👋 Hi! I'm Dan. I help entrepreneurs and creatives find the clarity and motivation to get their work out into the world.
If that sounds good, let's go! 🚀

Hi Reader,

I hope this finds you well! Great things ahead for today's issue:

✅ Lesson's Learned: an essay on the return of humanity to work
🤖 An update on the AI Mastery Cohort
❤️ A sponsor
🎉 My favorite things (plus a big milestone)

Let's get into it!

✅ Lesson's Learned
The Generalist's Moment: AI and the Return of Human Work

All my life, I've been a generalist – creative, optimistic, people-focused, and enthusiastic.

This path led me through diverse experiences:

• from early college entry to studying music and ministry,
• from building communities as a resident assistant to working with youth,
• and eventually to entrepreneurship, software, and marketing.

Throughout these experiences, consistent themes emerged:

I gather people, start things, try new stuff, and take on challenges. The fear of failure has never held me back.

As I progressed in my career, I've realized my strengths lay in soft skills: ideation, problem-solving, creative thinking, building rapport, and empathy. These skills are hard to pin down, but they're incredibly valuable.

And therein lies the opportunity that AI presents.

For generalists like me, AI is a secret weapon. What once took months to learn and do can now be accomplished in hours. As technology accelerates, those hours will become minutes, then seconds.

This is why I'm excited about AI. It feels like I've been training for this my whole life. It's the sidekick I didn't know I needed – a research assistant, intern, collaborator, and administrator that can free me up to go so much faster and further.

The rise of AI will have its downsides.

It's already taking jobs and will take more. But I want to point out that this is part of a larger progression that began with the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution took workers out of their homes and family trades and into factories. The assembly line was intentionally designed to break work down to the smallest possible part. This allowed work to be done efficiently, repeatably, scalably, and – crucially – without much thought.

Frederick Taylor pioneered this approach, introducing time studies and specialization into the factory. Workers' output began to be measured, standardized, and optimized. A schism formed between the workers and the managers/owners. The further down this road we went, the more management found that workers should only work. They should not think.

The greatest Industrialist, Henry Ford said it better than anyone:

It's shocking to even type that. I hate how dehumanizing it is. But it shows the point:

Thinking was for the elites. Work was for the laborers.

This brings us to now. AI can't think, but it's getting closer and closer to appearing to do so. It can make basic choices. It can do menial tasks. And it can do it without ever getting bored or frustrated.

While many jobs are being displaced by AI, there's an opportunity here for all of us to see ourselves as the factory owners saw themselves: the ones designing and thinking. The ones for whom the factory worked.

With AI, we can all have our own factory floors. With AI, the generalist has the upper hand.

But here's the key difference:

The Industrial Revolution took something from humanity. As much as it brought wealth and resources to some countries, it also stripped people of a piece of their dignity.

• Instead of craftsmen who could take pride in their work, the factory made us replaceable.
• Instead of working to make meaning, work became more and more about only making money.

Meaning was for the weekends and holidays. Work was a means to an end. A necessary evil. Something we had to do, but no one loved.

This is where AI presents a unique opportunity. More and more, generalists and creative thinkers can take back some piece of our work.

AI can increasingly do the busy work, freeing us to do the higher-level, more creative, and ultimately more human work – that only we can do.

This isn't just about technology. It's about reclaiming what was lost.

For the first time in 200 years, we have a chance to put humanity back into our work.

To be whole people again. To think AND do. To create AND execute.

The factory floor taught us to check our brains at the door. AI is teaching us to bring our full selves back in.

Will you join me?

Will you embrace the parts of yourself that don't fit in neat little boxes?
Will you let technology handle the repeatable so you can handle the remarkable?

Because here's what I know:​
You have something to say.
You have something to build.
You have something to give.

And now, finally, you have the tools to do it.

🖤

🤖 Quick Update on the AI Mastery Cohort

The first cohort is in full swing, and I’m blown away by what’s happening. We’ve got 10 incredible business leaders who are diving deep into AI implementation, and the energy in our sessions has been electric.

Here’s what members are experiencing in just our first few sessions:

Real Breakthroughs

• A project manager is finding ways to auto-generate project timelines, turning their “rules of thumb” into an AI system that saves hours each week
• A nonprofit consultant is developing AI assessment tools to evaluate organizational health and financial stability for their clients
• A business coach discovered how to create custom AI training documents that perfectly preserve their unique methodology
• Members are finding ways to use AI as a strategic advisors, helping them prepare for leadership team meetings

What’s Surprising Everyone

• The power of collective learning is incredible - when one person solves a problem, everyone benefits
• People are finding AI applications in places they never expected
• Technical barriers are falling away as we focus on implementation over theory

What Members Are Saying

When it comes to AI, you need other practitioners to learn with.
​
As one member put it, “The more people I come in contact with that are at least interested in poking around, it widens my field of vision.”

That’s exactly why I created this program - watching leaders discover new possibilities together is incredibly rewarding.

🚀

Our next cohort starts in April. Hit reply if you want to apply and join the waitlist.

❤️ This Week's Sponsor:

(If you're interested in sponsoring a future issue, hit reply!)

🎉 Favorites!

I love sharing what I'm into. And I love hearing what you're into as well!

(If you've made it this far, hit reply and tell me some of yours!)

Here's this week's list:

Reddit's r/Work Subreddit

We've struck up a friendship with THE subreddit about work. The ins-and-outs. The ups-and-downs. This is new, but exciting. For now, I'm offering some freebies to the community, but I'm actively looking for more ways to engage and add value. Check it out! And let me know if you have ideas!
​
​https://www.reddit.com/r/work​

Guatamala

I'm off to Guatemala this week for some adventure with my family. Can't wait to see a new place and experience the culture!

​

10k Subscribers

When I started building The Meaning Movement 10 years ago, I knew that an email list was important. 10,000 subscribers was my goal. I thought that if I could make it there, I could do anything.

Well, it took 10 years, but we're finally there!

Read my reflections on it here:
​https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292283034454671360/​

Your turn

Anything great you've been enjoying? Hit reply and send it along! I'd love to know. Seriously.

10,000+ people are getting this email, and I can count on one hand how many responses I usually get. You have the chance to change that! Hit reply. Tell me what's good!

Yours in meaning making,