Hello, this is Celeste and welcome to the Letters for Creatives newsletter. Subscribe for free to receive tips and resources on writing, creativity, Interview With an Artist and Interview With a Creator series.

Previously on the Interview With a Creator series:

Alisa Bacon on her digital garden and creative process

Danny Miranda on getting starstruck by his podcast guests

I have been reading Paul’s newsletter since last year. He left his corporate job in the US and has been on his pathless path, writing and connecting with other people on a similar path, as creators or solopreneurs.

His newsletter and his published book The Pathless Path have been giving me much wisdom and advice in finding my way to my pathless path. His book has been selling like mad and it is selling close to 20K, which seems wild as he self-published it on Amazon. You can find Paul on Substack, his podcast and Twitter. You can now order his book The Pathless Path on his website.

Congratulations on leaving the default path, publishing The Pathless Path and becoming a dad! How does it feel so far?

That is a lot of things to congratulate me for! I am guessing you are asking about being a dad.  Right before this, my daughter was sleeping on my chest for an hour and it was pretty fantastic.

It is really hard to understand how good having a kid feels until it really happens, so I would say I am really enjoying that right now and just staying very open to what I should be doing with my time.

Do you have any plans or ideas for the next three years, in terms of enjoying life, parenting, prioritizing to spend time with your family?

This is very much an emerging question. A lot of people have kid scripts and they try to nail down their life after having one kid.  They think that having a kid comes with the need to buy a house and so on…

For us, I think we have realized we just don’t have that impulse and are also just trying to stay in the moment. It is interesting how many people ask you questions about school, work, daycare, even college once you have a kid.

Neither me nor my wife are people that need concrete plans and life paths. We are both people that like to challenge ourselves and I think we will likely continue to travel and live in a few different countries soon again. Overall, I would say my priority is family and I will see how I can fit work around that. I am not really sure how I will do it yet but time will tell.

I guess most people have the notion that having kids cost a lot of money. I think it depends. It definitely costs much more than when you don't have a kid.

But it may take some time for capitalism to disappear and another system to surface, which hopefully is better for people's mental wellbeing and overall life satisfaction.

I think people, who say having kids is expensive, is a cope. What people are really saying is ‘I want a fancy life, nice home, cars, and ideally private education for kids and college’.

Right now, formula and diapers are really not all that expensive. Plus, we live a pretty simple life and don’t spend a ton and don’t have luxurious aspirations. It is very clear that we will do whatever to meet our daughter’s needs. The key is ramping down our own desires first.

If you like this interview series, feel free to subscribe to receive future interviews. Share this with your friends on Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or Email to get your paid subscription for free.

• Get 1 month free for 10 friends who subscribe

• Get 3 months free for 30 referrals

• Get 6 months free for 45 referrals

Or become a paid subscriber if you can’t wait to read the rest of Paul’s interview with 17% off before 6Aug.

How does it feel to see people getting inspired by your book and taking actions towards creating their own path?

Yeah, it has been wild. I am definitely surprised by how well the book is doing. I didn’t have major expectations. I was declaring selling 1000 books a grand achievement and now we are getting close to 20K.

It is so amazing that people have resonated with my story and been able to gain confidence in their own paths. I really do care about seeing people thrive. Far too few people aim at it in today’s world and it is a shame.

This week challenge:

To start fresh and get back to the routine of creating and writing this year, there would be a creative or writing challenge every other week. You can see the first 5 challenges below. The remaining challenges for 2023, creative or writing resources would be accessible for paying subscribers.

Challenge 1-5

Previously for paid subscribers: Challenge 6-9

This week for paid subscribers:

1. Paul’s process writing and self-publishing The Pathless Path

2. His typical day after quitting his corporate job

3. How he approaches work and money as a digital nomad

4. Paul’s challenge for you

I love seeing people get all excited when their dreams, like publishing their first book, came true. It gives me more energy to keep doing my own thing.

Do you have any advice for people who are aspiring to quit their corporate job and start their own thing?...