work: Why Organizations Undermine Human Potential (me, again)
• Company Examples: Netflix Culture, “Basecamp’s CEO Limits Himself to 40-Hour Workweeks–and He Thinks You Should Too” (Inc.), “Inside Atlassian: building a culture of innovation“
• Thought Leaders: Jacob Morgan’s Work at The Future Organization and his podcast The Future Of Work Podcast; John Hagel’s Center For The Edge
• “Here’s What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage” (Inc.)
• Google’s re:work collection of practices, research, and ideas
• Books: Daniel Pink’s Drive, Laszlo Bock’s Work Rules!
• Consulting: Deloitte’s 2018 Human Capital Trends
• Conferences: Culture Amp’s Putting Culture First

Conversation #4: Personal Transformation (Freelancers, Entrepreneurs, Educators)

This conversation is about the individual.  Not just the person as “worker,” but the person as a person.  This conversation is founded on rebellion and the loudest voice in this space is probably Seth Godin, who urges people to “make a ruckus.”

Godin describes his life as a series of “projects” and has been carving his own path for decades.  He sees his role as helping to “shift the culture” and has helped people develop new mental models through his books, writing, podcasts, and courses.  In his book Linchpin, he boldly challenges our modern conception of work, “The educated, hardworking masses are still doing what they’re told, but they’re no longer getting what they deserve.“

It also includes people like Tiago Forte, who writes about the opportunities that highly-skilled freelancers have in this economy by diversifying their activity and depending on different revenue sources. He argues that “full-stack freelancers” often have the ability to capture a lot of the value previously captured by institutions:

Full-Stack Freelancers respond to technology as an opportunity, not a threat. They leverage software-as-a-service and online platforms to vertically integrate a “full stack” of capabilities, instead of focusing on one narrow function. This allows them to capture a much greater percentage of the value they create, instead of giving it away to gatekeepers and distribution bottlenecks.

This conversation also includes “The Future Of Learning,” which is a broad discussion ranging from MOOCs, alternative education institutions to boot camps and academies that are reacting to the needs of people that need to continually reinvent themselves in the world.  Godin’s altMBA is a prime example of this.  In a 30-day program, he helps people “level up” their skills and mindset through a hands-on action and intensive feedback and support from a committed community.  Future of work thought leader Heather McGowan captures the mindset shift that people taking advantage of Godin’s altMBA have already embraced: “we need to stop thinking of the professional you want to be (end state) and focus on the skills you want to acquire (continuous). Instead of focusing on learning as something that happens in the first 22 years of your life, it is instead something that never ends.

Forte also writes about the emergence of “Short Tiny Exclusive Virtual Experiences” (STEVEs) with he sees at the next (an improved) iteration of the MOOC and online course platforms.  Essentially “bootcamps as personality-driven brands.”  Or put more simply, on-demand learning from people you want to learn from.  Better tools such as Zoom and slack recently enabled me to pilot my first digital learning experience (Solopreneur Shift) and the future looks promising, especially with tools such as VR and AR that will continue to eliminate barriers and threaten the current learning establishment.

This conversation also includes people that are creating new ways of living, including digital nomads, remote workers, the FIRE (financially independent, retire early) community, vagabonds, and the work by professors at Stanford around “designing your life” with design principles. While people living alternative lifestyles have always existed, I would argue that social media has lowered the walls to seeing inside different ways of life.  Part of why I became a digital nomad myself was realizing that it seemed pretty achievable based on the many people I saw embracing the model online.

Digital nomads are perhaps the ultimate expression of the “personal transformation” conversation.  They often combine the opportunities of the gig economy and technology with the ability to learn and grow while traveling.  Companies like Remote Year have popped up to tap into this market (and countless similar companies such as Hacker Paradise, Wifi Tribe and more).  These companies are offering realistic alternatives to a “traditional path” through their networks of remote job opportunities and offering their own curriculums and communities.

