Jonathan Fields

Until next time, I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project.

So Tom Rath was diagnosed with a fatal illness at 16, average life expectancy 34.

When we spoke, he was 50 years old already.

But it was his 40th birthday that became the real turning point when he asked himself, did I choose this life or just go along with the current that's already running?

Tom has spent decades studying how careers shape well-being, authoring 12 books with over 10 million copies sold.

His latest is What's the Point?

Turning Purpose into Your Superpower.

In this conversation...

We explore the inherited ambitions that we carry without even realizing it, why the latter is the wrong model for a life well-lived, and what purpose looks like when you stop waiting to find it.

I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Goodbye Project.

And I want to start at the very beginning with Tom.

We'll jump in there right after this short break.

I have been following your work for quite a while.

I'm always fascinated to hear your take your lens on how to investigate big transitional moments in life.

I want to take a step back in time, though, because you have lived with an awareness of your own mortality since your mid-teens.

So, you know, this is probably a longer term exploration for you than it is for so many others.

Can you take us back there and share a bit of the story about how this awareness dropped into your life?

Yeah, I mean, that's so interesting.

Like this thing that was set in motion for you at 16 years old, getting you to look at the world a little bit differently, but also ask a different set of questions and also just be very acquainted with your own mortality from the earliest days, even in your mind saying, okay, I'm doing a bit of research.

The over-under, as you described it, or the potential, like the quote, average endpoint is 37 years old.