“A profound passion project that brings joy and meaning to life.” It is transformational rather than transactional, something chosen rather than imposed.

A way of looking at life through the lens of meaning, fulfilment, contribution and what comes next. Not simply having a passion project, but developing the awareness to recognise why you might need one.

The formative phase. Foundations, influences, education, experimentation, early passions and learning the rules of whatever game you have chosen to play. The book associates this phase with the what.

The achievement phase. Career, mastery, building, competing, accumulating and proving yourself. The how years. Necessary, often exhilarating, occasionally all-consuming.

Cornerstone → Keystone → Capstone. The architectural arc through which the book examines a career and life. Not everyone follows it neatly. That is rather the point.

The evolution beyond fixed and growth mindsets towards using your abilities for the wellbeing of others as well as yourself. The shift from wanting to be best in the world towards becoming best for the world.

The space between chapters. Borrowed from Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the book uses bardo to describe an intermediary state between life's journeys, where pausing rather than immediately doing can create the conditions for genuine transition.

Possibly the most expensive word in the book. The point at which the question changes from “How do I get more?” to “What do I strive for next?”