November 26, 2025 • 35 mins
Text us a question and we'll answer it on the podcast...
🗓️ Book a FREE call with Andrew Foster (Tougher Minds, Head of Coaching) 👉here to see whether one-to-one coaching for AI-Era Success is a good fit for you.
AI is advancing faster than people can adapt — and for many professionals, that feels scary. In this episode, Dr. Jon Finn returns after several weeks inside the AI frontline: panel events with NHS leaders, private dinners with business executives, and discussions with academics and technologists building the next generation of agentic and generative AI systems.
What he found is clear: the technology is accelerating, the opportunity is enormous, and people are overwhelmed.This episode explains why — and what to do about it.
Jon breaks down what’s really happening in the AI build-out (including trillion-dollar valuations and unprecedented chip demand), why “bubble” headlines miss the point, and why experts in medicine and business now trust AI to improve safety and accuracy in ways humans often can’t.
But the heart of the episode is human:
Why does AI feel threatening? Why is everyone anxious? And how do you stay confident, clear-headed, and high-performing while everything around you accelerates?
Jon introduces the Six Habits of High-Performing AI-Era Professionals, the practical behaviour system built from 25 years of neuroscience and behavioural science:
• Build a 30-day focus loop to ignite daily motivation
• Recharge your cognitive battery with sleep, diet, exercise habits
• Recode your stress response to stop overwhelm at its source
• Engineer robust confidence that survives uncertainty
• Prepare for pressure so you can deliver in High-Charge moments
• Develop laser-sharp focus for your most leveraged work
You’ll hear how these habits underpin Brain State Intelligence™, why traditional change-management approaches fail in the AI era, and why businesses now urgently need experts who can help humans adopt new behaviours — not just new tools.
Finally, Jon introduces a new way to get personalised support:
One-to-One Coaching for AI-Era Success, led by Andrew Foster — Tougher Minds’ Head of Coaching and one of the world’s leading practitioners in habit formation for the AI era.
This is for coaches, leaders, forward-thinking professionals, and even parents who want to understand the new world of work their children are growing into.
If you want to thrive — not just cope — in the AI era, this episode shows you what to focus on and how to get started.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Hello, Habit Mechanics.
It's Dr.
John Finn here.
I hope you're having a fantasticweek so far.
I wanted to touch base reallybecause I've not done a podcast
uh for a few weeks, but I havebeen very busy attending and
contributing to AI events.
(01:46):
So I've been part of a paneldiscussion at um university
where there was a range ofpeople from the private sector
and the public sector talkingabout how they're using AI, what
benefits they're getting, whatchallenges they're facing.
Um then I was that more of aprivate dinner with business
(02:10):
leaders just hearing about umthe different stages businesses
are at on their journey withembedding AI everywhere from
very sophisticated gettingmassive wins all the way through
to um you know just starting thejourney, but also some of the
(02:30):
stories about it's not actuallythe the opportunities and the
challenges for businesses arenot just the businesses using
AI, it's their clients, it'stheir uh partner businesses
because that escalates thevolume of replies and the
intensity of sort of informationflow, if you like.
(02:53):
So that was really interestinginsight.
And then I attended um a paneldiscussion where I was just a
member of the audience last weekwith some really interesting
people, again, from a range ofacademic through to um the
National Health Service and themedical side and then uh private
(03:14):
business, you know, and thingslike AI is gonna completely
transform how we delivermedicine within the next two
years, not in two years' time,but it's gonna start to really
shake things up almostimminently because the tech is
here and it's so much moreefficient to deliver many of the
(03:35):
surface services using neuralnetwork AI.
So I thought it was useful tocome back and just at a high
level reflect on what I'mseeing, um, because this is a
unique period of history wherewe have this new powerful
technology, it's constantly inthe news.
Um there's the constant noiseabout is it real or not, is it a
(04:00):
bubble?
I'll come back to that in asecond.
But I think ultimately for themajority of people, AI can feel
stressful, it can feeloverwhelming, it can feel
threatening, it can raisequestions about your future that
you you don't want to have to bethinking about what's going to
(04:22):
go on for the kids, all thiskind of stuff.
So I want to deal with that kindof cornerstone, foundational
thing of it being stressful.
Let me come on to go back to thebubble piece.
So the the headlines in thepress, if you follow the the
(04:44):
newspapers or the the websitesyou get your new you get we get
news from, there's a strongnarrative about is AI, are the
AI companies overvalued.
Now, what you may see if youactually look is that the
companies that are most uminvolved in AI that are
(05:04):
investing the most money, theyare becoming more valuable than
any other business we have everseen before or any other
businesses on the planet, right?
So we've got NVIDIA that makesthe hardware, they make uh very
powerful AI chips, kind of thepremium chips in the world.
They can't make enough of themat the moment.
(05:27):
Um they're I think about sixmonths ago they were valued at
about four trillion, yes, fourtrillion, not a billion, and
then more recently that jumpedup to five trillion, and then
Microsoft followed suit.
They broke um four trillionfirst time ever, and then Google
(05:50):
are kind of stalking behindthem.
I think Google's pretty muchdoubled its valuation in the
last 18 months, and now they'revalued at about three and a half
trillion.
Um, so the numbers arephenomenal.
So when we think about bubbles,we think about the internet
crash, the internet bubble,stores like um pet.com, etc.,
(06:15):
being massively overvalued.
There's a big difference withwhat's currently going on.
So, what was very interesting,for example, just last week,
less than a week ago, was thatNVIDIA um they had a a quarterly
earnings announcement coming up,and they actually grew their
(06:40):
business 60% more than themarkets expected them to.
So there was a lot of talk aboutthey wouldn't hit the target the
markets had expected.
I think they sold an additional$500 billion worth of uh chips.
(07:00):
So the numbers are phenomenal.
Um so when you hear about thebubble, it's not a question of
the technology and whether itworks or not, it's just really
are some of these um thevaluations of the businesses,
are they overvalued?
And by any standard measurement,they are overvalued, but we're
(07:22):
not in a standard period ofhistory.
Um, you know, and if you wipe atrillion off um NVIDIA, they're
not gonna crash, right?