Which leads us to conversation #5…

Examples

• Seth Godin’s Akimbo Podcast, Linchpin (book), altMBA & Bootstrapper’s Workshop
• Remote Year: Travel & Work Abroad
• Gig Economy, Diane Mulcahy
• Unbundling Work: Learning To Thrive In Disruptive Times (Gary Bolles)
• Preparing Students To Lose Their Jobs (McGowan)
• 10 Surprising Benefits Of Self-Employment (yours truly)
• Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE): Mr. Money Mustache Blog
• Designing Your Life: Book and TED Talks
• Podcasts: Life Skills That Matter & Boundless: The Human Side Of Work
• The Rise Of The Full-Stack Freelancer (Tiago Forte); The Future of Online Learning: STEVEs (Short Tiny Exclusive Virtual Experiences) by (Tiago Forte)
• The creator of WordPress shares his secret to running the ultimate remote workplace (Quartz)
• A Field Guide For Independent Strategy Consultants (Tom Critchlow)

Conversation #5: Fundamental Questions (Philosophers, Academics, Freelancers)

In contrast to conversation #1, this conversation looks deeper and questions our fundamental assumptions about work and life and challenges our belief that we need to have a “future of work” that is more or less similar to what we have now.  This conversation can be framed beautifully by a set of questions offered by long-time self-employed entrepreneur Nita Baum:

1. Why do we work today?
2. Given that the goods and utilities we need to survive and thrive are abundant, what is the purpose of work?
3. What does this say about how our resources are and could be distributed more equitably?
4. Could the purpose of work be to make us more individually and collectively whole- in material ways, in well-being and in a way that is conscious of the individual and the collective to the exclusion of neither?
5. If so, how would this shift our patterns of consumption and production?

These are tough questions, but luckily ones philosophers have been grappling with for a long time.

One of the best examples of this conversation is the one Andrew Taggart has brought to life.  He is a Practical Philosopher who argues that “There may be no greater vexation in our time than the question of how to make a living in a manner that accords with leading a good life”   He has brought back to life a discussion “Total Work,” an idea first proposed by Josef Pieper in 1948 in his work, “Leisure: The Basis Of Culture.”  Taggart argues that total work is stronger than ever and “eradicates the forms of playful contemplation concerned with our asking, pondering and answering the most basic questions of existence.“ He pushes us further and argues that we make a dangerous mistake when we put “making a living” ahead of the question of “what is a life worth living” (see podcast for full discussion).

When Pieper published Leisure he argued that work was consuming life and threatened philosophical traditions of contemplation and a certain type of leisure.  He argues that because work is becoming central in our lives, we fail to imagine any type of leisure beyond anything that is beyond a break from work.

In 1951, Alan Watts argued in The Wisdom Of Insecurity that our working world turns us into cogs in a machine:

Thus the working inhabitants of a modern city are people who live inside a machine to be batted around by its wheels. They spend their days in activities which largely boil down to counting and measuring, living in a world of rationalized abstraction which has little relation to or harmony with the great biological rhythms and processes.

More recently there are philosophers like Andre Gorz, who in Reclaiming Work (written in 1999), challenges us with the line “real work is no longer what we do when at work”  by showing that when a parent decides to stay at home with children, they are deciding “not to work,” yet what is taking care of children, if not work?  He says this comes from a limiting mindset around how we define work:

it has to be a job, a profession: that is to say, the deployment of institutionally certified skills according to approved procedures.

There is a long tradition of questioning the fundamental questions around work, labor and how to live.  It may be a mistake to think this time is different.  In 1964, a report on the “Triple Revolution” was put forward to President Johnson as a way to figure out what to do when all the jobs disappeared.  More than fifty years later, the jobs are still here and we still have an economy that fundamentally assumes that one should work to earn a living.  However, given the transparency of how bad this situation is for most people (see the fact that only 37% of Americans are employed in full-time jobs), we may in fact, be ready for a new conversation.

Professor David Graeber has said that those jobs should have disappeared and that a range of different political, cultural and historical factors have meant that we have created scores of “Bullshit Jobs” to make the economy look like it is still operating as designed.  He first proposed this idea in a viral essay in 2013 that turned into a recerntly published book.  He defines a “bullshit job” as:

A bullshit job is a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though, as part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obliged that this is not the case.

