The author shares three pivotal stories—from getting off a university waitlist to landing a GitHub job and owning a soccer club—to show how unsolicited outreach opened doors. He admits most cold emails go nowhere but argues the handful that work make it worth trying, as long as you’re genuine and respectful. He also pledges to keep his inbox open to pay it forward.

• CMU only admits 1–10% of waitlisted students, but an unsolicited extra essay from Holman got him in
• A bold cold email to GitHub's cofounder led to an on-the-spot hire, since a $60k junior role was low risk for the startup
• A cold Twitter DM turned into part-ownership of a soccer club, which later led to a stake in a Serie A team
• He only remembers the cold outreach attempts that worked, not the ones that failed, so survivorship bias shouldn't discourage trying

Pascal grew up without money, connections, or a map, and spent years believing others simply had more talent. He realized that lacking a safety net forced him to commit fully, rebuild from zero, and develop grit few ever experience. This article reframes disadvantage as the source of resilience and boldness that can’t be bought.

• Successful role models like Gates, Buffett, and Hormozi all had hidden safety nets (private school access, a stockbroker father, a doctor father) that made their starting lines unequal.
• Being forced into total self-sufficiency at 16 (living alone, no financial backup) sharpened Pascal rather than breaking him.
• Having nothing to lose made him fearless in situations like cold-calling in a foreign language, outperforming those with more to protect.
• People with head starts often carry invisible restraints (pride, safety nets, unwritten rules), while those starting from zero build grit and improvisational skill that can't be bought.

Cate Hall's new book, "You Can Just Do Things," offers practical advice on overcoming mental barriers that limit personal freedom and potential. Hall shares her late-in-life journey to understanding agency, aiming to help others discover the same.

• Cate Hall's book "You Can Just Do Things" releases July 21 via Harper Edge, focused on breaking self-imposed mental barriers to personal agency.
• Hall's advice stems from her own late-in-life discovery of personal agency, not abstract theory.
• Tim Urban (Wait But Why) has endorsed the book.

Longevity in a job comes from following your skills rather than just your passions. To maintain success and avoid burnout, it's essential to manage energy and prioritize personal well-being alongside work commitments. Taking vacations and engaging in family and creative activities are crucial for sustaining both professional and personal happiness.

• Following skills you're actually good at leads to more sustainable career satisfaction than chasing passion alone
• Managing energy, not just time, is key to avoiding burnout over the long run
• Regular vacations and non-work activities like family time and creative pursuits are necessary to sustain long-term professional success

Life is inherently filled with problems, and achieving certain goals won't eliminate them. Instead of chasing solutions to escape challenges, learning to accept and navigate these problems can lead to a more fulfilling life. Embracing difficulties allows for personal growth and the capacity to find joy amidst struggles.

• Solving problems doesn't eliminate problems—it just trades old ones (like money struggles) for new, equally stressful ones (like managing wealth).
• Achieving personal goals like quitting drinking or finding a partner reveals new difficulties rather than delivering a problem-free life.
• Buddhist philosophy's "84th problem" concept describes the extra suffering we add by resenting that problems exist at all, separate from the problems themselves.
• Having problems signals active engagement with life, so accepting them—rather than chasing their elimination—opens the door to genuine contentment.

Shift focus from rigid goals to transformative behaviors for a more adaptable career path. By identifying what to stop, keep, and start, you can create a more effective and fulfilling approach to personal and professional growth.

• Rigid goals rest on assumptions about an uncertain future, making them a fragile basis for career planning—behaviors you control are more reliable
• The "Stop, Keep, Start" exercise reframes growth: drop deprecated habits like overworking, protect core stabilizers like relationships and health, and add new challenges
• Treating career development as continuous behavior modification rather than one-time goal-setting builds more adaptability into a changing professional landscape