They're still gonna be okay.
But really, we we've got tounderstand what phase of AI
we're in, and we're really inthe build-out phase right now.
So what businesses are investingin is infrastructure build out,
(07:43):
they're investing in datacenters, which they need chips
for.
Uh Google are making a big beton creating their own chip so
they can compete with NVIDIA.
So I know this kind of technicaldiscussion might not be that
interesting to some people thatare listening.
But I think it's important thatwe understand that the AI is not
(08:07):
going away.
So there may be the noisearound, it's a bubble, but the
tech's proven in the sense of itcan do lots of things.
The Igentica I can do lots ofthings, and the automated
processes much faster andcheaper than humans, and its
ability to do things much checkmuch faster and cheaper than
(08:27):
humans in some very specifictasks is accelerating, you know,
almost every week.
The tools are becoming more andmore powerful.
And then um we have thegenerative AI, and if you know
anyone who's you know dedicatedsome time to properly learn how
to use generative AI, um thingslike Claude and Chat GTP and uh
(08:53):
Gemini, and there are moreindustry-specific ones as well.
Some businesses have built theirown at great cost, they'll tell
you how much faster they're ableto get through their complex,
high-impact thinking, working,and doing.
And what I personally see in myown workflows is that I can 7x
(09:15):
my output every day, which Iknow sounds phenomenal, but I I
can.
I've been doing it consistentlynow.
Um so yeah, it's very, very,very powerful technology and
it's not going away.
And yeah, there are some ethicalconcerns and things like that.
(09:36):
It was very interesting that umthe very senior medical person
who was uh on the discussion nowis that in London last week.
He was asked by one of the otherpanelists, would you trust um AI
(09:58):
to deliver medical servicesversus you know human beings
delivering the medical services?
And his response was veryinteresting.
He said, I I regularly followdoctors around wards to see what
they're doing, it's part of myjob, and I see them hallucinate
and I see them make mistakes andI see them give patients wrong
(10:20):
advice, and I see they have lotsof errors in their thinking, and
AI also has errors in how itthinks, but what his point was
so he he said I would trust AIover doctors because he said I
can see the errors that AI aremaking and we can program out
(10:41):
their errors, whereas withdoctors it's much more difficult
to program out the errors.
So, you know, these are peoplethat have been working with
these technologies for a longtime and they've really thought
about this stuff, and it's justvery, very fascinating.
I don't think anyone expectedhim to say that.
So, but you hear all theseamazing insights, what this
(11:03):
stuff can do, but thenconsistently, what I hear from
the audience, both in the panelI was part of, but in these
other discussions I've I've beenattending and the dinner I went
to is fear, anxiety.
People are worried, they'rescared, they are uncertain, and
(11:25):
that's all on top of a worldwhich already has a ton of
anxiety and uncertainty in it,you know, arguably more than
ever before, as we getoverloaded by digital uh
interactions and information andjust constant bombardment,
(11:49):
harder to sleep well, harder toum eat properly, harder to
exercise like we need to to getour brain working well, harder
to uh manage stress, andtherefore harder to focus when
we need to.
So AI is coming into our livesat a time when we're already
(12:12):
fatigued, you know, some arealready exhausted.
I think most days of the week,everybody will feel overwhelmed
at some point when the AI isjust adding to that, and
businesses are under pressurefrom uh shareholders to deploy
(12:33):
it and to put it into theirbusinesses because it's very
clear that when you get the AIright, it can have a phenomenal
impact.
And you hear stories like uhAmazon, they're they've laid off
14,000 people.
Now they're a massiveorganization, right?
(12:53):
But the fact that they thinkthey can replace 14,000 people
with the technology is a prettyphenomenal statement.
We hear from um companies likeSalesforce who've pioneered
agentic AI workflows, massivecompany.
They say they've halved theirworkforce by uh replacing lots
(13:15):
of tasks they used to pay humansto do with agentic AI.
This is not something to beworried about because we need
people, we need good people onthis journey, and AI is gonna
create lots of new jobs as well.
Uh, probably not as many as itis it's predicted to replace,
just being frank.
(13:36):
But I don't think we're gonnasee mass unemployment with this
kind of technologies wecurrently have.
But what we are gonna see isthat businesses that use AI
really effectively, and thatmeans businesses with people
that use AI really effectivelyare gonna get a massive
competitive advantage.
(13:57):
They're gonna be able to delivertheir services much cheaper than
their competitors and in a muchfaster, more impressive way to
their to their customers thantheir competitors can ultimately
delights their customers and getsome more and more customers
because that's how businessworks, right?
(14:19):
So, what what I'm seeing is thatpeople are worried, they're
stressed, they need help, andthey need support.
And the journey we've been onover probably 15, 16, maybe 18
months now is we've been workingout how do we make it really
(14:41):
easy for people to get to be attheir best, and if they want to
to build AI into theirworkflows, it's 90% about
helping people to be at theirbest, and that AI is there if
you want to use it.
Um there's some people that arenot gonna have to use AI in
(15:02):
their in their roles, um butthat's what we've been working
on, and you may have read TrainYour Brain for the AI
Revolution, and you will I meanI think we're talking I'm
talking myself down a little bitbecause I do talk about AI in
the habit mechanic as well,which is significantly older
(15:23):
than 18 months ago.
So we but the neural network AIis new, but anyway, so we know
that if we want to help peopleto thrive, and I I'm very
optimistic about the positiveimpact AI can have, it's not
gonna go away, there's too muchinvested in it, so we have to
make we have to make it work forus.
Um we want to help people toactually have the very best
(15:52):
chance of thriving in the AIera, and you will know if you've
read Train Your Brain for the AIRevolution that we see that
brain state intelligence is thekey.
And because brain stateintelligence at a high level
might feel a bit ambiguous,we've gone further and we've
(16:17):
broken that down into six corehabits.
The first habit is what weunpack in um and just to go
back, sorry, the six corehabits, the six habits of high
performing AI era professionals.
And the first habit is thefour-step framework that we
unpack in Train Your Brain forthe AR evolution.
