In August of 1998, when I was 14 years old, my parents pulled my three siblings and me out of school, packed up our house and our bags, and left the country. Instead of starting 8th grade in the wealthy suburb of Laguna Niguel, I would be attending a public school in a working-class neighborhood…
This is a compilation of all the personal annual reviews I ve published as well as other writing I ve done about my long term vision and goals I ve also included articles I ve written about how to make such periodic reviews more effective including annually mid year monthly and weekly
In October 2023, I took part in my first Ayahuasca ceremony. I had heard about the substance and its effects for years when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I didn’t want to do it in some random apartment in Oakland. I wanted the “real” experience. I had always thought that meant…
This year feels like an especially major milestone, for a few reasons. First, because it officially marks 10 years that Forte Labs has been in business. In June 2013, I left my consulting job with plans to work on independent projects for a couple months before seeking my next one. Little did I know those…
One of the most common sources of confusion I see in the world of productivity and self-improvement is a failure to distinguish between beginner-level advice and advanced-level advice. In any given pursuit – tennis, chess, jiu-jitsu, painting – there is a hierarchy of skills that you have to acquire one by one to progress. More…
Around the time my first book Building a Second Brain came out in June 2022, I started looking for a speaking coach. I had just delivered my first keynote to a large audience at World Domination Summit, followed soon thereafter by my Google Talk. These experiences had been not only fantastic promotional opportunities but fulfilling…
I recently completed one of the most powerful exercises I’ve ever invented for delegating aspects of my work to others. After hosting an insightful weekend retreat with other founders last month, some of whom had significantly larger businesses than mine, I realized I was ready to take a major step I’d been contemplating for some…
I recently hosted our first-ever in-person mastermind, unanimously dubbed “The Wholesome Mastermind,” at a retreat center in Ojai just north of Los Angeles. I’ve been interested in masterminds for years, but the ones available never seemed quite right for me – whether because of the travel requirements, the format, or the kind of people who…
I don’t pay much attention to my investment portfolio, but I watch my meaning portfolio like a hawk. A meaning portfolio is your collection of “meaning assets” – the reasons you get out of bed in the morning. They are the sources from which you derive your sense of purpose, fulfillment, self-worth, and ultimately, happiness….
It doesn’t have to be a huge project. It doesn’t have to be well-funded or prestigious or public. But it does have to draw something out of you so unexpected that it changes your conception of who you are. The kind of creative project I’m talking about creates an unmistakable inflection point in your life….
This month will be the last time I teach a cohort of Building a Second Brain. After teaching 6k graduates in 16 cohorts over 6 years, it’s time to pass the torch to new instructors who will take over from here on out. Here’s why I’m making this decision: At every point in my journey, I’ve been surprised…
Over the past few weeks, I did something I’ve never done before: I read through all my old journals going back 10 years. I’m not a hardcore journaler, as you can probably tell by the fact that only 7 notebooks cover a full decade of my life. Journaling is more of a crisis intervention tool…
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