When I started out, I decided that writing articles and (later) books would be my promotion. And that works OK, and I've enjoyed lots of things about it. But looking back, I realized that if I had done some kind of direct promotion as a consultant instead, my life might have been a lot different. It's not clear to me that it would have been more satisfying, however. Maybe yes, maybe no. The only way to find out is to reboot the simulation.