About To Launch my 2nd Book | #275

September 14th, 2024: Greetings from Austin. I’m enjoying the calm before the launch this week. Can’t wait to get this new book into the world :-)

+ My friend Jonny Miller is launching his next cohort of Nervous System Mastery. Jonny is probably the person I’ve learned the most from in the last six years on this path. Use code PATHLESS for $250 off: nsmastery.com

+Downshifting: My friends over at Downshift recently announced their Fall ‘24 decelerator, combining an in-person retreat with virtual workshops. I did a podcast convo with Matt and Steve earlier this year. You can learn more here.

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#1 Good Work: Ready To Go

Here’s how I describe the book on Amazon:

What if work isn't just something you do, but a portal to a life where you can feel fully alive?

In Good Work, Paul Millerd invites us to question everything we thought we knew about work. Paul traces his winding path through candid personal stories: from chasing elusive "good jobs," to desperately seeking escape from worldly responsibilities, to an unexpected discovery that changed everything. Sitting at a table halfway around the world, a profound question emerged: What if work doesn't have to suck? What if it can be the center of a life well-lived?

This isn't a book about climbing the corporate ladder or "crushing it" as a creator or entrepreneur. It's an exploration of what happens when you dare to question everything you've been told about work and its role in our life. Millerd shares his journey of opening himself up to questions like:

• What truly constitutes "good work" beyond a job?

• How might embracing uncertainty lead to fulfillment?

• What lies beyond "losing your edge"? Is there a new source of motivation?

• Can you prioritize family without sacrificing opportunity?

• What is the most ambitious life path? Is it external or internal?

What began as an escape attempt became a mission to redefine work. Good Work challenges conventional wisdom, offering not a step-by-step guide, but a companion for those brave enough to question the status quo and seek a more ambitious life path.

I locked my final edits on the book on Wednesday. I finalized the cover on Thursday.

On Monday, the digital version will be live and on Tuesday you’ll be able to buy the paperback version. Then the audiobook should be available a couple of weeks after that.

Here are some links if you haven’t had a chance:

If you want to buy it in a bookstore that’s possible too - you just need to call them and ask them to order a copy. If you want it in your library, just find their request form and most libraries will buy it no questions asked.

For now, I’m not doing a hardcover but may put one out in a couple of months.

So far I’ve gotten about 150 pre-sales, which is about 3x the first book!!!

How it feels

Right now I’m filled with an ever-changing mix of excitement, satisfaction, vulnerability, and gratitude.

I also feel at peace, like I already won. I feel great about finishing this book. It’s a complete success because the only goal (as always) has been to keep being able to do the work that matters.

When I started it in February, I was aiming at a certain energy. A vibe,

In the last couple of months, I read, revised, and rewrote the book 10-15 times. I wasn’t sure if I could land the plane.

A couple of weeks ago I finally had the sense that I was close. I knew I could ship the book and be happy with it but still felt as though something was off. Finally, after a couple of small tweaks last week, I knew it was perfect. It was the energy I wanted to capture. It’s done.

And now, things feel open. I haven’t spent too much time thinking about a launch strategy or anything. I have a few podcasts booked but I want to get it into the world first. Then I’ll see what is meant to unfold.

Much like the first book, it hasn’t been read by many people. I’m not a big fan of broad feedback. I write these books for myself first and foremost and people like me. I don’t want to please a general audience. Luckily, I have a handful of people I trust who have read it and offered great feedback. Special shoutout to Garrett Kincaid, Valerie, Michael Dean, and Angie Wang who all offered incredible feedback and are all amazing writers you should check out as well.

If You Want To Help

One thing I’m leaning more into in this 2nd book launch is being open to receiving support. In this book, I talk about my fear of stepping fully into my path and being comfortable with being ambitious about the things I like doing.

With The Pathless Path, I was still afraid to do this.

With this book, less so. This is the work I want to do and I do need your support to keep doing it.

If you have something to offer or have a fun idea, let me know here (as always, happy to send stacks of gift copies to people to share!)

More To Come…

I’ll tell you a bit more about the book writing process in the coming weeks, including some of the fun creative stuff, as well as talk about the book writing process.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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#2 Book Suggestions

Now that I’ve finished my book, I’ve been reading a ton, especially more “pathless path” type books, which I paused while writing this one. Two I enjoyed were:

The Way Home by Ben Katt: This is one of the most detailed journeys of personal transformation I’ve read. If you like my first book and writers like David Whyte or Bill Plotkin, you’ll enjoy this too. I have about 50 pages marked. One thing I appreciated was seeing someone who’s married with kids go through a life reinvention.

Little Giant by Marcia Heath: I found out about this book from Marcia herself after she joined my community. This book reminded me of Tuesday’s with Morrie in that it is a “double transformation” book. Marcia, after many years in the publishing industry and bouncing around other jobs is inspired to finally write the book she always wanted to write while meeting two entrepreneurs in Aruba who started a surf shop. I loved following the story of the two GenX’ers over the past couple of decades as they slowly built a lasting and meaningful community-driven retail store. At the same time, I was inspired by Marcia’s perspective, which is injected throughout the book both through her reflections and the subtle details of the design and style of the book. You could tell she cared about her art and the craft of writing. People like her inspire me to keep going! Learn more here.

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Hey! Thanks for reading…

I am not sure how you ended up here but might have stumbled upon me through my writing or podcasting on our relationship to work, a topic that has interested me for years.

If you don’t enjoy the writing, I strongly encourage you to unsubscribe below. There’s so much good stuff on the internet!! A reminder: I don’t check unsubscribe alerts and never look at my subscriber list. So if you feel like unsubscribing, you can do so below.

But if you do want to stick around:

1. If you’d like to meet others on “pathless paths”, you can join The Pathless Path Community

2. Buy or listen to my book, The Pathless Path. If you’d like to do a bulk order you can do that here for a discount.

3. You can buy pathless path swag like a hat or shirt here

4. Subscribe to my podcast and leave a review.

Home Swapping: We’ll likely be using Kindred a bit this summer. It’s a pretty cool home-swapping alternative to Airbnb. If you want to join, use my signup code.

5.5% Savings: Use this link to get 5.5% on your savings on Wealthfront and increase your runway on your pathless path

Affiliates: In addition, I recommend all of the following services: Ali Abdaal’s YouTube Course, Collective for setting up an S-Corp in the US (recommended >$60k revenue), Riverside.fm for HD podcasting, Descript for text-based video editing, Transistor for podcast hosting, Podia or Teachable for courses, Skystra for WordPress Hosting, and Circle for running a community.

Submissions: Want to share your journey with my audience? I accept drafts for submission.