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Great post. Made me think a lot about the connotation I carry in my mind about the terms “work” and “hard work”, which oddly the latter feels far more positive whereas the former feels like a rote chore. Very much looking forward to reading / listening to the other parts in this series.

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Matt - thanks for your note. I agree with you... I spent a lot of time dissecting these words that I used so commonly (also "ambition" is another big one for me). And just putting them on paper to understand what I really mean by them has helped.

Plus, you kinda realize you can define them however you want!

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As someone who had an exit, and has been in a transition phase for 2 years, I really like this series. Esp this article as I have an Asian mom who wonders why I’m not working and how I can be a semi-retired 30year old.

Same vein as Second Mountain and Strength to Strength.

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Thanks for putting me in great company! 2nd Mountain especially was a game-changer for me in my own transition.

Navigating parental influence is a tricky thing, especially if they have a certain ideal they hope you fulfill. Never easy.

If you had an exit, you may also enjoy my series: 'The Other Side of Enough' where I interviewed people who never had to work again.

Series here: https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com/i/149175100/series-the-other-side-of-enough

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You are right. Why does the conventional hard work gets the credit, while Story #2 call it pause or semi-sabbatical gets downplayed? We just have to look to nature to get some insights. Nature goes through the different seasons - There's spring sprouts so there's also autumn leave shedding. A season for renewal and for letting things go while we get ready for the next chapters. :)

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100% on point there. I've come to see most of these things as seasonal and evolving (e.g. hard work, ambition, productivity, purpose).

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I’m kind of alone on this hill, but I have personally benefitted from keeping the label of “work” to that constrained “for other people/for money” definition and “labor” for that other type of less tangible, still difficult activity and change and reflection you talk about. And I get very clear that the former isn’t “evil,” but should be subordinate and in service of the latter.

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That's a good way of looking at it. And another example of making the definitions your own!

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