On the pathless path, knowing you have enough is what gives you the freedom to say ‘no’ to clear financial opportunities and say ‘yes’ to something that might bring you alive and might even pay off much more over the long term.” When I became self‑employed, I was surprised at how strongly I had internalized a worker identity.” a mantra to reassure myself I would be okay (after spending the first 32 years of my life always having a plan, this kind of blind trust in the universe was new, scary, and exciting). Most people, including myself, have a deep desire to work on things that matter to them and bring forth what is inside them.”

ignoring the pull of needing to be a “good egg” and learning what truly enables you to thrive (what this really means is developing an appreciation for discomfort). The internet has made it possible for people from anywhere in the world with access to the internet to create and share their ideas, stories, and creations without permission.” study hard, get good grades, get a good job (then put your head down and keep going, indefinitely). After more than three decades of constantly planning for the future, I was able to start living in the present.”As I was growing up, work was such an obvious goal of life that I never paused for a moment to question it.”

Ikigai 2.0: A Step-by-Step Guidebook to Finding Life Purpose & Making Money Meaningfully (+ Bonus Workbook) worry is traded for wonder (people stop thinking about worst‑case scenarios and begin to imagine the benefits of following an uncertain path. No Rest for the Living” uses a dialogue between a despondent seeker and his master to reveal the limits of philosophy and the crippling consequences of living for the sake of some future goal. Who Is Really Happy” uses the discovery of a human skull on the roadside to probe into the question of immortality and how misery arises out of the existence of the ego.shifting away from a life built on getting ahead and towards one focused on coming alive (releasing myself from the achievement narrative that I had been unconsciously following). following a script (for most of my life, I had followed a script about how life should be, always trying to choreograph my future; I took classes with the sole intention of getting the best grade possible; I did not change radically as a person because nothing was at stake). My mother credits the health crisis I faced in my 20s for putting me on my current path. ‘It changed you,’ she says. While I don’t think it was the sole reason I left the default path, my illness did change my relationship to uncertainty.” Economist Daniel Kahneman found that ‘ the importance that people attached to income at age 18 also anticipated their satisfaction with their income as adults.'” (Note: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel also talks about how views on money are formed early in life)