The Pathless Path
Are you and your career on a default path or a pathless path?
Paul Millerd explores this question in his 2022 book, appropriately titled The Pathless Path. The default path is the traditional career route: formal education leading to a job in the same field, followed by steady steps up the career ladder. It’s a safe but also a predictable road. Maybe it's the kind of road many parents hope their children will follow.
Then there’s the pathless path. As the name suggests, it’s a career without a clear, pre-defined direction. It often involves self-employment but doesn’t have to. What it does involve is independence and a knack for adventure and uncertainty. The pathless path is like walking on a road that gets paved as you move forward — each step creates a new path behind you.
As I read this book, one question keeps popping up in my mind:
"Is my career a pathless path?"
Well, yes and no. In the beginning, it surely wasn’t. After graduating with a degree in computer science, I followed a clear, often traveled path. I worked at two software development companies, doing exactly what my education had prepared me for. A computer science student becoming a software developer is the very definition of the default path — paved and repaved by many others before me.
I could have stayed on that path for years to come, without any problems. But after about eight years, I began to sidetrack. My first deviation was becoming a learning and development advisor, while still at the same company. That side road eventually became more defined, leading me to my current role as both a high school and university teacher. It wasn’t something I planned, but it felt natural. It felt exactly like what I should do at the time.
Without realizing it, I had shifted from the default path to a pathless one, even before I came across Paul Millerd’s book. My recent dabbling with blogging feels like the perfect addition to this new phase of my career. It’s just one of the many directions that have opened up since my path became pathless.
The future on this pathless journey is unknown and exciting. I’ll keep following it, wherever it leads, hoping to leave behind the first traces of a new path for others to discover.