Flow is one of the greatest sensations in work and in life.

But it’s not something that happens to you. It’s something you engineer.

Here's how. 👇 Step 1: Pick one clear, specific task.

"Work on project" tells your brain nothing.

"Draft the first three slides" gives it a target.

Flow hates vagueness. Clarity is the raw material.

Every AI pitch promises the same thing:

Do more in less time. Finally get to the important stuff. Work less.

New research from Berkeley followed real workers for 8 months.

That's not what happened. 👇 UC Berkeley's Haas School embedded researchers inside a 200-person tech company from April to December 2025.

Two days a week, on-site. 40+ interviews.

They published their results in Harvard Business Review, February 2026.

You're probably good at earning money.

You're almost certainly bad at spending it. Scholars like Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton spent years studying how to spend money in ways that boost our well-being.

Their finding: it's not the amount that drives happiness. It's the allocation.

Five questions predict whether your next purchase will actually matter.

We all work mightily to look competent on paper…
…but we still can struggle with basic life skills.

Like apologizing without making it worse.

Or remembering a name 60 seconds after hearing it.

We obsess over credentials. We neglect competence.

Here's the list of “how tos” I wish someone gave me earlier. 🧵👇 1. Apologize properly

Feel it. Own it. Repair it.

"I'm sorry I missed the deadline. That's 100% on me. How can I make it right?"

And never say "I'm sorry, but..."

That's not an apology. That's a defense.

Your best ideas don’t come when you’re working.

They show up:
• In the shower
• On walks
• Half-asleep

That’s not a flaw. It’s a clue. 👇 We’ve been sold the wrong model:

“Focus harder → get better ideas.”

Reality:
Focus helps you finish ideas.
It rarely helps you find them.

The headlines are relentless.
AI seems posed to outthink many of us.
So what do humans do?

Twenty years after writing A WHOLE NEW MIND about the rise of right-brainers, here’s my initial answer:

Double down on six human skills. 🧵👇 1. Questioning

We used to have search engines.

Now we have answer engines.

When answers get cheap,
questions become priceless.

Great thinkers don’t deliver answers.
They generate better questions.

If you don’t think differently in 2026, you’ll fall behind.

These 11 books will change your perspective and accelerate your performance. Now. 🧵 The Work of Art – Adam Moss

Struggling creatively? Good.

Struggle isn't failure. It's evidence you're doing real work.

The actual superpowers: patience + persistence. Not inspiration.

Steven Morris (Matter Consulting CEO) has advised 3,000+ leaders . . . including Google, Habitat for Humanity, Qualcomm.

His secret?

This dead-simple framework that cuts through analysis paralysis. Question #1: "What happens if we do nothing?"

Sometimes the best move is NO move.

One fintech waited. Competitors rushed in. They watched rivals burn $50M on bad tech. Then swooped in with a better solution.

Inaction ≠ weakness.

Your next big decision could make or break your career.

Harvard Business Review just dropped a framework that's saved executives from million-dollar mistakes.

Here are the 5 questions you MUST ask: 🧵 Steven Morris (Matter Consulting CEO) has advised 3,000+ leaders . . .

including Google, Habitat for Humanity, Qualcomm.

His secret? This dead-simple framework that cuts through analysis paralysis.

This one image can make you more creative than 99% of people. In 2004, psychologist Jens Förster ran a study.

Two rooms.

One decorated with neat, ordinary, symmetrical images.

The other with strange, broken, surprising patterns.

Participants were asked: How many unusual uses can you think of for a paperclip?

Want deeper trust and faster promotions at work?

Research shows it might start outside the office. New research (HBR, July 2025) reveals this insight:

When it comes to bonding with coworkers outside of work…

Where you connect matters more than how you connect.

Does getting tough ever boost performance?

Yes—but only up to a point. 🧵👇 The setup

Researchers analyzed 304 real halftime speeches from 23 high school & college basketball teams—then ran a follow-up experiment. Goal: see how a leader’s unpleasant affect (disappointment/anger/frustration) affects team performance.

Why not enlist an army of volunteer retirees?

National service shouldn’t be just for the young. The slow good news we miss:

We’ve added ~30 years to average life expectancy in a century.

But our lives are still a three act play: school → work → retire.

We tacked the windfall onto retirement and called it a day.

Could you teach the last book you read without notes?

If not, try these 7 retention techniques. Torture your book.

Crack the spine. Underline. Dog-ear. Scribble in the margins.

Books aren’t precious objects, they’re sparring partners. Engagement = memory.

Want to get more done?

Here’s the dirty little secret:

Do less.

If you want to achieve more of what matters, you need to master the art of prioritizing.

Here’s a 3-part playbook (that actually works): First: Start your day with your MIT.

That’s your Most Important Task.

Not your longest task.

Not your easiest task.

Not your most urgent task.

Your most important task.

Write it down.

Do it first.

Everything else can wait.

Want to stay motivated every single day?

Borrow a strategy from Harvard.

Then borrow another from stand-up comedy.

Together, they’re a powerhouse for momentum, motivation, and mastery.

Here’s how it works: Let’s start with Harvard.

Researcher Teresa Amabile studied 12,000 daily work diaries across 8 companies.

She wanted to know: What truly motivates people on a day-to-day basis?

What she found changed how we understand drive.

I used to think people made moral decisions by weighing both sides.

Turns out, that’s not how it works.

Not even close.

That’s what The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt taught me. We don’t start with logic.

We start with emotion.

A gut feeling.

A visceral reaction.

Then we call in reason not to explore truth, but to defend what we already believe.

Want better ideas?

Here’s the secret nobody tells you:

The best ideas don’t come from genius.

They come from a system.

A 3-step method backed by research and used by bestselling authors, top creatives, and innovative entrepreneurs. Step 1: Generate

The only way to have a good idea?

Have a LOT of ideas.

Not 3. Not 10. More like 100.

Great ideas are a numbers game. The more you have, the better your odds.

Don’t filter. Don’t judge.

Just wonder. Ask. Notice. Log it.

Volume beats perfection.

Want to boost performance with zero tech and zero cost?

Change your words.

The language you use, internally and externally, can transform how you think, decide, and act.

Here are 3 tiny word swaps that can massively improve motivation, creativity, and self-control: Stuck on a tough problem?

Most people ask: “What should I do?”
That’s the wrong question.

Try: “What could I do?”

Why it works: → “Should” narrows options → “Could” expands them
“Could” encourages possibility. “Should” creates pressure.

Use “could.” It opens doors.

Want to become more persuasive?

Here’s what decades of research reveal and how you can use it to influence anyone (ethically): 🧵👇 First: Don’t be an extrovert.

That loud, slick-talking stereotype of a great persuader?

Totally wrong.

In fact, strong extroverts are often bad at persuasion.

They talk too much and listen too little.

But introverts aren’t the answer either…

What if you had a user manual… for yourself?

If you keep clashing with your partner, coworkers, or friends…

This simple tool will change everything.

It's fast. It's free. And it's shockingly effective. **** Think about it:

Every piece of tech comes with a user manual.

But humans? None.

No wonder we burn out, get misunderstood, or squabble over things that don’t matter.