Graeber estimates that almost 50% of our economy is “bullshit” and explores how this came to be from a systemic lens, looking at things such as how time became something that could be transacted (“the idea that one person’s time can belong to someone else is actually quite peculiar”), how we value some labor over others (“typically involve work that needs to be done and is clearly of benefit to society; its just that the workers who do them are paid and treated badly”), and how the labor theory of value once ascribed to by Lincoln (“labor is prior to and independent of capital”) was demolished by Carnegie’s “gospel of wealth” and the shareholder value movement of the 1970’s.

We may be in a situation where many people, as Jean-Paul Sartre would say, are operating in “bad faith.”  That is, they have adopted a set of values they don’t really believe in as a way to deny their own freedom.  When I was in business school, there was a general belief that the system was rigged and that shareholder value probably wasn’t the best idea.  “But what are you going to do about it?” people would say.  Philosophers would urge us to reconcile this gap in our beliefs and our actions and to find pursuits that are more in consonance with who we are.

Some of these ideas are being talked about, but they are often dismissed as “the way things are.”  Some people are putting skin in the game, such as Scott Santens, who has crowdsourced his own basic income while also being an ardent supporter of the idea.  He advances this conversation by using his own experience and research to bring alive some of the fundamental flaws of how we think about work, money and survival and how we think our connection to each other and place in the world.

Examples:

• Andrew Taggart: If work dominated your every moment would life be worth living? (Aeon), Total Work Newsletter, The 70-hour and four-day work weeks are both rooted in Christian philosophy (Quartz @ Work), “I’m An Anticareerist And You Should Be One Too” (Medium)
• What is Anti-Careerism? (Anti-Careerist)
• Leisure, The Basis Of Culture (Brain Pickings)
• Universal Basic Income: Scott Santens, Andrew Yang (Presidential Candidate) and Chris Hughes
• Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs (The Guardian)
• “What if you got $1,000 just for being alive?” (Vox)
• Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber / Longform Article (Strike, 2013)
• Reclaiming Work: Beyond The Wage-Based Society (Gorz)
• Wisdom Of Insecurity, Alan Watts

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post The Future Of Work Is Five Different Conversations appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Dr. Laura Gallaher joins me from Serbia, where she is part of Remote Year, a community that travels to twelve locations within a year with a cohort of people working remotely.  Laura is an organizational psychologist who studied humor and communication in the workplace and notably completed a dissertation with “that’s what she said” in the title (office fans, anyone?).  With a title like that it was probably clear that Academia would be too limiting for her.

We talk a bit about humor and how it can be helpful or destructive in an organization.  She first points out that “aggressive” humor – even if you mean well is rarely a way to strengthen bonds.  We then talk about how leaders can embrace humor, especially to show their vulnerability, and give their teams more freedom to make mistakes, be open and be themselves.

After getting her Ph.D., she worked with NASA after the Columbia explosion and worked on some of the toughest “they fell victim to the same thing that could happen in any organization.”  She notes that these factors are prevalent across many organizations, but the stakes are often not life or death.  Her work with a small tech company found that two key elements can help companies transcend hierarchy.  First, the leader is willing to be vulnerable and second, the leader demonstrates both through words and actions that they care deeply about all the people in the organization.

“We hire people for what they think….what we care about is your ability to learn, your ability to think, your ability to grow…creating an environment where the employees opinion and input has value and you ask for it and you seek it out and you actually listen to it, this is where really, really engaged organizations are born and powerful cultures are created”

Links:

• Check out Laura’s Free 3-Part Culture Course
• Gallaher Edge
• Remote Year

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Dr. Laura Gallaher on humor at work, leadership at NASA after crisis, and building a business traveling the world appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

In my first week-plus of living in Taipei, I’ve started learning Chinese, photography and photo editing. I’ve discovered multiple foundational principles that have made me hungry to learn more. For example in photography, once you shoot in RAW format, you are able to have much more control over the editing of your photos (not to mention more wiggle room for taking bad photos!) and once you learn some basic characters in Chinese, you can start identifying more complicated characters.

However, this got me thinking about why most of us often go through our days telling our friends that we care about learning while staying completely oblivious to some of these simple ideas that may open the door to deeper learning.  I was also curious where the energy to learn these new things came from and why I was suddenly inspired to tackle multiple domains at once.

I think part of it has to do with solitude.

One of my favorite essays is one by William Deresiewicz titled “Solitude and Leadership.” In it, he talks about solitude as the key to leadership and a missing ingredient in our busy, modern world.  He believes solitude can be found in extended reading, contemplation or even periods of sustained work (such as writing). In this way, solitude is about an inward-focused reflection, as opposed to the bitterness involved with loneliness.

In Taipei, I am (for now) unable to communicate in the local language.  Unlike European countries I have been to, I cannot even read the characters.  This has forced me inward and has made me highly aware of my thoughts and emotions.  I’ve grappled with moments of shame and embarrassment, but also with hunger and curiosity to learn.  While it would be easy to close up, there does not seem to be any other option right now than going deeper.

Edgar Schein has talked about this as “learning anxiety” in the context of organizational learning.  He identifies two types of learning.  The first is the fear or anxiety of not looking competent.  This shows up in organizations as micromanagement and perfectionism and serves as a barrier to learning new things.  Why try if you will be shamed for any mistakes?

The second, which he urges organizations to embrace is what I would describe as “if I don’t keep learning, I will look foolish.”  Learning FOMO if you will

While I was practicing Chinese in Boston, I did not have any “anxiety” to learn.  In Taipei, since I often am finding myself without anyone to talk with, I am having to contemplate my emotions while also being spurred to action by a yearning to connect with others (and to order the amazing local food, of course).

In his essay, Deresiewicz expands his definition of solitude to include the deep conversations typical of a great friendship:

“Of course friendship is the opposite of solitude; it means being with other people. But I’m talking about one kind of friendship in particular, the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person.”

Perhaps this is the core of what drives us to learn. Being able to have the types of experiences that matter to us and connecting with the people that share the same inner drives as us.

But the challenge is that to move towards these types of conversations or experience, you need to spend time in solitude instead of with other people, you need to stay silent instead of telling everyone your plans, you need to get out of your comfort zone instead of chasing more security.  Reflecting on a walk, reading a book or even meditating by yourself in the morning.

There is a thin line between solitude and isolation.  It is in dancing with this vulnerability, uncertainty, and chaos in the middle that we often find a new route forward and some clues to find those people to have those deeper conversations.  I’m not sure where I’m headed with all this learning, it just feels like I’m headed towards the types of conversations and friendships that matter.

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

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The post Solitude & Learning New Things appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

My first memory of greed was waiting in the line at a local crafts store called The Hoot. My blood was pumping as I looked at the clock and counted down the minutes until 9am when the store would open and a group of 10 of us, an odd collection of fathers, mothers and children, would walk calmly but with some urgency towards the back of the store. The goal was always the same — to acquire at least one plush, hopefully soon “retired” and artificially scarce PVC pellet-filled creation.

My first collection was of basketball cards, but it never turned into a full-blown obsession. Okay, I’m lying. I had a monthly price guide and organized my cards by team and by year. I had a dedicated box of Michael Jordan cards, which eventually held (and still holds) over 100 of his cards.

However, basketball cards were something I would pull out when I was old, sharing stories about sports with the next generation.

Beanie babies were my ticket to teenage retirement

The early internet was a wild playground. As a 13 year old, the banks had no interest in my services, so I got creative. I would buy basketball cards, beanie babies and beanie baby accessories on eBay. Instead of paying immediately, I would send the seller a self-addressed-stamped-envelope stuffed with cash. I was operating as an amateur drug dealer and beanie babies were my drug.

At one point, I orchestrated a complicated trade over a forum with a random person on the internet to acquire a rare “retired” seal that went by the name Seamore. This specific beanie baby I acquired came without the famous TY “hang tag” — probably ripped off by some child who had no idea what kind of treasure they were playing with. It was still a coup for me — price guides told me it was still worth $50 without the tag.

Seamore (pictured here without that valuable “hang tag”)

There were many of these price guides on the web which gave optimistic predictions. While there were some differences, most confirmed my conclusion that beanie babies would rise in value forever. I was mentally doing the math and it was quite clear that I would not have to worry about college. I was starting to imagine a future in which I was some sort of beanie baby lord, just swimming in my riches.

