What You’ll Take Away
◆ Why stressing about perfect choices is a waste of energy and how every opportunity taken, passed on, or missed still moves you forward.
◆ The real story of how I almost joined Netflix right after their IPO, let ego get in the way, and ended up exactly where I needed to be anyway.
◆ Why the detours and zigzags in your career are not distractions but directions, and how trusting that changes how you make decisions.
The Netflix Interview I Blew on Purpose
Years ago, I was deep in interviews for a role at Netflix. Early Netflix. Just after their IPO. The opportunity would have taken me out of Toronto and dropped me into Los Angeles long before I ever imagined living here.
But I did not give the interview my all. My heart was not in it.
The role focused on deals with independent movie studios, and at the time, I was negotiating with major studios and big name networks. To me, it looked like a step down. It was all ego. I could not see past the title to recognize the trajectory.
I was so focused on where I was that I missed where it could take me.
And yet, here I am. Living in LA. Working in tech and entertainment. Doing work I love. It all happened anyway. Just not the way I expected.
Every Door Leads Somewhere
That is the thing about opportunities and experiences. They are not always about the title, the prestige, or even the timing. Sometimes the “right” one does not reveal itself until much later. And sometimes the missed ones still lead you exactly where you need to go.
Every yes, every no, every maybe, and every failure. All of it counts.
We stress so much about making the perfect choice. We agonize over whether this is the right move, the right company, the right moment. But the truth is that your career is not a straight line. It never was. It is a series of decisions, some brilliant, some terrible, all of them contributing to where you end up.
The Netflix story taught me something I carry to this day. You can miss an opportunity and still arrive at the destination. The path just looks different than what you imagined. And sometimes that different path gives you experiences, relationships, and perspective that the “obvious” path never would have.
Trust the Zigzag
If you are in one of those moments right now where you are not sure if the opportunity in front of you is the right one, let me save you some anxiety. It does not matter as much as you think it does. What matters is that you keep moving. Keep saying yes to the things that excite you, even when they scare you. Keep learning from the things that do not work out. Keep trusting that the detours are not distractions.
The zigzags are not mistakes. They are directions you could not have planned.
They are directions.
Community Challenge
This week, think about one opportunity you passed on that ended up being the right call in the long run. Or one you took that seemed wrong at the time but led somewhere unexpected. Write it down. Share it if you are comfortable. There is power in looking back and realizing that the path made sense all along, even when it did not feel like it. Two keywords to carry with you:
TRUST / DETOUR
Dan Page