profile

Forte Labs Newsletter

Why Building a Second Brain Isn't Enough Anymore

Published 2 days ago • 2 min read

Quick reminder that I’m hosting a free workshop this Thursday, October 2, at 12 pm ET (view in your timezone).

I’m teaching you some of the powerful frameworks from our Second Brain Enterprise program.

Such as…

  • The 4 stages of business evolution — why Stage 1 businesses depend entirely on the owner's time and energy, while Stage 4 businesses "run themselves with AI"
  • Why process is the secret to AI evolution — the counterintuitive reason you must document everything before you can automate anything
  • The 3-Part Iterative Cycle we use to help businesses concretely identify and act on their biggest opportunities for AI augmentation, in a way they can continue pursuing on their own
  • Why “DIY AI” keeps you stuck, and how to escape the trap of never-ending learning
  • Examples and case studies of transformational experiments our participants have achieved after completing our program, to spark your imagination

Life Update: Ambitions after 40, AI Second Brain Pivot, Parenting

After a year living in Mexico, I’m sharing what’s really changed for our family…

From the surprising ways our kids became bilingual in 9 months to how small-town life dissolved my American relationship with time.

Plus updates on Second Brain Enterprise and why psilocybin therapy made me rethink ambition at 40.

An Extraordinary Voyage Worth Considering

Last winter, I went on an incredible voyage to Antarctica with Future of Space. You can read my reflections here.

The landscapes were stunning, but what stayed with me were the late-night conversations with world-class minds like Neil deGrasse Tyson and William Shatner.

This November, they’re doing it again in the Galápagos.

Same format, different location: 100 people aboard a private charter with luminaries like astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro, and filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi.

It’s not cheap, and it’s not for everyone. But if you’ve been looking for a truly transformative experience, this might be worth exploring.

The focus isn’t tourism. It’s conversation and collective discovery.

To learn more, reach out to co-founder Daniel Fox at dfox@futureofspace.io.

Book Recommendation: Sovereign by David Elikwu

I’ve been following David’s newsletter The Knowledge for a while, so I was excited to dive into his first book. Sovereign delivers on what I love about his writing: practical wisdom without the usual self-help fluff.

The book tackles a problem we all face: how to live with intention in a world designed to scatter our attention.

David weaves together Stoicism, neuroscience, and hard-won experience from building startups across multiple continents. What I appreciate most is his honest approach. He’s clear that there are no shortcuts, just better frameworks for thinking and choosing.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by options or stuck on someone else’s definition of success, this book offers a thoughtful path forward.

🧠

Build your Second Brain

​Join BASB Foundation →​

🧰

Create a system for productivity

​Join Pillars of Productivity →​

👥

Join the global community

​Join the Second Brain Membership →​

Tiago Forte

​

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

Build your Second Brain with Tiago Forte

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

Every day, there’s a new tool, a new headline, a new promise that AI will revolutionize your business. But here’s what we learned from working with over 100 companies over the past few months in two cohorts of Second Brain Enterprise: AI doesn’t solve business problems—it exposes them. The businesses winning with AI aren’t the ones with the best tools. They’re the ones who understand their operations clearly enough to know where AI can actually help. Most companies are trying to add AI to...

9 days ago • 2 min read

Yesterday, we wrapped up the second cohort of Second Brain Enterprise. Over five weeks, our co-facilitators, Julia Saxena and Dale Meador, guided leaders from 58 organizations through our EMPOWER Operating System. Each participant built a comprehensive Master Prompt that transforms AI from a generic assistant into their personal strategist. Here’s what Joshua Steil, CEO of The Credit Brothers, had to say… “Second Brain Enterprise was the wake-up call I didn't know I needed. How I thought...

16 days ago • 2 min read

This month in our Second Brain Membership, we’re tackling one of the top productivity killers every knowledge worker faces: meetings that drain energy instead of generating progress. Your calendar says you’re busy, but your projects say otherwise. We’re going to change that by showing you how to design and run meetings that actually drive action, clarify objectives, and foster real collaboration. Here’s what our team will explore in the weekly Office Hours: 9/9: How to Make Your Meetings 10x...

23 days ago • 2 min read