Rethink Journeys Part III: How to be a great pathmaker
Why ambition isn’t ego
Dear Rethinkers,
I’m finishing this week’s newsletter on the Eurostar to Paris. Since I was a child, I’ve loved staring out of train windows watching the world roll by and seeing what thoughts bubble up. Today I realised this: I’ve never been afraid of the work it takes to figure out a path toward big creative goals.
It’s a deeply held belief that if you put in the hard work, you’re just as entitled as anyone else to be on that stage, represented by that agent, in that gallery, get that book deal or whatever it is you’re trying to creatively achieve. Don’t get me wrong, this is not easy when the playing field is so uneven. The arts are jammed with class barriers and forms of discrimination. It’s even harder when you’re leaping into a new field where you don’t yet have a network or reputation. But it’s doable if you learn how to be a great pathmaker.
And this is what Part III of Rethink Journeys is all about. Being a pathmaker is about more than just resilience. It’s about how you find a way through for your ideas. How you shape them, package them, and get them out into the world.
Not by waiting for permission (something I covered in Part I). Not by hoping someone will come along and pick you. But by learning how to share your work in a way that resonates, invites curiosity, and builds momentum.
If you’ve missed previous editions, Rethink Journeys is a four-part series for anyone carrying a creative spark and wondering/wanting how to turn it into something real. I’ve loved reading all your comments about your creative projects.
I’m forty-seven now. I’ve written books that have done well and many proposals that were rejected. I’ve taken creative risks in new ventures that have paid off and some that completely flopped. But there is one thing I find myself doing over and over again, and it’s the thing I’m most proud of: I'm never afraid to swing big and be creatively daring. I’ve realised there is a clear process I go through every time I do it. Here’s how I make paths…