Preparing for my leap to the upper echelons of society, I started curating and obsessing over my collection like a collector of wine or fine art.

To protect my collection, I spent money on the finest cases and tag protectors that my self-addressed-stamped-envelopes could buy. There was an abbreviation MWMT that meant “mint with mint tags” — all was lost of the tags were not perfect.

Tag Protectors!!

Fueling The Fire

As I collected more PVC-filled bears, ghosts and animals, I would go to homepage of the maker of beanie babies TY.com.

As anyone with a dial-up connection remembers, you did not simply go to a website in the late 90s. You first typed in the address, hit enter and then slowly stared at the screen as the website loaded, line by line from the top to the bottom.

Like the drug fueled addict that I have already admitted to being, I would refresh the page several times per day. After a couple of minutes the latest news section of the website would finally load and I could read the latest product announcements.

TY was strategically introducing new beanie babies while simultaneously “retiring” the current collection — meaning you could no longer buy those sacred beanie babies in a store. Online price guides would adjust to reflect the scarcity everyone would lose their mind calculating their riches.

As I built my collection, I had no real strategic plan other than acquire beanie babies and to put them in cases

• Step 1: Obtain as many beanie babies as possible
• Step 2: Protect the good via tag protectors and cases
• Step 3: ?
• Step 4: Retire

MWMT!

Bitcoin Mania

This past year, the internet lost its collective mind acquiring cryptocurrencies. I was not immune from this contagion. At one point I was up a good chunk of change on a small amount of money I threw into the mix. Did I ever think about selling? No. Just like beanie babies, I got caught up in the story of the future potential payoff.

However, unlike beanie babies, the crypto-craze seemed solely about money. With beanie babies, there was something deeper — something playful and silly. Perhaps it was because I was a child or the absurdity of so many people hoarding $5 plush filled animals and other mythical creatures.

I still own several Princess Diana bears and over 100 other creations and store them MWMT in cases at my parent’s house. Within my family, there is an inside joke that my beanie babies will one day be worth millions once everyone else has thrown them away. Keeping them is more of an investment in humor than an actual investment.

Sure, it is fun to play with that dream and wonder “well, what if…” and to think that my PVC-filled creations could be one day still be worth a fortune. But even if they were, I’m not sure I’d sell. There is something about holding on to something from your childhood.

Peace & Travel

As I write this, I am looking at a tie-died PVC-filled bear and one of the most famous Beanie Babies named “Peace” staring at me with its small black circular black eyes. Every time I look at it, I crack up a little.

Imagining myself in front of the computer loading the ty.com website hoping for updates, convincing my mother to drive us to The Hoot, orchestrating trades with strangers on the internet, filling envelopes with cash, and protecting my goods in fine glass cases awakens my inner child.

Over the last few years, I have been getting rid of most of my possessions. Every time I throw or give something away, it is a bit painful, but every time it sharpens the mind towards which things are worth keeping.

Through each move, the tie-dyed bear has survived the purge. I wasn’t really sure why I kept it, but I now realize that it captures a moment in my life in which I was dreaming big and filled with life.

While it was likely one of my first tastes of greed, it was also a first taste of putting a lot of energy into something that didn’t make sense. Something that was filled with silliness and fun rather than payback.

Next month, I’m doing something on a larger scale that doesn’t make much sense — moving across the world and starting a journey of living nomadically. The first ten years after college, I followed a path that made too much sense. I pursued prestige, status, and success and by all accounts was good at it. However, I lost connection to who I was.

Taking the leap to self-employment and exploring my creative side over the past few years, I have unlocked that silly side of myself I didn’t realize was locked away. Creating things that don’t seem to make sense. Writing to see what comes out (like this piece). Creating things on the internet without any intent to “scale.” Helping people without any expectation of payback.

As I travel and continue to learn as an adult, I hope to never abandon the playful and silly mindset to do things I am drawn to and sometimes without reason. Creation for the joy of creation. Silliness for the sake of being silly.

As I set forth across the world, I will be accompanied by my friend Peace.

---

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

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