Dying Breed Dialogues: Cate Hall on Elevating Your Agency

Discovering your edges in life, increasing your surface area for luck, and a song that captures the ethos of agency

One of the ideas I think a lot about is agency — the ability to act and not be acted upon.

Agency seems to be having a moment right now in our culture. Lots of people are writing about how to be “high agency” and the like. One of the most thoughtful voices I've encountered on this subject is Cate Hall, a writer whose personal journey really embodies agency in action. As someone who overcame a drug addiction and pivoted from being a lawyer to becoming a professional poker player to writing about human agency and potential, Cate’s insights are backed by earned experience.

In her upcoming book on agency, Cate argues that agency is a capacity that isn't a fixed trait — it's a learnable skill. She calls agency "the ability to see the hidden doors in the walls of life."

I talked to Cate about what agency really means, how it differs from ambition and hustle culture, and why she believes it may be one of the most important human skills in an age of artificial intelligence.

We also explored practical ways to develop the skill of agency, like "courting rejection," "increasing your surface area for luck," and embracing being low-status. Plus, Cate shares the insights on agency she gleaned from her recovery from addiction, why willpower is overrated, and the best books and music about agency.