From AI entrepreneur Matt Shumer's February 9, 2026 mega-viral post Something Big Is Happening, that garnered nearly 70 million views in 36 hours:

"This might be the most important year of your career. Work accordingly. 

…I am no longer needed for the actual technical work of my job.

…I know this isn't a fad. The technology works, it improves predictably, and the richest institutions in history are committing trillions to it.

I know the next two to five years are going to be disorienting in ways most people aren't prepared for. This is already happening in my world. It's coming to yours.

I know the people who will come out of this best are the ones who start engaging now — not with fear, but with curiosity and a sense of urgency."

Fear is natural in our current times. The impact and direction of the rise of AI is unknown and it’s a generational change. It has been equated to the arrival of electricity and even fire. What would you do if you knew electricity was coming? How can we not be frozen by fear and uncertainty but instead be proactive and drive toward being in the best position possible in the coming years? 

If AI were to come for your job, how can you already have positioned yourself to be the valued Human Oversight and Human Augmenting component of that function?  What human skills - connection, influence, judgement, taste, insight, etc. do you need to get fluent in? 

As an Executive Mental Skills Strategist, my work starts from a simple truth: most leaders don’t struggle because they lack information. When they experience struggle, it’s because they aren’t able to access their ability to stay clear, grounded, and adaptive. They may be challenged with a political situation that tests their interpersonal savvy. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, complexity, and rapid change, your competitive edge is no longer what you know — it’s how powerfully human you can remain when things get difficult.

Practical Human Intelligence is the operating system I use to help leaders build that edge. It’s a disciplined approach to developing the mental capabilities that drive real-world performance under uncertainty. The framework is built around four pillars — each representing a different way you shape the world around you.

• Personal Mastery — How you shape yourself:
  Self-awareness, emotional discipline, agency, action orientation, and peak performance mental skills. This is the inner infrastructure of effectiveness. It’s the capacity to regulate your internal reactions, override unhelpful narratives, stay intentional under stress, and move in alignment with the long game. Without this pillar, every other capability collapses under pressure.

• Power & Influence — How you shape relationships:
  Human connection and relationship-building that is aligned with your values. This is about skills like presence, persuasion, personal brand, principled networking, and difficult conversations. The ability to shift a room, align people, and build durable relationships is essential for leaders at all levels.

• Judgement — How you shape ideas and decisions:
  Original thinking, intellect, resourcefulness, and non-reactive wisdom. In a world of noise and algorithmic answers, leaders must think independently. Judgement is the mental skill that separates reactive decision-making from intelligent action. It is the ability to see clearly, connect insights, and choose well when the stakes are high.

• Adaptability — How you respond to uncertainty:
  Intuition, mindsets, positioning, decisive action, your ability to create luck, and knowing how relationships can enhance options …these are some of the capabilities of adaptability. They are built through deliberate and disciplined practice. It’s how you stay effective when the conditions shift, when information is incomplete, and when the path forward is not obvious.

Practical Human Intelligence is not abstract philosophy. It’s a set of trainable mental skills that allow you to operate with clarity, influence, and resilience in environments that are unpredictable. When you strengthen these four pillars, you reduce unnecessary struggle, increase your strategic impact, and lead with a steadiness that others depend on.

This is the work:

Shaping yourself, shaping relationships, shaping your thinking, and shaping your response to uncertainty - so that no matter what happens around you, you can perform at your best!