Ask My Second Brain Anything


I've been hinting at this for a while. Now it's official.

The AI Second Brain is coming.

It's a new live cohort that I'm teaching personally, running from April 15 to May 1.

Here's the idea: your notes, your files, and your hard-won knowledge are already valuable. But with the right system wrapped around them, they become a system for compounding knowledge.

I’ve been teaching people how to build such systems for a decade now, but AI has utterly changed how quickly, effectively, and easily you can do so.

This isn't another "get started with AI" course. It's about building a personalized system that makes every AI interaction more useful, because it's powered by your context.

I'll share all the details soon.

If this is something you've been waiting for, click here to join the interest list so you're first to know when enrollment opens.


Ask My Second Brain Anything (Public NotebookLM)

We get hundreds of questions every day. More than anyone on my team could ever answer.

So I trained NotebookLM on 68 sources (my books, every blog post, every video on our YouTube channel) so it can answer your Second Brain questions directly.

Everything it knows comes directly from my work, not the internet at large. In this video, I'll walk you through exactly how it works.


Why Missing Out Might Be the Goal

You know that nagging feeling that something important is passing you by? A new trend, a breaking insight, a must-read article. That's FOMO (the fear of missing out), and it feeds on the belief that you need to stay on top of everything.

You don't. And here's what changed things for me: I started filtering information through my current projects.

Instead of consuming broadly, I ask one question: Does this move my active work forward right now?

If the answer is no, I let it go. Not forever. Just for now.

That's how FOMO becomes JOMO (the joy of missing out). That doesn’t mean cutting yourself off from information. Just choosing what gets your attention based on who you are and what you're working on today.

Three ways to practice JOMO this week:

  • Before opening a new article or video, ask: "Which of my projects does this support?"
  • Unsubscribe from one source that creates more noise than clarity
  • Notice when you're consuming out of anxiety vs. genuine curiosity

Your action step: Pick one of those three and try it today. Then reply to this email and tell me what shifted. I read every response.


The Difference Between Claude Code and Cowork

Anthropic now offers two AI tools that can both control your browser and access your local files. But they work very differently.

One is the easy option. The other is the power option.

In this post, I break down the key tradeoff most people miss: how each tool actually navigates the web (and why it matters for speed and reliability). I also cover where Claude Code pulls ahead on token efficiency, real-time control, and complex tasks.

Plus, my recommendation for which to start with and when to level up.


It's Getting Real

I just got the printed manuscript of Life in Perspective in my hands for the first time. There's something about holding your book as a physical stack of pages that makes it hit different. It has weight now, literally.

We're in the final editing stages, hunting down missing commas and polishing every last detail before it goes to print. It's been years in the making, and it's almost here.

Here's what I want you to know: pre-orders open on March 10.

Mark that date. The book will be published in November, but this is your chance to be one of the first to get it. I'll share more details soon, including how to pre-order and what you'll get when you do.

🧠

Start building your Second Brain

​Join BASB Foundation →​

🀩

Create a system for productivity

​Join POP →​

πŸ“š

Organize your digital life

​Get the PARA Method →​

Want to opt out of the newsletter or receive this email on a different email address? ​
​Update your preferences​

Want to stop receiving emails from us completely?​
​Unsubscribe from everything. (Use with caution!)

5318 E. 2nd St. PMB 36973, Long Beach, CA 90803

Forte Labs Newsletter

Level up your productivity and life with new essays, videos, event invites, and other resources every Tuesday. Join 125k subscribers exploring the frontier of modern work, experimenting with new ways of doing more with less, and discovering what it means to fulfill our human potential. 100% free and 100% useful!

Read more from Forte Labs Newsletter

Three years ago, I stopped teaching Building a Second Brain. AI had changed too much to keep going with a clear conscience. I spent that time going deep on AI, rethinking how personal knowledge management works in this new era. What I found: the biggest bottleneck isn't the tools or the prompts. It's context. Your AI doesn't know your projects, your standards, or the decisions you've already made. That insight is the foundation of our new program, The AI Second Brain. It’s a 3-week intensive...

The day is here! My new book Life in Perspective: The Art and Power of the Annual Life Review is now available for pre-order. It comes out on Nov. 3 in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. This book distills nearly two decades of practicing annual reviews into a process that helps you make sense of where you've been and get clear on where you're going. It's the book I've been wanting to write for the longest time. And it's the one I'm most proud of. If you've ever felt like the year just slipped...

This month in our Second Brain Membership, we're tackling one of the biggest reasons Second Brains get cluttered: capturing too much. It's easy to fall into the trap of saving everything that seems interesting. But more notes don't mean more clarity. They mean more noise, more overwhelm, and a system you stop trusting. We're going to fix that by helping you define what's actually worth capturing, so your Second Brain stays focused on what matters most. Here's what we'll work on in the weekly...