Hello from (stupid hot) Los Angeles!

Welcome to the 22 new subscribers since my last email!

Before we get to this week's article, I have exciting news. Well, mildly terrifying for me, but also exciting. I’m launching my first-ever e-book!

Become A Content Curator: Turn Your Passion Into A Valuable Audience is dropping very soon.

Here’s the cover as it stands right now (I’m still playing around):

The Rational Flâneur: Embracing Optionality

I once flew to Ireland for a weekend.

My wife and I showed up at the airport in Toronto expecting to fly standby to Paris, but the flight was full (merde!). So we hopped on the only other flight with open seats - the flight to Dublin.

We had no plan. Barely any luggage. And just six Guinnesses each on the plane. We then went on to spend two incredible days exploring the city at random, taking recommendations from the locals we met by chance, and making decisions based on the information we had at that moment.

The trip was crazy, exhausting, and one of the highlights of my life.

I didn’t know it then, but I had become a Rational Flâneur.

Unlike the tourist who’s stuck in a schedule, the flâneur embraces uncertainty. They alter their course easily based on new information. They keep their options open.

That’s the power of the Rational Flâneur. And you can use this idea to embrace optionality and capture upside in your life and work.

Read Now

If you screw up: admit your mistake, commit to being more careful next time, and just move on.

I got something really wrong this week.

David Perell tweeted here about Good Will Hunting. I retweeted it with a comment I thought I had right: that the screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men) claimed in his second book that he wrote Good Will Hunting.

Someone called me out in the comments saying Goldman said “the exact opposite.” I went back to check the book, and he was right. There is a section where Goldman says he wrote all of Good Will Hunting - but he was being sarcastic!

A few paragraphs later, Goldman says Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote it all. I totally misremembered (good thing I wrote about how just because you’re certain, doesn’t make it true)

I admitted the mistake, thanked the person for calling me out, and deleted the tweet. It’s that simple.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of admitting you were wrong. Mistakes happen. Correct them and move on.

And sorry to my wife who went on to repeat the bad piece of gossip to everyone she knows.

Have a great week!

-Thomas

P.S. You’re an all-star. Go get it.