Finding Perspective at the Edge of the World

You’ve seen others using AI to get more done with less effort, and you’re wondering, why not me?

AI is quickly becoming an anchor for many systems and tools, making it essential to understand how to use it effectively.

This month in the Second Brain Membership, we’re fully dedicated to making AI work for you.

Here's what our team will explore in the weekly Office Hours:

8/5: Your Personal Master Prompt - Learn how to create a comprehensive context document that transforms AI from a generic assistant into your personalized strategist, operator, and decision-making partner.
8/12: AI Tools Showcase & Selection Guide - Join an exploration where we demonstrate our favorite AI tools across different use cases and learn how to pick the right tools for your specific needs.
8/19: Prompting Mastery - Understand different prompting approaches and walk away with proven frameworks you can immediately apply.
8/26: Making AI Your Second Brain's Best Friend - Discover how to integrate AI into your existing system and workflows, turning it from an occasional tool into an indispensable thinking partner.

Join the Second Brain Membership

(You'll also unlock instant access to everything we've covered so far—past themes, Office Hours, expert workshops, and more.)

Finding Perspective at the Edge of the World: 10 Days in Antarctica

I watched a towering iceberg split in half with a thundering crack while crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica.

What started as a space exploration conference on a cruise ship became something much more profound.

In December 2024, I traveled alongside astronauts, astrophysicists, and explorers to one of Earth's most alien environments.

The experience completely transformed how I approached my annual review – and might change how you think about your goals, too.

In this blog post, I attempted to capture what happens when you gain perspective from the edge of the world.

Read on the blog

The Three-Bucket Method for End-Year Planning

With just five months left in 2025, it's time to get ruthlessly clear about what actually matters.

Here's a simple three-step process you can use if you feel scattered across too many things to do:

Brain Dump: Make a list of everything you want to accomplish through December. Don't filter—just capture it all in your notes app.
The 3 Buckets: Sort your list into “Must Happen” (non-negotiable outcomes), “Should Happen” (important but could slide to 2026), and “Could Happen” (nice-to-haves).
Pick Your Top 3 Priorities: Then rewrite each as a clear outcome statement with what will be accomplished, by when, and the desired result. For example: "Complete client onboarding system redesign by October 31st so new clients can get started within 48 hours."

Now, the real magic happens when you block time in your calendar immediately for these top priorities. Treat them like meetings with yourself!

Take 10 minutes today to complete this exercise.

Then reply and tell me: What are your top 3 must-happen priorities for the rest of 2025?

How Forte Labs Masters Multi-Launch Strategies

Our General Manager, Julia Saxena, joined AMS Summer School to walk you through the ins and outs of how we manage multiple product launches.

She draws from her experience spearheading the launches of self-paced courses, memberships, books, and live cohorts here at Forte Labs over the last 4 years.

Perfect for anyone looking to launch something new or breathe fresh life into existing offers.

Check out also all the other expert talks that Alt Marketing School has put together.

Check out Summer School

Make Time for Big Ideas

I’ve always loved learning from books. But after having kids, finding uninterrupted hours to read just isn’t realistic anymore.

That’s why I turn to Shortform — it delivers thoughtful, in-depth summaries of the best nonfiction books, so you can absorb big ideas without missing the substance.

You’ll find titles like Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, plus an ever-growing library spanning topics like career, psychology, leadership, and creativity.

Why I recommend Shortform: