Graduation & The Pathless Path

💰 “A person is successful if they are rich, have a high-profile career, or are well-known.”

Do you agree with this? If it doesn’t sit quite right with you, what about this definition?

🛣️ “A person is successful if they have followed their own interests and talents to become the best they can be at what they care about most.”

Better? If you prefer this over the first, you agree with 97% of Americans¹. But ask the same people how they think others define success, the answers flip - 92% think everybody values money and status:

Apparently, status doesn’t matter to anyone. But it does to everyone else. Huh?

So there I stood two weeks ago, getting a piece of paper while wearing a funny hat (Yup, I graduated 🙃).

Two degrees at 22 - time to celebrate, right? After all, these pieces of paper come with status. But behind the grin lies a lot of uncertainty & insecurity.

After graduating, there’s a default path to perceived success:

Master's Degree → Junior → Senior → Score.

However, the world we graduate into is ridiculously volatile. Structures that worked wonderfully for my parent’s generation lose relevance in the face of “New Work”. On the one hand, that's pretty scary. But on the other, it opens the door to a different path.

Maybe I can experiment? Dabble with writing on LinkedIn? Move to different countries? Build a portfolio instead of a linear path? Author Paul Millerd calls this the Pathless Path.

Basically, trade certainty & status for curiosity, trial & a lot of error. But as it turns out, no one cares about status anyways. And even less about mine. Hello again, Spotlight Effect.

Now, I recognise the freedom to forego certainty is an immense privilege. Some people have others to support, so this “I’ll make it work somehow” attitude is much harder to justify.

But for those that have been blessed with this privilege, it’s worth asking the question. A traineeship might still be the way to go - but make it a conscious decision.

This is what's been on my mind. And obviously, I don’t have the answers yet.

Either way, I'll take the next six months to read great books, write (hopefully) tolerable posts & connect with people. And what comes next is, by design, uncertain. Stay tuned :)

PS: This is the part where I thank the incredible human beings that constantly supported & challenged me throughout the Uni journey. You know who you are, and I've told you I love you many a time. As cliché as it sounds, I'd be absolutely nothing without my friends. Thank you.

PPS: ¹ - Here's the link to the 2019 "Success Index" Survey: https://populace.org/successindex