As my money anxieties receded, I realized I wanted to go deeper. Not with freelance work, but in my life. In those first six months, I experienced a remarkable sense of freedom and ownership over my life. Most days I decided when, where, and how I worked.” the deliberate pursuit of a positive version of freedom (figuring out what to do with freedom once we have it is one of the biggest challenges of the pathless path). But the Church’s expectations had always provided a way to measure “goodness,” and for many, these benchmarks no longer applied.

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.” The need to feel useful is a powerful one. This is the hidden upside of the pathless path and a reason why finding work that aligns with what matters to you and makes you feel useful is so important. When you find the conversations you want to take part in and the work you want to keep doing, you start to feel necessary and the whole world opens up.” Paul mentions shifting away from a life built on getting ahead and towards one focused on coming alive. The intent is to shift our focus on realizing our deep desires to work on things that matter and bring forth what is inside them.Paul navigates the recruitment processes for various companies by attending networking events, landing interviews and ended up taking an offer with GE. When I became self‑employed, I was surprised at how strongly I had internalized a worker identity.”

I was physically present but detached. Rather than participating in meetings as a good team member, I observed them as a visiting anthropologist.” Factors that support meaningful lives, like economic growth across all sectors, a young population, two-parent households, generous pensions, and company loyalty were anomalies of the past, as O'Shaugnessy points out. When making your content or pursuing your creative outlets. Remember to remind yourself who your core audience/supporters are. Once you work this out you should focus in on what makes your content great for your target audience.

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We must try to live our lives to what we are capable of, not just the ones other think we should live. We are living in a time when it’s possible for more and more people to design a life in which they can thrive. Yet many look at that possibility and say, “no thanks,” because it means discomfort, uncertainty, and a higher risk of failure. While yes, on the surface this is the case, non-duality ultimately points to the underlying interconnectedness of everything. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh refers to this as ‘interbeing’– or, the fact that one thing cannot exist without the other. Ikigai 2.0: A Step-by-Step Guidebook to Finding Life Purpose & Making Money Meaningfully (+ Bonus Workbook) creativity is more of an active choice and creative output is fuel (the removal of gatekeepers means that for the first time it might take more energy to deny your own creative expression than exploring it; the creative act is one of the most sacred things in the world and should be taken seriously in itself and not with any expected outcome).