(16:41):
But again, reading the bookdoesn't build the habit, it
shows you the system, right?
And then we've gone further andwe've created the four habits
for high-performing AI eraleaders and the five habits for
high performing AI era teams.
We haven't just made thesethings up overnight, it's a
refinement of what we've workedon for over 25 years, and we
(17:05):
know that if you build those sixhabits in the first instance,
that that is the key to actuallynot only developing your
brainstorm intelligence, butbeing healthier, being happier,
being at your best more often.
And if I just go through thosesix habits again, because I
(17:27):
think I mentioned in the lastpodcast, it's habit one is build
a 30-day focus loop.
This fires up our motivation, itkeeps us focused on being at our
best every day.
So we've got those have the bestchance of being healthy,
healthy, and happy.
Habit two is about rechargingthe cognitive battery.
(17:50):
This is about just getting ourbrain working really well.
So once we fired up thatmotivation, we've got to make
sure our brain is working reallywell.
That's our priority.
So good sleep, good diet, goodexercise.
Then every day our brain isgetting filled full of potential
stresses, disconnections ofmeaning systems, kicking off
(18:13):
stress responses in our brainand our body.
It's unavoidable in the world welive in, even if we're very good
at managing stress.
So we need to be better thanever.
We almost need to be likeworld-class at recoding the
stress response, and that'shabit three.
And we have lots of uh ways tohelp you to build that habit.
(18:35):
And then habit four is aboutrecognising that as we go into
the future, it's becoming moreand more uncertain, and
therefore, the things that havegiven us self-efficacy and
self-esteem, in other words,confidence, um, because they're
the two components ofconfidence, they may become less
(18:58):
relevant.
Um, so we're gonna have to keepvery deliberately engineering
our own robust confidence, andthere are lots of things that
you can do habitually to buildup your confidence so you're not
constantly questioning yourselfand doubting yourself.
Habit five is about preparingfor pressure because we're
(19:20):
increasingly under pressure, uhmany, many people are, to do
things really well that they'veliterally never done before.
Run a team of people that areco-working with AI, extend my
high charge uh hours that I'mable to do every day.
(19:41):
Business is gonna expect me tobe able to do more high charge,
more high impact, deal it dealwith more volume of uh feedback
from clients, etc.
And you can see there, thosefirst five habits are really all
about getting your brain workingreally well.
Um, so again, dealing with thatoverwhelm and the high volume of
(20:05):
stress we're experiencing, andthen um habit six is about
building laser sharp focus.
So once we get the um thefoundations of great brain
function, then we can use thatas the platform to really focus
our attention on to what is mosthelpful for us and get into
(20:27):
those high-charge brain statesconsistently.
So by working through those sixhabits, you are gonna become
brain state intelligent, you'regonna become healthier, you're
gonna become happier, you'regonna be at your best more
often, you're gonna thrive inthe AI era, and if you want to,
you're gonna be able toseamlessly build both agentic
(20:51):
and generative AI into yourworkflows, just one tiny thing
at a time.
So rather than feelingoverwhelmed, rather than
worrying, we need to beproactive.
We need to start taking control,and it starts with brain state
(21:13):
management.
So if you haven't already, or ifyou've picked up a copy and you
haven't read it, go back throughtrain your brain for the AI
revolution because the successcycle is the cornerstone of us
being healthier, happier, and atour best, but it's only the
starting point, it gives youkind of the framework to make it
easier to build other habitsoff, which is the six habits I'm
(21:37):
talking about.
And excitingly, well, you youalready know that we are
training coaches, and again, onmy journeys over the last few
weeks, and in fact, this wasjust yesterday, some very big
sets of compelling data comingout showing that the growth
opportunity, as I've beensaying, don't want to be an oil,
(22:00):
but as I've been saying, thebiggest growth area right now in
uh professional services ishelping people to get AI ready.
It's not the technical training,it's not helping them to build
AI uh chatbots, it's actuallyhelping people to adopt their
(22:22):
behaviors so that they can getthe most out of the technology
the business is invested in.
Um, but my senses and my myprofessional experience would
say that the traditional changemanagement systems, which are
the ones that are starting to berolled out, will fail because
they're not they're not designedwith the brain in mind, they're
(22:43):
not designed in first principleinsights, and that's why we're
training people to becomecertified habit mechanic
coaches, so they can trainpeople in these six habits,
which is the key to beinghealthy, happy, and at your best
in the AI era.
And whether you work in abusiness or you're um you want
(23:07):
to set up your own businessdoing this as a coach or a
consultant, this is the trainingthat you can do to actually
learn how to help humans thrivein the AI era.
So we've got that, but then alsoexcitingly, um my my time is
very limited, but I know thathuman support is the best way to
(23:35):
help people to be at their best,and therefore working with our
head of coaching, Andrew Foster,who I've worked with for over 14
years now, and I've known for alot longer than that.
Um, we've created a new program,and the program is called
one-to-one coaching for AI erasuccess.
(24:00):
So we want to offer peopleone-to-one coaching so they can
turn the AI era into theirspringboard for success.
So you want to flip thatnarrative.
The AI era is not threatening,it's an opportunity, it's an
opportunity, and the opportunityis moving quickly.
Um, we've been deep into thisnow for nearly 12 months in the
(24:25):
sense of I wrote the book aboutthis, right?
I started writing that about 12months ago, where I started to
get really deep into this.
But we've been working withpeople with these methodologies
for longer than that, uh,probably since summer of 2024.
We've had, you know, that that'sbeen premium um premium priced
(24:46):
programs, really with top-levelexecutives, but we've created a
one-to-one coaching program now,which we think is a much more
accessible um price point forpeople.
It this is not uh a salestactic, this is you get
one-to-one coaching, um, andit's a monthly program where you
(25:09):
don't just get one-to-onecoaching, you also get a number
of other things.
So you you get to work withAndrew, um, you get a block of
60 minutes every month, whichyou can chunk down into
half-hour sessions or 15-minutesessions, it's entirely up to
you, and you get on-demandsupport with him as well.
(25:31):
So he's there available for you,um, email, WhatsApp, whatever
you want to do.
So, literally, you're gonna getnot just a coach but an
accountability partner as well,who is the person that I would
go to for coaching.
And then I'm working with Andrewin the background, and I'm gonna
be available every other weekfor group sessions.
So, we're gonna do live groupcoaching and training where I'll
(25:54):
be available for questions andto help uh you know guide
people.
Then, what we're also doing iswe have a monthly challenge
around the six habits, sothere's a theme for the month,
and we've got our um our app setup, so you've got that uh uh
daily content that you can uh goin and and use.
(26:19):
We've got the six habits programavailable, the six habits
training as part of thismembership.
Um so you can buy the Six Habitsprogram as a standalone offer,
but also we've put it into thismembership if you want that.
Um, so you can actually getcertified as well.
(26:41):
There's a certified AI proofprofessional.
We've put all of our trainingcontent into the membership, so
you've got all our masterclasses and all our core
resources and all our coretools, and then we also have a
community membership uh or acommunity forum, you know, where
(27:01):
you can post, learn from others,see what other people are doing,
and we've we know that worksreally well.
Um so we've made that availableas well.
So, yeah, excitingly, we havethis new program.
Um we're not accepting justanybody onto it, and we think
(27:26):
the best way for you to seewhether it's a good fit for you,
and if you're a good fit for us,is um to to have a call with
Andrew, our head of coach, andAndrew Foster.
So Andrew's offering some freecalls so you can see how this
will be helpful for you.
If you're a coach, this is agreat program because it'll help
(27:50):
you to kind of practice what youpreach sharpen at what you're
doing, you know, whether you'rea certified avant mechanic
coach, whether you're acertified avant mechanic coach
in training, or whether you'reyou know coached, whether you're
a coach in another methodology,this will be really helpful for
you.
And of course, Andrewessentially runs our coaching
business, so you won't just geta behaviour change insight for
(28:14):
yourself and your clients,you'll also see how Andrew is uh
driving the business side of youknow running a coaching
business.
If you're a leader, you'refeeling pressure to get your
people using AI, you're seeingyour people are overwhelmed by
all of this, but you see anopportunity if you can get
(28:37):
really good at understanding howto make an AI a team,
organization, business work,then there's massive opportunity
for you.
This is a great fit.
If you're into professionalforward thinking, you're seeing
AI is in your business already,and there's pressure for you to
(29:00):
use it to do more output, or yousee that it's coming in.
You know, we're going throughphases here.
Um, we you've seen it before,you know, with mobile phones, no
one really used them, and thenthey did, and then they got
better and then they got better.
That window, the equivalentwindow for AI, is probably gonna
happen about 10 times faster.
So, what took you know, mobilephones 10 years to do, we'll see
(29:23):
this in 12 months.
So the next two years are gonnabe massive.
Well, the next 12 months, thenext 24 months, and they're
gonna be massive.
So if you're just aforward-thinking professional
and you're looking for not justa course, not just a community
forum, not just a session,you're looking for that
one-to-one coaching support, andthat's what we're offering.
We have never done this before,like this.
(29:44):
So I'm I'm so excited because Iknow how powerful the one-to-one
coaching is, then this is agreat fit for you as well.
If you're a parent and you'reworried about your kids,
thinking, right, what do theyneed to learn?
What's what's the world of workgoing to look like?
And I know even thinking aboutthat is stressful, then this is
(30:06):
also a great fit.
Um, because if you really wantto understand what it's going to
be like for your kids and how tobest support them, you need to
get your head around this aswell.
And the six habits is the beststarting place.
And Andrew, as well as workingwith I mean, he works with hedge
fund managers, senior leaders ofbig businesses, professional
(30:30):
athletes, um, professionals whowant to do better.
He works with coaches, he's ourhead of coaching, he trains
coaches up, but also he works ineducation because that's his
kind of passion project.
So if you do have kids, Andrewis arguably the world's leading
authority on um habits,high-performing habits for the
(30:52):
AI era, because literally hedelivers the only program in the
world that I know of that isactually teaching this to young
people.
So if you're a parent, this is agreat fit for you as well.
So I've got a frog in my throat,which AI can't cure, I don't
think.
Um, but um so I get that theworld is overwhelming, and
(31:19):
that's really been hit home tome, just how frightened.
People are of this technologyover the last couple of weeks.
But we have the solutions we canhelp you using robust
neuroscience, behavioralscience, but through our
practical brain stateintelligence frameworks, and now
(31:41):
our six habits forhigh-performing AIRA
professionals, our four habitsfor high performing AI era
leaders, and our five habits forhigh performing AI era teams.
We've got you covered, and we'renow you can get a one-to-one
coaching support to do this at aridiculously accessible price.
(32:07):
Um, but I I just wanted to dothis, so I wanted to make it as
accessible as possible forpeople.
So you may have seen an emailfrom us that will offer you a
free call with Andrew.
Um you haven't seen that.
I'll put the link beneath thepodcast so you can have a chat
(32:31):
with Andrew.
You'll get a lot of benefit outof the chat, and you'll see if
this is a good fit for you, ifwe think you're a good fit for
the program, and then hopefullywe get the chance to work
together.
Um, and not only help you to beat your best, and you're gonna
(32:55):
help us to be at our bestbecause you'll hold hold us
accountable, but you're alsogonna learn how to you know pass
on the ideas that you're umlearning for yourself to others,
either just in a general way, oryou can always also become a
certified habit mechanic coach.
We continue.
We'll be offering some more uhtraining grants on that in the
(33:19):
coming week or so.
So, yeah, really, reallyexciting.
So I think the takeaway here isthat I understand why people are
scared.
I actually understandneurobiologically why we're
scared and why this isthreatening.
Um but please believe me thatthis is the biggest opportunity
(33:44):
that I think we've ever had forour health, our happiness, and
our performance.
We've got a, as one of my uh oldbosses used to say, if uh
football manager who won, Ithink he won uh four league,
(34:06):
four or five league titles, ormaybe maybe five promotions and
three league titles, gottacontrol the controllables, John.
So that's what we can do.
We can't really control you knowhow much money NVIDIA and Google
and everybody else is pumpinginto AI to build out the
(34:26):
infrastructure, um to make itinevitable that this is just
becomes part of how we live.
What we can do is first of allunderstand how to build the
habits to be at our best, andthen understand how we can build
on those foundational habits tothrive in the AI era, and we've
(34:48):
got you covered on that.
And if one-to-one coachingsounds interesting to you, then
do book a call, do speak toAndrew, and we'd we'd love to
hopefully see you as part of ourof our of our group and as uh
one of one of Andrew's uhcoaches, but also part of the
(35:12):
bigger community as well.
And as all of these things, weonly have a limited number of
places.
I don't say that literally.
Andrew's got only so much timeto deliver this programme, so he
will only be taking on um alimited number of people.
So yeah, that's good.
Slightly different podcasts, abit of a digest of all the
(35:34):
things I've been working on forthe last few weeks.
But um, thank you for listening.
Remember, you can book a callwith Andrew below.
And however you're feeling rightnow, however, overwhelmed or
stressed or tired you are,remember you're only ever one
branch that habit away.
Hello, Habit Mechanics.
It's Dr.
John Finn here.
I hope you're having a fantasticweek so far.
I wanted to touch base reallybecause I've not done a podcast
uh for a few weeks, but I havebeen very busy attending and
contributing to AI events.
(01:46):
So I've been part of a paneldiscussion at um university
where there was a range ofpeople from the private sector
and the public sector talkingabout how they're using AI, what
benefits they're getting, whatchallenges they're facing.
Um then I was that more of aprivate dinner with business
(02:10):
leaders just hearing about umthe different stages businesses
are at on their journey withembedding AI everywhere from
very sophisticated gettingmassive wins all the way through
to um you know just starting thejourney, but also some of the
(02:30):
stories about it's not actuallythe the opportunities and the
challenges for businesses arenot just the businesses using
AI, it's their clients, it'stheir uh partner businesses
because that escalates thevolume of replies and the
intensity of sort of informationflow, if you like.
(02:53):
So that was really interestinginsight.
And then I attended um a paneldiscussion where I was just a
member of the audience last weekwith some really interesting
people, again, from a range ofacademic through to um the
National Health Service and themedical side and then uh private
(03:14):
business, you know, and thingslike AI is gonna completely
transform how we delivermedicine within the next two
years, not in two years' time,but it's gonna start to really
shake things up almostimminently because the tech is
here and it's so much moreefficient to deliver many of the
(03:35):
surface services using neuralnetwork AI.
So I thought it was useful tocome back and just at a high
level reflect on what I'mseeing, um, because this is a
unique period of history wherewe have this new powerful
technology, it's constantly inthe news.
Um there's the constant noiseabout is it real or not, is it a
(04:00):
bubble?
I'll come back to that in asecond.
But I think ultimately for themajority of people, AI can feel
stressful, it can feeloverwhelming, it can feel
threatening, it can raisequestions about your future that
you you don't want to have to bethinking about what's going to
(04:22):
go on for the kids, all thiskind of stuff.
So I want to deal with that kindof cornerstone, foundational
thing of it being stressful.
Let me come on to go back to thebubble piece.
So the the headlines in thepress, if you follow the the
(04:44):
newspapers or the the websitesyou get your new you get we get
news from, there's a strongnarrative about is AI, are the
AI companies overvalued.
Now, what you may see if youactually look is that the
companies that are most uminvolved in AI that are
(05:04):
investing the most money, theyare becoming more valuable than
any other business we have everseen before or any other
businesses on the planet, right?
So we've got NVIDIA that makesthe hardware, they make uh very
powerful AI chips, kind of thepremium chips in the world.
They can't make enough of themat the moment.
(05:27):
Um they're I think about sixmonths ago they were valued at
about four trillion, yes, fourtrillion, not a billion, and
then more recently that jumpedup to five trillion, and then
Microsoft followed suit.
They broke um four trillionfirst time ever, and then Google
(05:50):
are kind of stalking behindthem.
I think Google's pretty muchdoubled its valuation in the
last 18 months, and now they'revalued at about three and a half
trillion.
Um, so the numbers arephenomenal.
So when we think about bubbles,we think about the internet
crash, the internet bubble,stores like um pet.com, etc.,
(06:15):
being massively overvalued.
There's a big difference withwhat's currently going on.
So, what was very interesting,for example, just last week,
less than a week ago, was thatNVIDIA um they had a a quarterly
earnings announcement coming up,and they actually grew their
(06:40):
business 60% more than themarkets expected them to.
So there was a lot of talk aboutthey wouldn't hit the target the
markets had expected.
I think they sold an additional$500 billion worth of uh chips.
(07:00):
So the numbers are phenomenal.
Um so when you hear about thebubble, it's not a question of
the technology and whether itworks or not, it's just really
are some of these um thevaluations of the businesses,
are they overvalued?
And by any standard measurement,they are overvalued, but we're
(07:22):
not in a standard period ofhistory.
Um, you know, and if you wipe atrillion off um NVIDIA, they're
not gonna crash, right?
They're still gonna be okay.
But really, we we've got tounderstand what phase of AI
we're in, and we're really inthe build-out phase right now.
So what businesses are investingin is infrastructure build out,
(07:43):
they're investing in datacenters, which they need chips
for.
Uh Google are making a big beton creating their own chip so
they can compete with NVIDIA.
So I know this kind of technicaldiscussion might not be that
interesting to some people thatare listening.
But I think it's important thatwe understand that the AI is not
(08:07):
going away.
So there may be the noisearound, it's a bubble, but the
tech's proven in the sense of itcan do lots of things.
The Igentica I can do lots ofthings, and the automated
processes much faster andcheaper than humans, and its
ability to do things much checkmuch faster and cheaper than
(08:27):
humans in some very specifictasks is accelerating, you know,
almost every week.
The tools are becoming more andmore powerful.
And then um we have thegenerative AI, and if you know
anyone who's you know dedicatedsome time to properly learn how
to use generative AI, um thingslike Claude and Chat GTP and uh
(08:53):
Gemini, and there are moreindustry-specific ones as well.
Some businesses have built theirown at great cost, they'll tell
you how much faster they're ableto get through their complex,
high-impact thinking, working,and doing.
And what I personally see in myown workflows is that I can 7x
(09:15):
my output every day, which Iknow sounds phenomenal, but I I
can.
I've been doing it consistentlynow.
Um so yeah, it's very, very,very powerful technology and
it's not going away.
And yeah, there are some ethicalconcerns and things like that.
(09:36):
It was very interesting that umthe very senior medical person
who was uh on the discussion nowis that in London last week.
He was asked by one of the otherpanelists, would you trust um AI
(09:58):
to deliver medical servicesversus you know human beings
delivering the medical services?
And his response was veryinteresting.
He said, I I regularly followdoctors around wards to see what
they're doing, it's part of myjob, and I see them hallucinate
and I see them make mistakes andI see them give patients wrong
(10:20):
advice, and I see they have lotsof errors in their thinking, and
AI also has errors in how itthinks, but what his point was
so he he said I would trust AIover doctors because he said I
can see the errors that AI aremaking and we can program out
(10:41):
their errors, whereas withdoctors it's much more difficult
to program out the errors.
So, you know, these are peoplethat have been working with
these technologies for a longtime and they've really thought
about this stuff, and it's justvery, very fascinating.
I don't think anyone expectedhim to say that.
So, but you hear all theseamazing insights, what this
(11:03):
stuff can do, but thenconsistently, what I hear from
the audience, both in the panelI was part of, but in these
other discussions I've I've beenattending and the dinner I went
to is fear, anxiety.
People are worried, they'rescared, they are uncertain, and
(11:25):
that's all on top of a worldwhich already has a ton of
anxiety and uncertainty in it,you know, arguably more than
ever before, as we getoverloaded by digital uh
interactions and information andjust constant bombardment,
(11:49):
harder to sleep well, harder toum eat properly, harder to
exercise like we need to to getour brain working well, harder
to uh manage stress, andtherefore harder to focus when
we need to.
So AI is coming into our livesat a time when we're already
(12:12):
fatigued, you know, some arealready exhausted.
I think most days of the week,everybody will feel overwhelmed
at some point when the AI isjust adding to that, and
businesses are under pressurefrom uh shareholders to deploy
(12:33):
it and to put it into theirbusinesses because it's very
clear that when you get the AIright, it can have a phenomenal
impact.
And you hear stories like uhAmazon, they're they've laid off
14,000 people.
Now they're a massiveorganization, right?
(12:53):
But the fact that they thinkthey can replace 14,000 people
with the technology is a prettyphenomenal statement.
We hear from um companies likeSalesforce who've pioneered
agentic AI workflows, massivecompany.
They say they've halved theirworkforce by uh replacing lots
(13:15):
of tasks they used to pay humansto do with agentic AI.
This is not something to beworried about because we need
people, we need good people onthis journey, and AI is gonna
create lots of new jobs as well.
Uh, probably not as many as itis it's predicted to replace,
just being frank.
(13:36):
But I don't think we're gonnasee mass unemployment with this
kind of technologies wecurrently have.
But what we are gonna see isthat businesses that use AI
really effectively, and thatmeans businesses with people
that use AI really effectivelyare gonna get a massive
competitive advantage.
(13:57):
They're gonna be able to delivertheir services much cheaper than
their competitors and in a muchfaster, more impressive way to
their to their customers thantheir competitors can ultimately
delights their customers and getsome more and more customers
because that's how businessworks, right?
(14:19):
So, what what I'm seeing is thatpeople are worried, they're
stressed, they need help, andthey need support.
And the journey we've been onover probably 15, 16, maybe 18
months now is we've been workingout how do we make it really
(14:41):
easy for people to get to be attheir best, and if they want to
to build AI into theirworkflows, it's 90% about
helping people to be at theirbest, and that AI is there if
you want to use it.
Um there's some people that arenot gonna have to use AI in
(15:02):
their in their roles, um butthat's what we've been working
on, and you may have read TrainYour Brain for the AI
Revolution, and you will I meanI think we're talking I'm
talking myself down a little bitbecause I do talk about AI in
the habit mechanic as well,which is significantly older
(15:23):
than 18 months ago.
So we but the neural network AIis new, but anyway, so we know
that if we want to help peopleto thrive, and I I'm very
optimistic about the positiveimpact AI can have, it's not
gonna go away, there's too muchinvested in it, so we have to
make we have to make it work forus.
Um we want to help people toactually have the very best
(15:52):
chance of thriving in the AIera, and you will know if you've
read Train Your Brain for the AIRevolution that we see that
brain state intelligence is thekey.
And because brain stateintelligence at a high level
might feel a bit ambiguous,we've gone further and we've
(16:17):
broken that down into six corehabits.
The first habit is what weunpack in um and just to go
back, sorry, the six corehabits, the six habits of high
performing AI era professionals.
And the first habit is thefour-step framework that we
unpack in Train Your Brain forthe AR evolution.
(16:41):
But again, reading the bookdoesn't build the habit, it
shows you the system, right?
And then we've gone further andwe've created the four habits
for high-performing AI eraleaders and the five habits for
high performing AI era teams.
We haven't just made thesethings up overnight, it's a
refinement of what we've workedon for over 25 years, and we
(17:05):
know that if you build those sixhabits in the first instance,
that that is the key to actuallynot only developing your
brainstorm intelligence, butbeing healthier, being happier,
being at your best more often.
And if I just go through thosesix habits again, because I
(17:27):
think I mentioned in the lastpodcast, it's habit one is build
a 30-day focus loop.
This fires up our motivation, itkeeps us focused on being at our
best every day.
So we've got those have the bestchance of being healthy,
healthy, and happy.
Habit two is about rechargingthe cognitive battery.
(17:50):
This is about just getting ourbrain working really well.
So once we fired up thatmotivation, we've got to make
sure our brain is working reallywell.
That's our priority.
So good sleep, good diet, goodexercise.
Then every day our brain isgetting filled full of potential
stresses, disconnections ofmeaning systems, kicking off
(18:13):
stress responses in our brainand our body.
It's unavoidable in the world welive in, even if we're very good
at managing stress.
So we need to be better thanever.
We almost need to be likeworld-class at recoding the
stress response, and that'shabit three.
And we have lots of uh ways tohelp you to build that habit.
(18:35):
And then habit four is aboutrecognising that as we go into
the future, it's becoming moreand more uncertain, and
therefore, the things that havegiven us self-efficacy and
self-esteem, in other words,confidence, um, because they're
the two components ofconfidence, they may become less
(18:58):
relevant.
Um, so we're gonna have to keepvery deliberately engineering
our own robust confidence, andthere are lots of things that
you can do habitually to buildup your confidence so you're not
constantly questioning yourselfand doubting yourself.
Habit five is about preparingfor pressure because we're
(19:20):
increasingly under pressure, uhmany, many people are, to do
things really well that they'veliterally never done before.
Run a team of people that areco-working with AI, extend my
high charge uh hours that I'mable to do every day.
(19:41):
Business is gonna expect me tobe able to do more high charge,
more high impact, deal it dealwith more volume of uh feedback
from clients, etc.
And you can see there, thosefirst five habits are really all
about getting your brain workingreally well.
Um, so again, dealing with thatoverwhelm and the high volume of
(20:05):
stress we're experiencing, andthen um habit six is about
building laser sharp focus.
So once we get the um thefoundations of great brain
function, then we can use thatas the platform to really focus
our attention on to what is mosthelpful for us and get into
(20:27):
those high-charge brain statesconsistently.
So by working through those sixhabits, you are gonna become
brain state intelligent, you'regonna become healthier, you're
gonna become happier, you'regonna be at your best more
often, you're gonna thrive inthe AI era, and if you want to,
you're gonna be able toseamlessly build both agentic
(20:51):
and generative AI into yourworkflows, just one tiny thing
at a time.
So rather than feelingoverwhelmed, rather than
worrying, we need to beproactive.
We need to start taking control,and it starts with brain state
(21:13):
management.
So if you haven't already, or ifyou've picked up a copy and you
haven't read it, go back throughtrain your brain for the AI
revolution because the successcycle is the cornerstone of us
being healthier, happier, and atour best, but it's only the
starting point, it gives youkind of the framework to make it
easier to build other habitsoff, which is the six habits I'm
(21:37):
talking about.
And excitingly, well, you youalready know that we are
training coaches, and again, onmy journeys over the last few
weeks, and in fact, this wasjust yesterday, some very big
sets of compelling data comingout showing that the growth
opportunity, as I've beensaying, don't want to be an oil,
(22:00):
but as I've been saying, thebiggest growth area right now in
uh professional services ishelping people to get AI ready.
It's not the technical training,it's not helping them to build
AI uh chatbots, it's actuallyhelping people to adopt their
(22:22):
behaviors so that they can getthe most out of the technology
the business is invested in.
Um, but my senses and my myprofessional experience would
say that the traditional changemanagement systems, which are
the ones that are starting to berolled out, will fail because
they're not they're not designedwith the brain in mind, they're
(22:43):
not designed in first principleinsights, and that's why we're
training people to becomecertified habit mechanic
coaches, so they can trainpeople in these six habits,
which is the key to beinghealthy, happy, and at your best
in the AI era.
And whether you work in abusiness or you're um you want
(23:07):
to set up your own businessdoing this as a coach or a
consultant, this is the trainingthat you can do to actually
learn how to help humans thrivein the AI era.
So we've got that, but then alsoexcitingly, um my my time is
very limited, but I know thathuman support is the best way to
(23:35):
help people to be at their best,and therefore working with our
head of coaching, Andrew Foster,who I've worked with for over 14
years now, and I've known for alot longer than that.
Um, we've created a new program,and the program is called
one-to-one coaching for AI erasuccess.
(24:00):
So we want to offer peopleone-to-one coaching so they can
turn the AI era into theirspringboard for success.
So you want to flip thatnarrative.
The AI era is not threatening,it's an opportunity, it's an
opportunity, and the opportunityis moving quickly.
Um, we've been deep into thisnow for nearly 12 months in the
(24:25):
sense of I wrote the book aboutthis, right?
I started writing that about 12months ago, where I started to
get really deep into this.
But we've been working withpeople with these methodologies
for longer than that, uh,probably since summer of 2024.
We've had, you know, that that'sbeen premium um premium priced
(24:46):
programs, really with top-levelexecutives, but we've created a
one-to-one coaching program now,which we think is a much more
accessible um price point forpeople.
It this is not uh a salestactic, this is you get
one-to-one coaching, um, andit's a monthly program where you
(25:09):
don't just get one-to-onecoaching, you also get a number
of other things.
So you you get to work withAndrew, um, you get a block of
60 minutes every month, whichyou can chunk down into
half-hour sessions or 15-minutesessions, it's entirely up to
you, and you get on-demandsupport with him as well.
(25:31):
So he's there available for you,um, email, WhatsApp, whatever
you want to do.
So, literally, you're gonna getnot just a coach but an
accountability partner as well,who is the person that I would
go to for coaching.
And then I'm working with Andrewin the background, and I'm gonna
be available every other weekfor group sessions.
So, we're gonna do live groupcoaching and training where I'll
(25:54):
be available for questions andto help uh you know guide
people.
Then, what we're also doing iswe have a monthly challenge
around the six habits, sothere's a theme for the month,
and we've got our um our app setup, so you've got that uh uh
daily content that you can uh goin and and use.
(26:19):
We've got the six habits programavailable, the six habits
training as part of thismembership.
Um so you can buy the Six Habitsprogram as a standalone offer,
but also we've put it into thismembership if you want that.
Um, so you can actually getcertified as well.
(26:41):
There's a certified AI proofprofessional.
We've put all of our trainingcontent into the membership, so
you've got all our masterclasses and all our core
resources and all our coretools, and then we also have a
community membership uh or acommunity forum, you know, where
(27:01):
you can post, learn from others,see what other people are doing,
and we've we know that worksreally well.
Um so we've made that availableas well.
So, yeah, excitingly, we havethis new program.
Um we're not accepting justanybody onto it, and we think
(27:26):
the best way for you to seewhether it's a good fit for you,
and if you're a good fit for us,is um to to have a call with
Andrew, our head of coach, andAndrew Foster.
So Andrew's offering some freecalls so you can see how this
will be helpful for you.
If you're a coach, this is agreat program because it'll help
(27:50):
you to kind of practice what youpreach sharpen at what you're
doing, you know, whether you'rea certified avant mechanic
coach, whether you're acertified avant mechanic coach
in training, or whether you'reyou know coached, whether you're
a coach in another methodology,this will be really helpful for
you.
And of course, Andrewessentially runs our coaching
business, so you won't just geta behaviour change insight for
(28:14):
yourself and your clients,you'll also see how Andrew is uh
driving the business side of youknow running a coaching
business.
If you're a leader, you'refeeling pressure to get your
people using AI, you're seeingyour people are overwhelmed by
all of this, but you see anopportunity if you can get
(28:37):
really good at understanding howto make an AI a team,
organization, business work,then there's massive opportunity
for you.
This is a great fit.
If you're into professionalforward thinking, you're seeing
AI is in your business already,and there's pressure for you to
(29:00):
use it to do more output, or yousee that it's coming in.
You know, we're going throughphases here.
Um, we you've seen it before,you know, with mobile phones, no
one really used them, and thenthey did, and then they got
better and then they got better.
That window, the equivalentwindow for AI, is probably gonna
happen about 10 times faster.
So, what took you know, mobilephones 10 years to do, we'll see
(29:23):
this in 12 months.
So the next two years are gonnabe massive.
Well, the next 12 months, thenext 24 months, and they're
gonna be massive.
So if you're just aforward-thinking professional
and you're looking for not justa course, not just a community
forum, not just a session,you're looking for that
one-to-one coaching support, andthat's what we're offering.
We have never done this before,like this.
(29:44):
So I'm I'm so excited because Iknow how powerful the one-to-one
coaching is, then this is agreat fit for you as well.
If you're a parent and you'reworried about your kids,
thinking, right, what do theyneed to learn?
What's what's the world of workgoing to look like?
And I know even thinking aboutthat is stressful, then this is
(30:06):
also a great fit.
Um, because if you really wantto understand what it's going to
be like for your kids and how tobest support them, you need to
get your head around this aswell.
And the six habits is the beststarting place.
And Andrew, as well as workingwith I mean, he works with hedge
fund managers, senior leaders ofbig businesses, professional
(30:30):
athletes, um, professionals whowant to do better.
He works with coaches, he's ourhead of coaching, he trains
coaches up, but also he works ineducation because that's his
kind of passion project.
So if you do have kids, Andrewis arguably the world's leading
authority on um habits,high-performing habits for the
(30:52):
AI era, because literally hedelivers the only program in the
world that I know of that isactually teaching this to young
people.
So if you're a parent, this is agreat fit for you as well.
So I've got a frog in my throat,which AI can't cure, I don't
think.
Um, but um so I get that theworld is overwhelming, and
(31:19):
that's really been hit home tome, just how frightened.
People are of this technologyover the last couple of weeks.
But we have the solutions we canhelp you using robust
neuroscience, behavioralscience, but through our
practical brain stateintelligence frameworks, and now
(31:41):
our six habits forhigh-performing AIRA
professionals, our four habitsfor high performing AI era
leaders, and our five habits forhigh performing AI era teams.
We've got you covered, and we'renow you can get a one-to-one
coaching support to do this at aridiculously accessible price.
(32:07):
Um, but I I just wanted to dothis, so I wanted to make it as
accessible as possible forpeople.
So you may have seen an emailfrom us that will offer you a
free call with Andrew.
Um you haven't seen that.
I'll put the link beneath thepodcast so you can have a chat
(32:31):
with Andrew.
You'll get a lot of benefit outof the chat, and you'll see if
this is a good fit for you, ifwe think you're a good fit for
the program, and then hopefullywe get the chance to work
together.
Um, and not only help you to beat your best, and you're gonna
(32:55):
help us to be at our bestbecause you'll hold hold us
accountable, but you're alsogonna learn how to you know pass
on the ideas that you're umlearning for yourself to others,
either just in a general way, oryou can always also become a
certified habit mechanic coach.
We continue.
We'll be offering some more uhtraining grants on that in the
(33:19):
coming week or so.
So, yeah, really, reallyexciting.
So I think the takeaway here isthat I understand why people are
scared.
I actually understandneurobiologically why we're
scared and why this isthreatening.
Um but please believe me thatthis is the biggest opportunity
(33:44):
that I think we've ever had forour health, our happiness, and
our performance.
We've got a, as one of my uh oldbosses used to say, if uh
football manager who won, Ithink he won uh four league,
(34:06):
four or five league titles, ormaybe maybe five promotions and
three league titles, gottacontrol the controllables, John.
So that's what we can do.
We can't really control you knowhow much money NVIDIA and Google
and everybody else is pumpinginto AI to build out the
(34:26):
infrastructure, um to make itinevitable that this is just
becomes part of how we live.
What we can do is first of allunderstand how to build the
habits to be at our best, andthen understand how we can build
on those foundational habits tothrive in the AI era, and we've
(34:48):
got you covered on that.
And if one-to-one coachingsounds interesting to you, then
do book a call, do speak toAndrew, and we'd we'd love to
hopefully see you as part of ourof our of our group and as uh
one of one of Andrew's uhcoaches, but also part of the
(35:12):
bigger community as well.
And as all of these things, weonly have a limited number of
places.
I don't say that literally.
Andrew's got only so much timeto deliver this programme, so he
will only be taking on um alimited number of people.
So yeah, that's good.
Slightly different podcasts, abit of a digest of all the
(35:34):
things I've been working on forthe last few weeks.
But um, thank you for listening.
Remember, you can book a callwith Andrew below.
And however you're feeling rightnow, however, overwhelmed or
stressed or tired you are,remember you're only ever one
branch that habit away.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.