TL;DR
The Good Trade published a first-person essay about leaving a rental home after its author felt it no longer fit, despite having once seen it as an ideal achievement. Drawing on coach and author Megan Hellerer’s idea of “directional living,” the writer argues for choosing a next step that feels aligned rather than relying on a fixed long-term goal. The account is personal, not evidence that the approach works for everyone.
The Good Trade has published a first-person essay in which its author describes deciding to leave a rental home she had once regarded as an ideal achievement, after adopting coach and author Megan Hellerer’s idea of “directional living.” The approach, as Hellerer describes it in the interview included in the article, focuses on taking the next step that feels personally fitting without requiring a fixed destination or long-term plan.
The writer says she had previously doubled her income as a consultant and moved into a two-bedroom home she loved. She used its second bedroom to host visiting friends, including a close friend who lived with her for six months. After several years, however, she began to feel ready for a different setting. She writes that she initially pushed that feeling aside because the home seemed like the best option on paper and friends appreciated it.
In the essay, the writer recounts listening to Hellerer’s audiobook, Directional Living, during a walk. Hellerer’s account of holding a high-level job at Google while feeling burned out prompted the writer to reconsider whether she was staying in her home because it still suited her or because it represented a past idea of success. She says spending more time with family and her boyfriend felt like a directionally right next step, even though she did not know where she would live afterward.
The author reports giving her landlord 30 days’ notice and feeling relief. She describes the decision as restoring a sense of peace, rather than resolving every question about her future. The piece then presents an interview with Hellerer, who contrasts goal-driven planning toward a known endpoint with making decisions based on an inner sense of direction.
Choosing Steps Without a Fixed Destination
The essay speaks to readers who feel caught between a life they once wanted and an uncertain next chapter. Its central point is not that goals are always harmful, but that a goal can stop reflecting a person’s needs while still appearing successful to other people. The writer’s housing decision shows how that tension can surface in an ordinary choice: whether to keep a comfortable home or act on a persistent sense that it is time to move.
Hellerer’s framework offers a way to think about decisions when the larger plan is unclear: identify a next step that feels aligned, then reassess as circumstances change. That may be useful as a perspective for people weighing work, relationships or living arrangements. The article, however, is a personal account and an interview, not independent research establishing that directional living produces better outcomes or is suitable for everyone.
From a Dream Home to a New Chapter
The essay’s change of direction follows a period when the writer’s home seemed to represent a major personal achievement. She describes furnishing it carefully and using the extra room to strengthen friendships. The later feeling that the chapter was complete did not come from a reported problem with the property; it came from a change in what she wanted from her life and environment.
Hellerer describes the alternative to what she calls “destinational” living as moving without knowing the final destination. In the interview, she uses an image attributed to writer E.L. Doctorow: driving at night, where headlights show only part of the road ahead, but the journey can still continue. The comparison explains the idea’s emphasis on limited, immediate visibility rather than certainty about a whole life plan.
““Instead of asking ‘Where do I need to end up?’ the question becomes ‘What is the single next directionally right step?’””
— Megan Hellerer, as quoted in The Good Trade
What the Essay Cannot Establish
The account does not say where the writer moved after leaving the house, how the move affected her finances or work, or whether she later found a longer-term plan. It also does not provide a date for the decision or the article’s publication. The essay offers the author’s experience and Hellerer’s perspective; it does not test directional living against goal-setting or establish that either approach leads to greater fulfillment across different people or circumstances.
The Next Step Remains Open
The writer says she planned to spend more time with family and her boyfriend while working out what came next. The article does not report a later housing decision or a follow-up on those plans. Its next step, as described, is deliberately unresolved: act on what feels fitting now and make further decisions when more becomes clear.
Key Questions
What does directional living mean?
In Hellerer’s account in The Good Trade, it means choosing the next step that feels aligned with a person’s own sense of direction without first deciding on a fixed final destination.
She says that, after several years, the house no longer felt right for her, even though it had once seemed ideal and had no reported practical problem. She decided to act on that feeling after considering Hellerer’s ideas.
Does directional living mean people should stop setting goals?
The essay presents Hellerer’s approach as an alternative to requiring a specific destination and reverse-engineered plan. It does not establish that everyone should abandon goals or that goal-setting is ineffective.
What happened after the writer gave notice?
She reports feeling relief and says she intended to spend more time with family and her boyfriend while considering her next steps. The source does not say where she moved afterward.
Source: thegoodtrade.com
