YOU CAN JUST DO THINGS:
HOW HIGH-AGENCY PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY WANT OUT OF LIFE
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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR YOU CAN JUST DO THINGS
“Millions feel stuck in a rut in their lives—preprogrammed and unable to change. In You Can Just Do Things, Cate Hall has the answer. Through small, decisive actions, you can take control of your life and live the way you want.”
Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Strength to Strength and Build the Life You Want (with Oprah Winfrey)
“You Can Just Do Things is a guide to building life on your own terms. Cate Hall—former top-ranked poker pro, biotech founder, and unlikely nonprofit CEO—dismantles the myth that success follows a fixed path. Through raw personal stories and innovative strategies, she introduces the high-agency mindset: A way of seeing hidden possibilities, making fast bets, and acting with radical ownership.”
Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit
"Building something new is hard. But it doesn’t have to be miserable. In You Can Just Do Things, Cate Hall lays out principles for navigating uncertainty, learning from failure, and staying resilient without burning out. It’s refreshing to read a book so ambitious and humane at the same time."
Ali Abdaal, New York Times bestselling author of Feel-Good Productivity and the world’s most-followed productivity expert
“A vivid reminder that a meaningful life isn’t something that happens to you—it’s something you author. You Can Just Do Things is more than just a title; it’s a radical shift in perspective that challenges us to take full responsibility for our own potential. A must-read for anyone tired of their own ‘stuckness.’”
Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone
“The biggest obstacle to change is in the mind: the mistaken belief that trying is pointless or too hard. Cate Hall elegantly demolishes this barrier with stories drawn from her own experiences. She ably demonstrates that we all have a role to play in what she calls 'the great collective improvement project of humanity.' You Can Just Do Things is essential reading for anyone who wants to be part of that grand project."
Eric Ries, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible and founder of The Long-Term Stock Exchange
“Without realizing it, many of us are living within a prison of our own making—one whose bars are made of delusional assumptions about what is and isn’t possible. You Can Just Do Things is a prison break instruction manual—a wildly empowering how-to guide for getting out of your own way so you can realize your true potential.”
Tim Urban, creator of Wait But Why and bestselling author of What’s Our Problem?
“Cate Hall reminds us that momentum beats mastery, and courage is built by doing, not waiting to feel ready. You Can Just Do Things challenges the polite lies we tell ourselves about readiness and risk and replaces them with movement.”
Jenny Wood, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Courage
FROM THE PUBLISHER
YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT SUCCESS COMES FROM CAREFUL PLANNING, LEARNING THE ROPES, AND EARNING ONE PROMOTION AT A TIME. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO SKIP ALL THAT?
We all know a few rare individuals who never stop moving, taking wild risks, and collecting public failures, yet somehow always seem to land on top. Cate Hall is one of those maddening, inspiring people. She left an elite legal career just before making partner to gamble for a living — and became the world’s top-ranked female poker player. A drug addiction left her broke and brain-damaged, but a year after emerging from it, she co-founded a biotech startup that set a clinical trial speed record. Not long after, she took the helm of one of the world’s largest philanthropic foundations.
Why don’t the rules apply to her? What if they don’t apply to you either?
In You Can Just Do Things, Cate argues that the so-called “rules” of success aren’t rules at all — they’re productivity guidelines for low-agency people. Cate shows readers how to live with agency and take control of your future:
Increase your surface area for luck
Take every shortcut available
Build “forcing functions” that ensure commitment
Use your deepest insecurities as fuel for growth
Are you ready to cross the cringe minefield? To show up where you don’t belong, call people who aren’t expecting it, and risk looking foolish in front of others? Every time you think, “Somebody should do this,” that somebody can be you.
An uncomfortable psychological journey and a toolkit for bold living, You Can Just Do Things reveals how to stop waiting and start building the life you want.