The Only Learning Tool You Need?

Last chance to apply for Cohort 3 of Second Brain Enterprise.

Applications close tomorrow, Wed. Oct. 22, at midnight Pacific. The cohort starts on Oct. 27 and runs for 5 weeks. 44 organizations have already enrolled.

Bob Diekema, Partner & Financial Advisor at Langschied Financial, shared about the program…

“The transformation was immediate. Instead of getting generic business advice, I now get responses that reference our actual 80-85% close rates, our specific team capacity constraints, our compliance requirements, and our systematic processes. I’ve essentially created a business consultant and thought partner that knows my company as well as I do, available 24/7.”

Not sure it’s right for you? Try the first week—which includes three sessions—and if it’s not the right fit, we offer a full refund.

Apply Now

NotebookLM 2025: The Only Learning Tool You Need

If you’re buried in articles, PDFs, and research but can’t find time to actually use what you’ve saved, NotebookLM’s updates solve this.

In this video, I’m demonstrating 5 features using real examples from my book project:

AI-generated presentations from my sources
Mobile app for learning anywhere
Expert-curated collections you can instantly use
Built-in source discovery
Mind maps that reveal connections you’d otherwise miss

This works whether you’re studying for exams, researching for a project, or trying to make sense of information you’ve collected.

NotebookLM is completely free and, unlike ChatGPT, it works specifically with your sources to give you personalized insights rather than generic answers.

Watch on YouTube

Overwhelmed By a Project? Don’t Try to “Boil the Ocean”

During one of our monthly Q&A sessions in our Second Brain Membership, I talked to a wonderful older gentleman facing a daunting project:

Relocating decades' worth of memories and belongings to a new home.

It seemed impossible, draining his energy and leaving him unsure where to even begin.

His situation perfectly illustrated what I call “boiling the ocean” – the trap of treating everything as equally important. It’s a common pattern I see:

Organizing every photo you’ve ever taken
Digitizing all your journal entries
Sorting through each item you’ve accumulated

These massive undertakings share a crucial flaw: they fail to distinguish between what truly matters and what doesn’t.

The solution: Apply the classic 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle). Ask yourself, which 20% of the items will bring 80% of the value?

But here’s the real challenge (and why many of us get stuck “boiling the ocean”): We’re afraid to make these value judgments. Treating everything as equal feels safer than deciding what to keep and what to let go.

Remember this: Avoiding these decisions doesn’t make them easier – it just postpones the inevitable. The sooner you start identifying what truly matters, the sooner you can focus your energy where it counts.

Learn How to Write Great Fiction

Most writers spend decades “practicing” without real progress. The problem isn’t effort—it’s the lack of deliberate, structured feedback.

This Thursday, Oct. 23, my friend Tim Grahl (CEO of Story Grid) is hosting a free live training just for Forte Lab readers on how to use science-backed deliberate practice to go from guessing to actually improving your writing—fast.

It’s called How to Write a Novel You’re Proud to Publish—in 2 Years, Not 20.

If writing a novel has been on your bucket list, this is the most practical starting point I’ve seen.

Save Your Spot

Note: This workshop got rescheduled from last week, Oct. 16.