The Pathless Path with Paul Millerd

Latest Episodes:

Coworking That Works & The 10k Independents Project - Alex Hillman, Indy Hall Aug 21, 2019

Show notes

" coworking at its best isn’t an occupancy based business at all. If the only time your members can get value from their membership is when they’re in the room, you’re limiting the potential of your community "

Alex Hillman runs one of the longest running co-working spaces in the world - Indy Hall - in Philadelphia. He thinks the word "coworking" has lost some of its meaning and that many companies are running "spreadsheet businesses" rather than cultivating community.

"That level of dependence on a single employer is brittle at best and dangerous at worst. And that single source of 50,000 jobs being Amazon, who is notoriously one of the most ruthless businesses in the world, is the WORST worst way to generate those jobs. "

We also dive into Alex's working model of a new project, the 10k independents project. Hear about why he thinks self-sufficient independents are better than Amazon (I tend to agree)

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Should Everyone Have A Coach? (Ben Brooks, Founder of Pilot) Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

Years ago, Ben wrote that his personal mission statement was “to help people reach their full potential” and our conversation touches on this theme in many different ways. Ben is a former car rental pro turned consultant turned HR executive. His work in HR landed him on the cover of Human Resource Executive but instead of staying on the path to CEO he decided to carve his own path.

Our conversation touches on a number of issues including coaching, entrepreneurship, how his relationship with work has evolves, management versus leadership and what he wants written on his tombstone. Some other topics we touch on:

Ben’s motivation to work at Enterprise Rent-a-Car after college and what he learned
His early entrepreneurial “ventures” starting at 12 years old
How his mindset about work shifted as he became successful in the corporate world
His experience hiring working with an executive coach in his late 20s
His experience coaching and favorite exercises
Why companies are scared of trusting their people
Why being a manager is actually an incredible opportunity for people
The learning and ownership upside of carving your own path
The value of having advisors, friends of confidants to celebrate “wins”
Balancing life & work and his personal sustainability
Deciding to give himself a raise as an entrepreneur

Links Mentioned:

What coaches can do for you (HBR)
Pilot: Executive Coaching For Organizations
Ben Brooks Coaching
Connect with Ben: LinkedIn, Instagram & Twitter

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What living on a boat for 18 months can teach you about work & life (John Zeratsky) Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

John Zeratsky was a designer in the tech industry has worked with hundreds of startups in his time at Google Ventures. He’s also obsessed with redesigning time and thinking about what matters in life. Earlier this year he just got back from 18 months living on his boat "Pineapple" with his wife sailing around Central America, which he wrote about in an article titled “What quitting my job to sail around central america taught me about fulfillment.”

In this conversation we talk about:

Growing up in a small lake community
His love of sailing growing up
Why him and his wife change their mind on taking the trip in 2015
Rethinking convenience and comfort
What comforts are worth paying for
Belonging and community
How his relationship with money has changed
How him and his wife are structuring their life to work how they want
The one change that helps people be less addicted to their phones

Links Mentioned:

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Hannah Wei on her nomadic life, Muay Thai fights, Tinder experiments & community Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

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.

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

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Microadventures, Long-term Travel & Busking Through Europe (Alastair Humphreys May 22, 2019

Show notes

I talked to Alastair Humphreys after he had returned the previous night from a micro-adventure. It wasn't a four year biking trip or a challenging long walk across the desert (he's done that though!), but instead a short overnight camping trip with himself to re-connect with nature and his adventurous spirit. He helps others think about how they can design similar micro-adventures to find joy in the "5 to 9" rather than doing everything in service of the 9 to 5.

Links Mentioned:

Alastair Humphries
Subscribe to his newsletter "living adventurously"
His new book: My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering How to Live Adventurously Hardcover – May 30, 2019

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Dreaming, starting a tribe & living on an island with three kids (Ben Keene) May 15, 2019

Show notes

After attending a few corporate recruiting sessions, he didn't take for granted that his path was to enter the corporate world. Twenty years later, he is still carving his own path and has recently returned from Koh Lanta, where he lived with his three children in Thailand for the last six months.

We Talked About

Ben starting a "tribe" in Fiji
Early internet adventures
His experiences coaching people with career transition
The decision to move to Thailand with his three kids for six months
Using "no code" tools to start things like Rebel Book Club
How to think about a career in today's world
How finding a friend is one of the most important things to head in a new direction

Links Mentioned:

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Heather McGowan on learning, adapting & identity in the future of work May 08, 2019

Show notes

Heather McGowan is the most thoughtful writer and speaker I follow on the future of work. She is able to connect the dots between work, culture, society and identity in a way that has captured the attention of many individuals, companies and universities around the world.

Heather’s career is also a perfect example of the type of path and work that was not possible in the past. Reflecting on her path she admits “this field just sort of emerged.” As her career has shifted more towards speaking, she has been able to design her life around learning. Through her talks, she is able to get feedback and combined with her own curiosity, it helps her focus on what to learn next.

In the working world, she focuses on how we can think about learning and work in a more holistic way and traces many challenges back to education. She cites research from Gallup showing that: “while 74% of surveyed fifth-graders are engaged with school, just 32% of surveyed 11th-graders are engaged.” Perhaps some of that disengagement is because people aren’t too excited about their job prospects. She worries that organizations in the short-term are still too focused on productivity, which depersonalizes the experience of work. As work increasingly becomes specialized - she calls it “atomization” - she fears that we will increasingly only focused on “explicit knowledge” instead of the deeper tacit knowledge that makes us special.

Find out more about Heather's work here or follow her on Linkedin.

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Building A Company And Life Filled With Joy (Rich Sheridan, CEO) May 01, 2019

Show notes

Rich fell in love with coding as a child but lost that passion when coding just turned into a job in the late 1990s. As he looked around and saw everyone overwhelmed in his industry, he decided to take a different path. He co-founded of Menlo Innovations in 2001 with a personal mission to end human suffering in the workplace. He is also the author of two books Joy, Inc. and Chief Joy Officer.

Hear about his company has achieved gender diversity in the workforce, introduced pay transparency, embraces pair-working methods across all functions and other transformative principles.

Links/Books Mentioned

Boundless (Learn More Here)

A Mission-Driven Life & Career (Jerel Bonner) Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

Jerel calls himself one of the original "job-hoppers." While he never found a great fit in the corporate world, in the 1980s, he was inspired by Steven Covey to develop a "personal mission statement." He used this to shape his decisions in life.

In the early 2000's he decided to shake it up and headed to China for what turned into a 14 year journey of learning and adventure.

To learn more about Jerel click here.

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Boundless => Reimagine Work

How To Fill Your Morning With Purpose & Joy (Craig Kulyk) Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

I met Craig at a conference called The World Domination Summit and when he introduced himself he gave me a pack of tea with his business card on it. Everything he does is like this - packed with thoughtfulness and humor.

Craig is also the creator of the Morning effect, something he ended up being passionate about after going from someone that hated mornings to a morning advocate over the past 7 years. He defines the morning effect as:

"the principle that what you choose to do in the morning can have an amazing impact on other parts of your life. It leads you to get up and be productive, do more of the things you wish you were doing, and embark on your days already feeling accomplished. All of that is a HUGE win, but honestly, it’s just the tip of the iceberg…"

He’s experimented with 100 morning rituals over that time and now works with people to help them take back their mornings and find “another 20 hours” a week as he did.

His story is more than another “hustle” hack - its grounded on bringing more presence, joy and creativity to ones life and is why I hope you check out the podcast this week!

For More => The Morning Effect Boundless Page

Books/Articles Mentioned: