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Forte Labs Newsletter

Your Second Brain Was Always About Perspective

Published about 18 hours ago • 2 min read

Thank you to everyone who came out to meet me on my book tour in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.

For an author, there’s nothing like meeting readers in person. I heard real stories of how the annual review is showing up in your lives.

Some of you have done one for years in a row. Others are about to start their first.

Thank you for showing up, and for sharing your stories with me.

If you haven’t picked up Life in Perspective yet, grab your copy below.

It Took Me 4 Years to Connect These Two Ideas

A lot of you have asked me what my new book has to do with Building a Second Brain.

For years, I’ve talked about using technology to manage knowledge. Now I’m talking about journaling, reflection, and the annual life review. It can look like a complete departure.

I wasn’t completely clear on the connection myself. So I re-read Building a Second Brain cover to cover, for the first time since it came out in 2022.

The answer was hiding in plain sight. Passage after passage was quietly setting up Life in Perspective.

Last week, I added a fifth step to CODE: R, for Review. This week, I go back to the passages in my first book that pointed to it all along, from chapter 1 to the parting thought in the conclusion.

How to Reflect on Your Year and Plan the Next One (The Learning Leader Show)

I joined Ryan Hawk on The Learning Leader Show to talk about the annual life review and how I run mine.

We get into why I do almost no reflecting during the year, and why no system can tell you what you want, AI included.

The idea I’d start with is to treat every goal as a learning experiment.

My test is that you should be just as happy for the goal to fail as to succeed, because failure teaches you more.

How Parents Are Using AI to Lighten the Mental Load

The New York Times recently ran a piece on parents using AI to manage the mental load of family life. It brings up the idea of a Second Brain along the way.

Two numbers from it stand out.

In a survey by Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, two in three parents said AI reduced their mental load, saving them an average of more than 58 minutes a week. Menlo Ventures found that 84% of parents use AI in everyday life, from meal planning to paying bills, compared with 56% of nonparents.

Keeping a household running takes a lot of remembering. If you’re carrying that load, or know someone who is, the article is worth a few minutes.

If you have trouble opening this link, try this one, which might get you past the paywall or anything blocking the article.

Upcoming Events

  • AI Second Brain Meetup, Berlin, Germany · Thu, Nov 12, 7:00 PM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​
  • AI Second Brain Meetup, Sacramento, USA · Fri, Nov 13, 6:45 PM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​
  • AI Second Brain Meetup, Singapore (Science Park) · Sat, Nov 14, 10:00 AM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​
  • AI Second Brain Meetup, San Leandro, USA · Sat, Nov 14, 12:00 PM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​
  • AI Second Brain Meetup, Kleve, Germany · Sat, Nov 14, 4:00 PM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​
  • Implementation Session: Downscope to Done · Tue, Nov 17, 11:00 AM ET (Membership) · RSVP​
  • AI Second Brain Meetup, Brisbane, Australia · Wed, Nov 18, 5:00 PM local (Free, in person) · RSVP​

OUT NOW

Life in Perspective

A proven framework for reflecting on your past, understanding your present, and creating the future you actually want.

Tiago Forte

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Forte Labs Newsletter

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