Chelsea Turgeon spent over a decade on the medical path—psychology undergrad, med school, OBGYN residency—before hitting rock bottom and realizing she was living someone else's dream. She quit mid-residency, sold everything she owned, and bought a one-way ticket to South Korea to teach English. With no savings and no clear plan, she figured it out as she went—first trying travel blogging, then discovering coaching, and eventually building a business helping other healthcare professionals escape the system and find work that actually fits them.

In this conversation, we get into:

• How to know if you're on the wrong path vs. just going through a rough patch
• Look at the people furthest along—are they living a life you actually want?
• Why she chose medicine for the wrong reasons (and how to avoid that trap)
• The questions that cut through overthinking: "What are you done pretending to care about?" and "If I couldn't mess it up, what would I do?"
• Why most people already know what they want—they're just intimidated by their own calling
• The concept of a "career bridge" to buy yourself time to figure things out
• Why false starts aren't failures—they're part of the path
• "Don't look for clarity. Look for aliveness."

Chelsea now coaches clinicians and healthcare professionals who want to build their own healing businesses. She's active on LinkedIn and Substack (The 100K Healer).

Where to find more information about Chelsea
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachchelsmd
$100k Healer Substack: https://100khealer.substack.com

JJ Thelen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffthelen
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jjthelen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjthelen

Paul Millerd quit his job with no source of other income.

He moved to Asia without a plan, without knowing what he was doing, and intentionally gave himself permission to get lost.

What followed wasn’t a linear career pivot or a perfectly executed plan.

It was a long period of exploration, writing, freelancing to pay the bills, and slowly realizing that the only work he consistently cared about was writing. At first, the writing was just something he loved doing. Then people started asking if it could be turned into a book. That book became The Pathless Path.

Today, Paul has built a life centered around what he calls good work—work that energizes him, gives him time, and fits the kind of life he wants to build with his family. Freelancing and consulting fund the journey. Writing is the work he would never give up.

In this conversation, we talk about:
- Why getting lost can be necessary
- How changing your environment changes how you think
- The difference between good work, good-enough work, and bad work
- Why Paul designs his life around time, not status
- How The Pathless Path came from craft, not strategy
- What it actually looks like to leave the default path without forcing an outcome

This episode is for anyone who feels stuck in “good enough” work and knows there’s something else they’re meant to do—but doesn’t yet know how to get there.

Paul Millerd
Personal Website: https://pmillerd.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PaulMillerd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pathlesspaul
Pathless Path: https://geni.us/HvqKy (Amazon)
Pathless Path (new premium hardcover): https://shop.pathlesspath.com/products/pathless-path-hardcover
Good Work: https://geni.us/D5D08 (Amazon)

JJ Thelen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffthelen
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jjthelen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjthelen

What happens when the “safe” path isn’t safe at all?

In 2008, Patrick McGinnis had the dream job—traveling the world, investing in emerging markets, climbing the ladder. Then the financial crisis hit. His company collapsed, his identity cracked, his health broke down, and suddenly the career he built his life around was gone.

In this conversation, Patrick shares the moment he realized no one was coming to save him, and how he rebuilt from the ground up—regaining his health, negotiating a more flexible life, redefining leverage, and eventually becoming the creator of the “10% Entrepreneur” and the originator of FOMO.

We talk about:

• Why “safe” careers can be the most dangerous
• How to know when you’re stuck vs. when you’re scared
• The role of health in major reinvention
• Finding leverage you didn’t know you had
• Escaping FOBO (fear of a better option) and decision paralysis
• What most people get wrong about quitting vs. creating options
• Why optionality—not blind risk—is the real path to freedom

If you’ve been stuck in “fine,” waiting for the perfect moment, or telling yourself you’ll change your life “once things calm down”… this episode is a wake-up call.

Patrick McGinnis
Website: https://patrickmcginnis.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickjmcginnis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-mcginnis
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fomosapiens
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7gVsjLCgWggzjUl5GtFUOs
The 10% Entrepreneur: https://geni.us/p7Q3 (Amazon)
Fear of Missing Out: https://geni.us/JILPp (Amazon)

JJ Thelen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffthelen
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jjthelen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjthelen