COMPASSION

Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to live thoughtlessly and begins to devote himself to his life
with reverence in order to give it true value.
— Albert Schweitzer

1/28/2026

Mindset

 

Fully Occupy Your Waking Moments with positive thoughts and constructive activities.



1/23/2026

Klaus Schwab

  

Our societies face a decline of truth and trust. Without truth, we lose a shared reality; without trust, we lose our capacity to act together.

(3) Klaus Schwab (@ProfKlausSchwab) / X

— Klaus Schwab (@ProfKlausSchwab) January 17, 2026


1/22/2026

Daniel Pink: 21 Life-Changing Books Summarized in 18 Minutes




 

Daniel Pink
21 Life-Changing Books Summarized in 18 Minutes

https://youtu.be/lyLEBnUTqJI?si=fBWQgV9v-1tcoJyI


21 of my favorite books. These books have completely changed the way I think about my life and my work:

Grit by Angela Duckworth
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Stoic Challenge by William Irvine
The Sports Gene by David Epstein
Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt
Give and Take by Adam Grant
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Unfair by Adam Benforado
Influence by Robert Cialdini
Rule Makers, Rule Breakers by Michele Gelfand
The Genetic Lottery by Kathryn Paige Harden
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
Uncivil Agreement by Lilliana Mason
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Scarcity by by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
Nonzero by Robert Wright
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

To receive more insights, ideas, and more from me... Check out my newsletter!
https://www.danpink.com/subscribe/

--
To find out more about Daniel Pink, his books, and view his resources, visit https://danpink.com
 


1/21/2026

Decade Déjà Vu: Are the 2020s the New 1920s?




Decade Déjà Vu: Are the 2020s the New 1920s?  


Decade Déjà Vu: Are the 2020s the New 1920s?

Technological revolutions, a reset in supply chains and soaring stock markets, these are not just characteristics of today's economy. In the 1920s, electrification, the automobile and assembly lines changed the economic landscape.   

What parallels exist between this decade and the 1920s and what could we learn from them for the future of the global economy?

World Economic Forum

https://www.youtube.com/live/Vi6Apqyuk1s?si=4K2_8Q93eJvV6LLq


1/19/2026

Saoirse Ronan and Jimmy Sing "Fairytale of New York"




Saoirse Ronan and Jimmy Sing "Fairytale of New York"

https://youtu.be/eeOVR09ohSU?si=etOMcIW0rwLl6s-x

Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl) [Edit]
Song by

The Pogues

It was Christmas Eve, babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, "Won't see another one"
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen-to-one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you, baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true
They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome
You were pretty, queen of New York City
When the band finished playing, they howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks, they were singing
We kissed on a corner, then danced through the night
The boys of the NYPD choir were singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day
You're a bum, you're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You're cheap and you're haggard
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last
The boys of the NYPD choir, still singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day
I could have been someone
Well, so could anyone
You took my dreams from me when I first found you
I kept them with me, babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it alone
I've built my dreams around you
The boys of the NYPD choir, still singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day





NICK CAVE - Leonard Cohen's Suzanne




NICK CAVE - Leonard Cohen's Suzanne

https://youtu.be/NwIZdh6MqIo?si=T3EQCy3lTpCV1zHZ

Nick Cave in Leonard Cohen's song Suzanne

Suzanne takes you down to her place newer the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that shes half crazy
But thats why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from china
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That youve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For youve touched her perfect body with your mind.

And jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe youll trust him
For hes touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now suzanne takes you hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From salvation army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For shes touched your perfect body with her mind.



The Train of Life



The Train of Life


At birth we boarded the train

and met our parents, and we

believe they will always travel

on our side.


However, at some station

our parents will step down from

the train, leaving us on this

journey alone.


As time goes by,

other people will board the train;

and they will be significant

our siblings, friends, children,

and even the love of your life.


Many will step down

and leave a permanent vacuum.

Others will go so unnoticed

that we don't realize

they vacated their seats.


This train ride will be full of joy,

sorrow, fantasy, expectations,

hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

Success consists of having a

good relationship with all

passengers requiring that we

give the best of ourselves.


The mystery to everyone is:

We do not know at which station

we ourselves will step down.

So, we must live in the best way,

love, forgive, and offer the best

of who we are.


It is important to do

this because when the time

comes for us to step down

and leave our seat empty


we should leave behind beautiful

memories for those who will

continue to travel on the train of life.


I wish you a joyful journey on the

train of life.

Reap success and give lots of love.

More importantly, thank God for the

journey.


Lastly, I thank you for being one of

the passengers on my train.

A very meaningful share from a friend. It stirred my soul, the author James S. Tippett. (1885-1958) His poem is an "analogy of a train ride to symbolize both, the idea of death being the final leg of our travels."  Its a brilliant analogy. © Oct '21    love • sad • spiritual • hope • death • soulful "Train of Life" by James Tippett is a poignant poem that uses the metaphor of a train journey to reflect on the transient nature of life and relationships.

Summary of the Poem

In "The Train of Life," Tippett eloquently illustrates life as a train ride, where individuals board and disembark at various stations. The poem begins with the idea that at birth, we board the train and are accompanied by our parents, who we assume will always be there. However, as time progresses, they, along with others, will step down from the train, leaving us to continue our journey alone. This metaphor captures the essence of life's comings and goings, emphasizing that relationships are both significant and fleeting.

Themes and Messages

Transience of Life: The poem highlights how people come and go throughout our lives, and it encourages readers to cherish every moment and relationship. Tippett suggests that we should treat everyone with respect and kindness, as we never know when someone will leave our lives.

Legacy and Memories: Tippett emphasizes the importance of leaving behind beautiful memories for those who continue on the train of life. The poem serves as a reminder to live fully, love deeply, and forgive generously, ensuring that our impact on others is positive and lasting.

Reflection on Relationships: The train metaphor illustrates the various relationships we form throughout our lives, from family to friends and loved ones. Some passengers will have a profound impact, while others may leave without notice, creating a vacuum in our lives.

Occasions for Use

"The Train of Life" is often used in contexts such as funerals, memorials, and celebrations of life, as it provides comfort and a relatable perspective on loss and remembrance. It resonates particularly well with railway enthusiasts, making it a heartfelt tribute for those who appreciate the metaphor of a journey.

In conclusion, James Tippett's "The Train of Life" is a timeless reflection on the human experience, encouraging us to value our relationships and live with love and forgiveness. It serves as a poignant reminder of the journey we all share and the importance of making meaningful connections along the way. 


1/18/2026

The Pogues live 1986




The Pogues live 1986

https://youtu.be/BBCnBciNBqo?si=IaS1D5nn_68nd_QC


THE POGUES: Danny Boy (The John Peel Show) (December 1984) (Live)



THE POGUES: Danny Boy (The John Peel Show) (December 1984) (Live)
Provided to YouTube by Rhino

Danny Boy (The John Peel Show) (December 1984) (Live) · The Pogues

The BBC Sessions 1984 -1986

https://youtu.be/9JGuEs3Xq1A?si=ZKyYXR2ZiZj2QZXz




1/17/2026

BRUCE LEE STAY CENTERED




A.I. : You’re Not Behind (Yet): How to Learn AI in 17 Minutes




A.I. : You’re Not Behind (Yet): How to Learn AI in 17 Minutes

Master AI in 30 days with this 7-step system. Learn to "speak machine English" and utilize frameworks like AIM and MAAP for superior prompt engineering. This guide provides actionable strategies for generating high-quality AI outputs, even for beginners.

https://youtu.be/EWFFaKxsz_s?si=km-LKe-0SUT6zmUg

Transcript


Most people using AI are doing it wrong,which is why it's surprisingly easy to get ahead of 99% of them. I have spent over 20 years in tech and AI as a CEO,board member, investor, building billion dollar companies. 
And here's what I'm seeing. The gap between people who understand AI and those who don't is getting wider faster. In this video, I'll give you a clear seven step road map to master AI like the top 1%. And the best part is you can actually do it in
just 30 days, even if you're a total beginner. Let's dive in. 


Week one starts with learning what I call machine English. Most people talk to AI like it's a person. And that's a huge mistake. 

Why? Because the generative AI systems like Chad GPT don't actually understand our language. They predict it. And that's where most people ge stuck. 

If I said Humpty Dumpty sat on a... Your brain's going to fire wall, you knew what was coming. Your brain predicted it. You could have said Humpty Dumpty sat on a roof. Now it's accurate, but you knew wall was more likely based on what you've seen before. Think about Google search. It does autocomplete the same way. Why? Because it has seen so many search queries before. It has learned from it and now is giving you
the most likely option. AI models like Chat GPT or Gemini work in a similar fashion, but they're different than search engines because they don't store any pre-baked answers. They generate the answer on the fly. How do they generate it? Like at a very high level, AI breaks your text into smaller parts called tokens. Each token is a word or
sometimes a part of a word. Humpty is probably one token. Dumpty could be another token. Sat another token. Wall another token. Then AI converts each token into a list of numbers, also known as multi-dimensional vectors. Those numbers are placed inside a massive mathematical space called an embedding space. And in that massive space, similar ideas tend to live closer together. The system has learned from previous experiences. So, it knows that the word Humpty, egg, wall, and fall will be closer, but they're going to be far from words like motorcycle or chocolate. Now, when it's time to
generate the answer, AI looks at the context and predicts the most likely next token. So, when it sees Humpty Dumpty had a great, it weighs all the options. Humpty Dumpty had a great party. Humpty Dumpty had a great day.
Humpty Dumpty had a great chocolate. and it sees that the word fall is the most likely outcome. So the line is generated and finished not from memory, not from stored facts, but from probability and proximity. That's why AI can feel so smart, but also so alien. 
 Now, I'm skipping a lot of details here, but the important takeaway here is that when your prompt is vague, this guessing machine called Chat GPT or Gemini will produce guesses that are also vague. And if your prompt is sharp and targeted, AI will come back to you with sharp and targeted guesses. That's what I call machine English. It helps AI to compute your intent, not just try to comprehend it. 

So, what does a sharper prompt look like? I call it aim. A for actor. Tell the model who it's acting as. I is for input. Give it the context and data it needs. And M for mission. What do you want it to do? Instead of typing, let's say, fix my resume, try typing, hey, at GPT, you are the world's most sought after ré editor and business writer.

You've reviewed thousands of résumés that led to interviews at top tech companies. You've told the AI what its persona is, what it's acting as. A second line, I'm attaching my resume and the job description for a senior product manager role at a fintech company. That's your input. Third, mission.
Review it and give me a bullet list of 10 specific ideas on how to improve clarity, measurable impact, align with the role. Your mission is to help me build the best resume that gets me hired. That's how you take aim. It turns a prompt into a structure. The model can understand, compute, and reason with.
You can use this three-part structure in almost all prompts. And from now on, you will start seeing the results to be at least five or 10 times better than before. 

Only when you learn its language does AI finally start working for you.

Now that you understand how to speak to AI, we're going to pick your instrument.

Here's the thing. Most people start their AI journey the wrong way. They Google top 50 AI tools. They pick 10 and they jump from one to the other. They skim through all of them. That's a recipe for failure because there's so much out there. My recommendation, pick one, go deep. Think of learning AI the same way you would learn an instrument.  You know, there is a study in Frontier Psychology that found that drummers pick up guitar faster than complete beginners. Drumming is not even about
melody and it requires very different physical skills. But I personally had the same experience. I spent tens of thousands of hours as a drummer. And when I picked up guitar, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't uncomfortable because I already knew how to practice and my brain was trained to see structures and patterns. The deeper you dig into one foundational model, the faster you will find the rhythm of all the others. So,
which one do you pick? If you want the mature one, pick Chat GPT. If you're deep into Google stack and Google's ecosystem, try Gemini. If you want more business and projectbased AI, go with Claude. But really, it doesn't matter what you pick. In the first week, spend time with one of them and learn its personality, its cadence, its
limits, its strengths. The goal is to start feeling the rhythm. Once you get comfortable, try using the aim framework that we talked about. By the end of week one, you should be able to write a structured prompt without thinking. All right, so we've started using AI.

 Now, let's talk about what actually makes your outputs smart, and that's context.  The world's smartest AI will sound clueless unless you feed it context.

Every answer AI gives depends on how it understands the question. If you don't give it context, it has no grounding.
Remember that inside these AI models, there is nothing but a crazy mathematical space filled with billions of numbers. Context is the map that helps you navigate that space to tell AI where to look and what matters. 

And the best way to build that map is with an acronym I call map. M is for memory. theconversation history or the notes that carry over from previous chat sessions that you've had with the AI. Now, you can repaste the thread or ask the model to summarize before starting again.

That's how you'll start building continuity in your conversations. A is for assets. The files, data, the resources that you attach or copy paste in your prompt. These assets help you ground the model in reality.

Second A is for actions. Now these are the tools that the model can call to do work. The
action could be search the web or scan your drive or write this code or creat a notion doc and P is the prompt and the prompt is the instruction itself. So the better you get with memory assets and external actions, the better context you'll give AI in the prompt. And the richer the context, the better the AI reasoning and response. Once you start using these frameworks like AIM and MAP, you have joined the top 10% of AI users.

But if you want to hit that absolute expert level, there is one more thing that you really need. Debug your thinking, which is step four. When you're not getting the right answer, the problem is not the AI, it's your thinking. I remember the first time I ever prompted an AI. It was one of those earliest models from OpenAI and I spent an entire day trying to make sense of it and by the end of it I was super frustrated because it was random. It was unpredictable. But back then no one understood. The phrase prompt engineering hadn't even existed yet because prompting isn't typing. It's iterating. When the output is weak, I assume the fault is mine because it is. Did I get it the right persona? Did I provide the right context? Did I give it the right goal? And sometimes I even ask the model itself, what did you do? And why did you choose that answer? It will explain its logic. He'll explain his chain. And that's when the magic starts.
 
You're not just using AI, you're learning how it thinks. There are three cheat codes I use for that. The first is the chain of thought pattern. When the answer seems off, I would say think step by step. Show your reasoning. Then give me the final concise answer.

The second is the verifier pattern. I would say to the AI, ask me three questions that would clarify my intent to you. Ask them one at a time and then combine what you've learned and try again. 

And the third is the refinement pattern where you're refining your input itself.
Before answering, propose two sharper versions of my question. Ask which one I prefer. So AI will tell me how to ask the right way. And then we continue. And you have to keep iterating with these patterns because these loops can teach the model how to understand you and teach you how to understand the model. test, tweak, tune up, push until you can tell why something is working and why something is off. That's when it clicks.
You're not talking at AI anymore. You're having an ongoing conversation. You and AI are learning together from each other. But here's the thing, it's not enough to just debug your mind. If your post sounds like every other LinkedIn post I see that's pasted from chat GPT, you still have a problem. And that's why step five is to steer to experts. When you ask Chat GPT a question, you're not searching a database of answers. You're sampling from millions of probable ideas that AI has learned over time and is storing as billions of numbers. is some are brilliant, some are average, some are completely made up, and some are flat out wrong. If you prompt vaguely, like explain how to make a team more innovative, the model will give you a superficial generic blah answer full of buzzwords. And you'll read it and think, "Yeah, I already knew that." So, how do you fix that? You direct the model away from the middle and toward the sharper edges of its brain. So instead of that vague prompt, you can say this. Explain how to make a team more innovative using ideas from Pixar's brain trust, Satyadea strategy, and Harvard's research.  Now you pull the model from mediocrity into mastery by navigating it toward experts, frameworks, depth. What if you want to learn about black holes and you don't know who the experts are? No problem. Ask AI first. List the top experts, researchers, and research papers and current thinking on black holes. Then feed the same thing back to the model and prompt using these experts and sources synthesize the original framework that fills the current gap on the science of black holes or whatever it is that you're after. That's the way you make sure AI is not an echo chamber anymore. But remember, you're going to need to verify what you get. That's ourstep six. Sometimes AI will tell you things like 68% of Americans are getting divorced. I mean, you know, it's not true. But the scary part is AI will sound just as confident when it's wrong as when it's right. So, you can tell AI 100 times, stop making stuff up. But all models are essentially generative by design. Making things up is why they exist. So, what do you do about that?
You simply verify. Don't just consume.  Critique. There are five ways to separate intelligence from illusion.  Assumptions, sources, counter evidence, auditing, and cross model verification.

Let's take one at a time. Assumptions, ask. List every assumption you made and rank them each by confidence.

 Second is sources. Ask. Site two independent sources for each major claim that you just made. Include title, URL, and a oneline quote. Now you can check it yourself. That's the scaffolding behind the answer. Counter evidence. Push it. Find one credible source that disagrees with your answer. Explain the dependencies. That's where real
reasoning lives.

Auditing is the fourth one. Ask. Recomputee every figure. Show your math or code. You'll be shocked how often the numbers change once you make it slow down and start auditing. 

And finally, crossmodel verification. This one's my favorite. I run the same prompt in ChatgPT and Gemini and Claude. I take the output from one model and ask another to critique it. Or I feed the claims of one model into the other and say, "Verify this." That's how you separate noise from knowledge. By the end of your third week, you'll start feeling more in control of your output.
 
