Ya think, bot?
That’s how I wanted to respond to an email this morning from a person – an executive with 30 years experience, no less – applying for a role at Becoming You Labs. His entire message to me was 100% the work of AI, and inasmuch, tedious, fatuous, and lofty. What a trifecta of slop!
These days, I am loving real people saying real things more than I ever thought I could.
A friend calling to say, “I realized I didn’t need a reason to tell you I missed you.”
A student writing to confess, “I cried silently through every session of Becoming You last semester because it hurts a lot to grow.”
A neighbor dropping by to give me a wicker basket shaped like a Dachshund, sighing, “I bought it for me, but I think it spiritually belongs to you.”
AI could not manufacture these lines. It could not manufacture their messy, beautiful humanity.
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At Christmas, my family has the tradition of gift-opening one person at a time, one gift at a time. With nine of us, it takes nearly all day, and is not for the faint of heart, as it is a marathon of real people saying real things to each other.
This year, toward the end of it, my son-in-law gave me a woodblock portrait of Pierre. Cauê is an artist; it took him weeks to make.
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It is beyond, as you can see.
But it is what we said to each other that I will cherish forever, my words of gratitude to him for loving my daughter exactly as she should be loved, his words of gratitude to me for taking care of her until it became his joyous life’s adventure.
I am no Luddite. I love AI; it makes a mean slide deck. But it will never replace the utterings of the human heart.
Like this one to you. 🧡 |
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I just received a DM from a woman who turned 50 and lost her job in the same week. “As I head into my next 50 years,” she wrote, “I want to discover what I can genuinely excel at so I can go do it.”
First of all, my friend, here’s to another half century of industrial fortitude. You are my spirit animal!
Second, welcome to the Becoming You club, where we are positively obsessed with the importance of doing what you’re actually good at.
Not that passion doesn’t matter. In the Becoming You methodology, we measure what you care about – deeply so – with the Values Bridge. But without the “excel at” part – aptitudes – you cannot possibly identify your true purpose.
So let me say that I hate that our correspondent finds herself unemployed. Even when you’re optimistic by nature, and have a safety net intact, that never feels good. It can, in fact, feel like a bit of a public death. (For more on this topic, take a listen to this week’s podcast about firing.)
But on balance, I am betting on this woman’s future, because she is seeing so clearly as she sets out to forge it. I hope our tools and exercises are her able companions along the way. |
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The Wall Street Journal reports that people are signing up in droves to pay $99 a month to talk to a Tony Robbins chatbot. This business is apparently all the rage now, with new “gurus” jumping into the fray every day, despite my claims, just above, that nothing will replace the utterings of the human heart.
Sigh.
So here’s my hmm. Would you – any of you – literally pay a cent to talk to a Suzy Chatbot? I cannot imagine it.
I promise a real person, saying real things, will get back to you.
Until then, |
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What's coming?
→ May 2026 Three-Day Becoming You Intensive here
→ Becoming You Certification Program, learn more here
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Career Confidential: The Secret Life of A Boss About to Fire You
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Before you're fired, you're a ghost. You just don't know it yet. In this special "Career Confidential" episode of Becoming You, I'm joined once again by my NYU Stern colleague Dustin Liu to pull back the curtain on the part of getting fired no one talks about: what's happening on the other side of the desk. The guilt. The anger. The calculus about when to do it. The weird emotional roller coaster your boss rides before ending your career. This isn't a pep talk. It's your boss's diary—and possibly your last chance to rewrite the ending. |
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