The Way of Work

[Best-selling author Nick Maggiulli called this one of the best investment advice of the year]The harsh truth is that you either have leverage or someone else has leverage against you. You probably know what a "No Leverage" career looks like, but the biggest mistake is when people go into a "Low Leverage" career.Here, I define what a "High Leverage" career is, and 11 ways to progress into one.0:00 What is "Career Leverage"?3:33 The Obvious: "No Leverage" careers5:07 The Mistake: "Low Leverage" careers7:35 The Opportunity: "High Leverage" careers11:08 11 ways to increase leverage in your careerPart of my series: "Work in Progress: How do you build a career?"👉 The original essay: https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com/p...👉 My essays: ⁠⁠https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com⁠⁠👉 More about me: ⁠⁠https://www.rickfoerster.com⁠⁠Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who helped build and grow a company from zero to $2B+, then left that life to start writing. He writes about meaning, identity, and reinvention @ The Way of Work. His debut novel is coming soon — a post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite.The Way of Work is essays on meaning, identity, and ambition for people who suspect work can't deliver what it promised — without the hustle-guru nonsense.

Remember the ending of The Truman Show? The storm, the wall, the door, the saying, the bow. Inspiring, right?

Well, when it comes to reinventing yourself as an adult, I make the case that the escape is the easy part. The part nobody films (what happens after you walk through the door) turns out to be most of the transition process.

So the time, the money, the pain of the escape... is it all worth it?

Part of my series: "How to Be Irrelevant: creativity and identity after the hunger to be impressive wears off"

👉 My essays: ⁠https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com⁠

👉 More about me: ⁠https://www.rickfoerster.com⁠

Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who helped build and grow a company from zero to $2B+, then left that life to start writing. He writes about meaning, identity, and reinvention @ The Way of Work. His debut novel is coming soon — a post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite.

The Way of Work is essays on meaning, identity, and ambition for people who suspect work can't deliver what it promised — without the hustle-guru nonsense.

Stills from The Truman Show (Paramount Pictures, 1998). All rights to the original footage belong to their respective owners.

(a GREATEST HIT from The Way of Work)We mock the midlife crisis: red convertible, leather jacket, a bunch of bad decisions. But underneath the cliché is something worth taking seriously... an opportunity for reinvention.In this episode, I make the case for taking your midlife crisis seriously instead of laughing it off, or suppressing it down, like you've always done. The real crisis may not something to avoid, but to something to need.Part of my series: "Existential Explorer: Ideas at the Edge of the Map"👉 The original essay: ⁠https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com/p...👉 For more essays: ⁠https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com⁠👉 More about me: ⁠https://www.rickfoerster.com⁠Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who helped build and grow a company from zero to $2B+, then left that life to start writing. He writes about meaning, identity, and reinvention @ The Way of Work. His debut novel is coming soon — a post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite.The Way of Work is essays on meaning, identity, and ambition for people who suspect work can't deliver what it promised — without the hustle-guru nonsense.

3 years ago, I had every reason to start a company. Experience, investors, a war chest, and a Notion doc with 100+ ideas I'd spent years building. Instead, I wrote a post-apocalyptic novel.

This essay is about the road I prepared for, then didn't take. I cover:

• The Notion doc full of company ideas that still exists, still waiting...
• Why the "obvious move" can feel like a trap
• What happens when you disappear from the identity everyone expected you to keep
• The people who walk away when you choose the weird road — and the ones who don't

👉 For more essays: https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com👉 More about me: https://www.rickfoerster.com

Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who helped build and grow a company from zero to $2B+, then left that life to start writing. He writes about meaning, identity, and reinvention @ The Way of Work. His debut novel is coming soon — a post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite.

The Way of Work is essays on meaning, identity, and ambition for people who suspect work can't deliver what it promised — without the hustle-guru nonsense.

From the top of one world, to the bottom of another.

At the age of 40, I stepped away from a high-status corporate career to start writing.

This essay is about the drug of prestige — what it feels like to chase it, lose it, and realize you still want it back. I cover:

1. The "high" that comes with validation and status

2. How you get hooked on prestige

3. The withdrawal that comes when you lose your status

4. The desire for new status in new domains

👉 For more essays: newsletter.thewayofwork.com

👉 More about me: rickfoerster.com

Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who helped build and grow a company from zero to $2B+, then left that life to start writing. He writes about meaning, identity, and reinvention @ The Way of Work. His debut novel is coming soon; a post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite.

The Way of Work is essays on meaning, identity, and ambition for people who suspect work can't deliver what it promised — without the hustle-guru nonsense.