Dear Futureweaver,

I'm writing this as I land home after my 40th birthday, which I spent in the desert with my family. Time slowed down out there.

And coming back, I could feel how stark the contrast is with everyday life. It was a similar feeling when I came back from South Africa.

I hear this often from you, from friends, from clients: time feels like it's moving faster than ever.

Technology is advancing at a pace our nervous systems weren’t designed for. AI is reshaping entire industries in months instead of years. There's a collective acceleration that most of us can feel in our bodies, whether we have language for it or not.

This is why slowing down isn't optional in 2026. We need to keep our nervous systems as regulated as we can so we can remain in the calm eye of the storm swirling around us.

I don't say this from a fear-based place. I truly believe we're moving somewhere wildly beautiful.
But transitions are rarely neat, and that’s the reality.

This is why we practice. This is why we've been practicing. For these times.

What I'm Reflecting On

Over the last couple months, as I got ready to say goodbye to my thirties, I read through all my journal entries of the past decade.

Ten years of morning pages, reflections, dreams, fears, breakthroughs, and questions. Thousands of pages documenting the inner landscape of moving to a new country, growing a business, finding love and self-love, navigating grief and loss, honing my gift of seeing and feeling the future, and so much more, all while learning to trust the unfolding through all of it.

I could have done this alone, but I decided to work with AI to help identify patterns I might miss on my own. Not to interpret my experience for me, but to surface repeating themes, track my lessons and growth, and show me where I've been circling the same questions year after year.

What emerged took me on a ride.

Claude gently reminded me that trying to force results or getting too attached to specific outcomes rarely works out for me. If you'd asked me before this exercise how often I actually reach the quantifiable goals I set, I probably would have said 90% of the time.

The actual number? About 40%.

I was shocked. But here's what fascinated me: when I set an intention loosely, or held a vision of a possibility, or expressed something I wanted without clinging to the how, those things almost always happened. They just came in different forms than I'd sometimes envisioned or would have planned for.

Another pattern Claude pointed out is that at the beginning of the decade, my journals were full of language about "going bigger" and "playing bigger." Bigger audience. Bigger revenue. Bigger book deal and media appearances. I was chasing scale as if it were the measure of success itself.

That shifted entirely by my mid-thirties. Going bigger became going deeper. I stopped asking "How can I reach more people?" and started asking "Am I aligned with my truth right now?"
I stopped caring about follower counts and started focusing on my highest and best use in each moment.

Sometimes that looked like launching a new offer. Sometimes it was writing a book and sharing more publicly. Sometimes it was lending my resources and expertise pro bono to an organization solving a big problem in the world.

One time, it was spending my entire day saving the life of a squirrel.

I found an injured baby squirrel, held it in a towel, spent hours coordinating a private wildlife rescue (that I footed the bill for), and felt more connected to all of life that day than I had in awhile.

What does alignment actually look like for you? Not the version you think you're supposed to want, but the one that feels true in your body when you get quiet enough to listen.

What patterns might be running your life that you can't see yet? What would you discover if you looked back at your own decade with fresh eyes?

These are just a few of many lessons I learned from reading my journals. If you keep a journal, I highly recommend a similar process that I took on where you work with AI to uncover some of the threads in your own story you may not be seeing.

I wonder what we’ll be looking back and reflecting on ten years from now?

What I'm Reading

There's an MIT study that's changing what we know about AI and creativity.

The finding? Creativity is the new productivity.

We spent the last few decades obsessed with doing more, faster, better. Optimizing every process. Squeezing more output from every hour.

But AI is flipping that paradigm completely.

When working with AI in the right way, we can actually expand our creative capacities rather than diminish them.

The study shows that people who use AI as a collaborative thinking partner—not just a task-completion tool—experience significant increases in creative output and original thinking.

Speaking of reading, I read about four hours a day for my work as a futurist. A lot of this reading is corporate news, global news, studies, the latest research, nonfiction books, etc. It's necessary for staying on top of what's emerging, and honestly, four hours a day just scratches the surface.

Somewhere along the way, my reading became almost entirely utilitarian. Useful, yes. But it left something important behind.

This year, I'm returning to stories and reading physical books because I think it’s good for our minds, hearts, and souls.

I'm starting with Klara and the Sun. My sister, who's a librarian and always on the pulse of the literary world, recommended it. It's a novel about an Artificial Friend named Klara who explores what it means to love, to be conscious, to be devoted. It feels like the right place to begin. It’s kinda work-adjacent haha ;) but in a way that stretches my imagination.

Want to read along, and perhaps discuss in the future? Get the book here.

Stories expand us in ways data can't. They deepen our empathy, stretch our thinking, and help us rehearse futures before they arrive. In a time of rapid change, that feels like a skill worth nurturing.

What I'm Offering

We're at an inflection point right now that reminds me of the 1990s.

Back then, there were businesses becoming internet businesses and businesses deciding not to. Blockbuster had the opportunity to acquire Netflix. They waited too long, and they're no longer around. This is just one example of many.

In 2026, we all need to become AI-integrated entrepreneurs. Not someday. Not when you feel ready. Right now.

Because the gap between those who integrate AI thoughtfully into their work and those who don't is widening every single day. And soon, it will be a width that’s much harder to cross.

That's why I'm hosting a free three-day AI-Integrated Entrepreneur experience January 27th, 28th, and 29th.

You’ll step into the identity of an AI-Integrated Entrepreneur in your own way that aligns with your vision and values.

You’ll get an AI-Integrated Blueprint with your best next steps to take based on your business, core offer, and audience.

You’ll see my AI Dream Team in action, and demos that expand how you work with AI.

Save your free seat here.

Happy 2026, and I’m looking forward to navigating the year ahead, and whatever it brings, together.

Until next time, Futureweaver.

Natalie