Hey everybody,
Here’s another batch of actionable insights to start your week off right, so you can be more intentional with how you live, work, and create.
Let’s get started.
Insight 1: Growth requires discomfort
One of the unintended (but awesome) side effects of the first cohort of Intentional Life Design is that students are starting to create content around insights they’re discovering about themselves and what it means to be intentional with how they live, work, and create.
In this article, Karaminder Ghuman dives into why wrestling with deeply existential questions about ourselves and what we ultimately want—and pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone—is the path to personal growth.
Insight 2: Embrace uncertainty
Growth lies at the edge of uncertainty, but we’re wired to avoid what we can’t anticipate.
“Instead of having a difficult conversation, we’ll stay in a crappy situation for longer than we need to.
Instead of putting our art out into the world, we’ll hide it in the safety of obscurity.”
— Leo Babauta
So how can we practice embracing uncertainty to reap the rewards on the other side of it?
In this article, Leo Babauta walks you through a quick exercise to help you get comfortable doing the uncomfortable.
Insight 3: Escape the Default Path
We’re all familiar with the Default Path: Work hard, optimize for a consistent paycheck even if it means working a miserable job, then maybe one day you’ll be able to afford a house with a white picket fence, then retire at 65 and live off your pension until you die at 80.
There’s gotta be a better way, right?
Paul Millerd calls this the Pathless Path. It’s about optimizing for freedom and fulfillment, and embracing the uncertainty of blazing your own trail.
“The possibilities for creating different kinds of work, and working in different ways—working remotely, part-time, flexibly—are so much more than they were even like 10-20 years ago. But we don’t have a script or way of orienting to the world to unlock those possibilities.”
— Paul Millerd
Check out this episode of the Modern Wisdom Podcast, where Paul sits down with Chris Williamson to dive deep into why the Pathless Path is gaining popularity with entrepreneuers.
Question for the Week
What would you gain by embracing uncertainty or discomfort?
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Until next time—memento mori,
Corey Wilks, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Executive Coach
Website: https://coreywilkspsyd.com/
Course: Intentional Life Design