After five years of weekly essays, I'm done with the weekly part. I'm not replacing it with another schedule.
Why?
There’s more in motion than I can write about right now, and most of what matters isn’t publishable anyway. That’s the honest answer.
Writing weekly is a habit I’m proud to have kept. But a deadline makes you publish what’s ready rather than what’s worth keeping, and it’s started complicating your experience instead of improving it.
Content is fickle. The pull is to be everywhere, all the time, and also to write things that last. Those two work against each other. You’re senior leaders—already inundated. I’d rather respect your attention than compete for it.
As much as I like to hear myself talk, the truth is you don’t need my writing every Thursday.
You need it the night a recruiter calls—or the hour someone asks for a number and you don’t have an answer ready. When the market feels foreign and you need a keen eye you can trust.
I’m writing the book Predetermined.
That’s where those weekly hours are going.
I’ll still send occasional updates by email, including new work going to YouTube and the latest podcast appearances. Some of you learn better watching and listening to someone think than reading them think, and I’ve been ignoring that for years.
Five years of weekly writing produced a lot of pieces. Fewer and better ones would serve you more.
A small team is helping me consolidate the archive into a smaller set of guides built around the moments you need them most—the recruiter call, the ask for your comp number, the offer sitting in your inbox. Material that I’ve been sitting on for years goes in; work that repeats itself comes out.
The thinking stays mine.
Paid subscriptions stay as they are. What sits in front of the paywall and what sits behind it may change as the library takes shape—I'll tell you before anything changes.
Thank you for supporting my family and mission.
And these two. Mostly these two.
Ready to discuss your career? Request an engagement.
Stay fearless, friends.
Totally understand that, that part about how being in that editorial mindset can complicate being able to actually be in the moment. Maybe republish an old article each week for those who just found you?
Jacob! Congratulations on committing to your next project. I’m so excited for you, and equally excited to read your book. I also started a book project myself recently and fully appreciate the time it takes. I chose to partner with a ghostwriter because well, I would like to actually have a completed book in my lifetime!