Welcome to The Uncertainty Principle. I’m, as always, recording from my only slightly soundproofed annex in Transylvania, where we are having the mother of all booming roadworks at the moment, so excuse the potential sound of demolition in the background.

Today, we’re cracking open the myth that the safest road is the one everybody else walks. We explore what happens when you trade the bird in your hand for the potential two in the bush, and the well-trodden path of prestige for genuine curiosity. Spoiler: the world (usually) doesn’t end. We also talk about being parents with strange jobs, the creator economy, money, feeling “safe”, and much more.

Paul Millerd is a former McKinsey-trained consultant who traded strategy decks for independent writing, podcasting, and (most recently) hands-on fatherhood. His self-published book The Pathless Path has become a cult guide to defying default scripts around career, money, and status.

00:00 Why “default” feels broken

09:30 Status games & the Moat of Low Status

18:45 Ambition, authenticity, and inner fire

28:10 Parenting on the pathless path (a.k.a. Baby Jail

)37:20 Money, frugality, and owning less stuff

46:55 Caregiving scripts vs. creative work

54:40 Tiny experiments: learning to just do things

01:00:20 Book recs, role models, and closing thoughts

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