August is here! And we’re getting close to opening enrollment for cohort 2 of The AI Second Brain on Aug. 26.

The cohort runs Sep. 17 through Oct. 8: three weeks oflive sessions with eight alumni mentors leading implementation labs, each bringing a different specialty and background to the table.

We’re updating the curriculum based on everything we’ve learned and what’s changed in AI in the last half year.

And if you want more time with me directly, we’re adding a Premium tier with weekly small group coaching.

Stay tuned for more info and mark your calendar for August 26.

From Diapers to Deadlines: My Life Update

Twice a year, I stop and give you a video update on my life and my business.

This time: welcoming our third child, Angel, a finished book, and a moment during my mid-year review when Claude told me something about my own life I hadn't put into words yet.

Here's the full story.

Teach AI What You Value

In this week's YouTube video, I touched on the topic of values at the very end, and I want to expand on it here.

You probably have values, even if you've never sat down to name them. Maybe you did the exercise once, in a workshop or a journal, and the list is sitting somewhere you haven't opened in months.

Naming them isn't the hard part. Keeping them in front of you is.

That's what changes with a master prompt: the running document of context and preferences you give an LLM like Claude, so it knows how to work with you. Most people fill it with the practical stuff: writing style, tone, how they like information formatted.

My point: your values belong in there too.

Once they're in your master prompt, the LLM can do two things a static list never could:

1. Remind you: It can surface your values in the middle of a conversation, not just when you go looking for them.
2. Check your decisions against them: Ask "does this fit what I value?" before a big choice, and it can tell you where you're consistent and where you're drifting.

Try it this week: Open your master prompt and add three to five values in plain language, not corporate mission-statement language. Then bring it a real decision you're weighing and ask if it fits.

What did it tell you? Reply and let me know.

Your Company Gave You Claude. Here's the First Thing to Do

I want to shout out Danielle Matarasso, who writes the Substack “AI After Carpool”, for laying out how to build a personal Second Brain inside Claude.

She suggests three short files – your company, your role, and your voice – before you ask it to do any real work. Skip that step, and you're stuck editing generic answers.

Her walkthrough is clear and practical, done in a few short sessions. Worth carving out the time this week.