Don’t worry so much about what everyone else is doing. Don’t listen too hard to “experts” or people with seemingly enviable job titles. Do your reading. Do the work. Find your talents. Find your niche in the market.

This is why communications matter. 1.) We create a story that explains our own choices: I did not merely move abroad; I escaped a crude country for a more enlightened life. 2.) We repeat that story publicly until it becomes part of our identity.

The lesson for policy organizations is distribution is not just publishing more of your own content. You must be an active participant in an intellectual ecosystem.