But here's the problem. The best AI output aren't the ones that sound the most original, they're the ones that sound like you. That's why step seven is about developing tastes. Most people use AI like a vending machine. They push a button, grab the same junk food output everyone else gets, and call it a day.
If you did that, most people will know you just copy pasted it. But you are past that now, right? It's your fourth week. It's time to step into the ring.  Treat AI like your sparring partner.  Argue with it. Push back. Sharpen your thinking. Sharpen its thinking. That's where the ocean framework comes in. Is how you turn generic answers into tasteful insights. Something that sounds like you. Oh, original. Look at the response. Is there a nonobvious idea in it? If not, push it. Ask, give me three angles, no one else has thought about.  Label one as risky and recommend the one that you like the most. C concrete. Are there names, examples, and numbers that make sense? If not, ask. Back every claim with one real example. E is evident. Is the reasoning visible? Is there enough evidence? If not, ask. Show your logic in three bullets. Provide evidence before you provide final answer. A assertive. Does it take a stance? you could agree or disagree with. If not, push it again. Don't tell me what I want to hear. Pick a side.  State your thesis, defend it, and then address the best counterpoint.
Narrative.  What's the story? Does it flow? Is it tight? Guide it. Write it like a story.
Hook, problem, insight, proof, actions, whatever you want in that story. So, that's the ocean framework to add taste to your output. Now, as you apply this over 30 days, you will start noticing something deeper. Every prompt you write, every revision you push, every  judgment you make, you're not just training the model, you are trainin you. AI is coming whether we like it or not. To some, it might be triggering lots of deep fears, but I remain a perpetual optimist. I think AI is not here to replace human work. It's here to restore human worth. 

If you like this video, don't forget to subscribe and check out my most recent video here.

https://www.youtube.com/@theMITmonk





1/11/2026

Tiny 13kg deer takes on 1.7-tonne rhino at Wroclaw Zoo | AFP

 
Tiny 13kg deer takes on 1.7-tonne rhino at Wroclaw Zoo 

A case of David vs Goliath at Wroclaw Zoo, as a tiny 13kg deer takes on a nearly two-tonne rhinoceros and appears to come out of the clash on top.

https://youtu.be/jNNm8fTzxOw?si=DyPV46BjDgffCYAf





Stay Young Forever: 103-Year-Old Shares Life Lessons





Stay Young Forever: 103-Year-Old Shares The Life Lessons Everyone Learns Too Late | Gladys McGarey

Aged 102 (and a half!) years, today’s guest is the oldest person I’ve welcomed onto the show. Dr Gladys McGarey is co-founder of the American Holistic Medical Association and author of the fantastic new book, The Well-Lived Life: A 102-year-old Doctor’s Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age. 

Many people consider Gladys to be the ‘mother of holistic medicine’. For years now, she has been trying to spread the message that health is not just physical – it involves mental, emotional and spiritual elements in equal measure. 
 
Her message is that living a long and healthy life isn’t about the right diet, or taking vitamins and supplements. Instead, it requires a shift in perspective. A long life is all very well, but what are you living for? 
 
For many people today, finding one’s purpose in life feels like an optional extra when we’re busy working, raising children or caring for parents. It can be hard to know who we really are or what we want out of life. But Gladys insists we should still strive to identify our reason for getting out of bed every morning. And we should realise that all of life’s experiences exist to teach us something.
 
Gladys is a wonderful storyteller, who uses examples and anecdotes from her own, purpose-driven life to explain the secrets that she shares in her book. She reveals how the devastation of her husband asking for a divorce, when she was 70, eventually became her strength. Rather than stay a victim of heartbreak, she made a choice to move forward and help others. And that’s a common theme that comes up in this conversation – the fact that we always have a choice. 

This is a wonderful, life-affirming conversation about the very essence of life and health. It was a real privilege and honour to talk to Gladys - I hope you enjoy listening.

HER BOOK:
The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor's Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age

Dr. Gladys McGarey, a doctor who still consulted as a centenarian and was the mother of holistic medicine, reveals “a story that teaches as much as it inspires” (Edith Eger, New York Times bestselling author), filled with life-changing secrets for how to live with joy, vitality, and purpose at any age.

Dr. Gladys McGarey, cofounder of the American Holistic Medical Association, began her medical practice at a time when women couldn’t even have their own bank accounts. Since then, she pioneered a new way of thinking about disease and health that has transformed the way we imagine health care and self-care around the world.


https://youtu.be/L7VHiX5HP_w?si=OvuiGARRv9fGhj_g



1/07/2026

New Year's Resolutions: If you want 2026 to be the best year of your life, please watch this video…



 

New Year's Resolutions: If you want 2026 to be the best year of your life, please watch this video…
 

Daniel Pink 
Download my 2026 workbook for free:

1/02/2026

82-Year-Old Powerlifter FIGHTS Off Intruder! 👵🏽👊🏽II STEVE HARVEY




82-Year-Old Powerlifter FIGHTS Off Intruder! 👵🏽👊🏽II STEVE HARVEY

When a man tried to rob 82-year-old Willie Murphy, he had no idea he was messing with a champion power lifter. She showed Steve exactly how she taught that robber a lesson he’ll never forget! #steveharvey 

https://youtu.be/Q4UyeWnF9QI