“What next?” I can help you find excellent answers to this essential question.
ABOUT
Lately I’ve been using AI to help a lot more people than I ever could before. If feels wonderful.
The AI-guided explorations on this site grew out of my work as a ghostwriter, coach, author and student of what helps people become more honest with themselves.
Most people do not need more advice. They need a way to slow down, tell the truth and notice what they already know. For the past 15 years, I’ve helped my clients find the words they could not quite find on their own. These AI sessions deliver remarkably similar benefits.
So far, I’ve built the five different AI explorations described below. Each exploration costs $50.
IKIGAI EXPLORER AI
Gain self-awareness and focus.
Get ready for an incredible four to five-hour conversation… perhaps the deepest conversation you have ever had.
It will strengthen your self-awareness, making you better able to see your strengths as well as your weaknesses. This will allow to to make critically important adjustments in your career and life.
Ikigai Explorer guides you into a revealing look at what you love, where your talents lie, what others need from you, and what people in the past have been willing to pay you to do.
The guide asks you questions, and then more questions underneath those questions, the way a good therapist or a trusted coach might. But this is very different from working with either.
The guide is much more patient and generous with its time. Virtually no one spends five hours straight with their coach. With them, you can’t get up, go running and jump back into the conversation. You can’t wake up at 2 a.m. and keep talking.
But with the guide, you can.
No one has ever seen and heard you like Ikigai Explorer guide will see you.
When it's over, you get a written transcript of the entire conversation, filled with the words you never before could summon to describe your life, needs, goals and desires.
You’ll also receive a summary—your Ikigai map—that reflects back what emerged.
Here's what you don't get: a personality type, a color, an archetype, a label. No "you're an ENFP" or "you're a visionary." Ikigai Explorer isn't trying to put you in a box. It's trying to find what's true about you specifically, and what makes you unique.
What I can tell you is this: the people who've done it aren't describing a product. They're describing an experience. One of them called it "soul-satisfying." Another said she was moved to tears.
Four to five hours. Full written transcript. Your personal Ikigai map. $50
Testimonials for Ikigai Explorer
"What you have created is beyond my comprehension whilst being something that has consumed me, in a positive way with full awareness. It is incredible and I am so grateful. To following you from posts on LinkedIn, to someone changing my life is understandably a quantum leap." —Carolyn R.
"I have been deeply and profoundly touched by the ikigai experience. It took me nearly five hours to complete because I was brutally honest, shared too much, and held nothing back. This has been one of the most emotionally resonating experiences of my life." —Jon H.
“I just finished the Ikigai Explorer. It was revelational. —Saeed P.
”I don't know how you did it, but you built an incredible tool. I've spent 3 hours with it today and we've done amazing work and I have something really tangible and revelatory to work with. I am so grateful. It was a profound experience and i think it might just change the course of my life. Astonishing!” —Emma G.
“HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Ikigai Explorer asks a series of questions, which you answer in a straightforward manner, and before you know it, you are contemplating why you are really here and whether you are doing what you are truly meant to be doing in your life. Your final output is an Ikigai analysis based on the discussion. I stayed up way too late last night going on a journey to my own interior life with this app. It’s amazing!” —Linda C
"I absolutely loved that experience...it truly was remarkable and so sensitive. Beautiful and life-affirming exercise, I'm glad it popped on my LinkedIn and thank you for sharing it." —Karen Q.
”Ikigai Explorer is invaluable. Like talking to the best counsellor, who says the right things, pushes gently, encourages, summarises, and really understands. I have no idea how you put it together, but you did an incredible job and it is well worth the money, no question. I am going to recommend it to everyone I can think of! I am coming up to retirement, so I wanted to get an idea of directions to go in. I feel like I am already doing what I love and am in the right place as it were, but I have been encouraged and inspired to move ahead in two specific areas that I think are right for me. From the bottom of my heart - thank you." —Bryan A.
HARD CONVERSATION AI
The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
You've been carrying this for weeks. Maybe months. The conversation with your spouse, your co-founder, your aging parent, your boss, your friend. The texts you've drafted and didn't send. The version of yourself you keep editing in your head.
This is where you walk through it before you walk into it.
How it works
The Hard Conversation guide doesn't take sides. It doesn't give advice. It asks the questions no one else in your life will ask you. Then it asks the next one. Then the next.
It listens the way no one in your life can listen. Without an opinion. Without a stake in your decision. Without running out of patience. It pushes back when you're being unfair, including to yourself. It refuses easy answers.
The frame is simple. You and the other person both have a stake in something. A marriage. A company. A friendship. A shared goal. The conversation exists to serve that. Not to win. Not to vent. Not to demand the other person change.
What you walk away with
One page. Five sections. What you both serve. What you actually need to say. What to ask first, before you make your case. How you'll open. What to do if it gets hot.
Read it on the drive over. On your phone in the parking lot. Carry it in if you need to.
If the first conversation doesn't go the way you hoped, come back. For ninety days. The Guide remembers what you wrote. You walk through what happened. You decide what's next.
This is not:
Therapy or coaching
A script someone hands you
Advice about what to say
A test of who's right
This is:
Questions no one else will ask
Your own words, found by you
Service of what you both have a stake in
One page you can carry in
TREASURE RESISTANCE AI
What you most resist is pointing somewhere.
You've long been avoiding certain actions, emotions and/or decisions. These are the parts of your life you keep moving past. Some of these areas are so cleverly disguised, even you don't (yet) know they are there.
Resistance is not the enemy. It's the map.
How it works
The Treasure Resistance guide doesn't push you toward your biggest fear. It refuses to. It maps the places your inner voice says "no, not that." The big ones and the small ones. Then it asks what each one is pointing toward.
It listens for what's underneath. The first thing you name as a resistance usually isn't the one that matters most. The Guide notices. It pushes past the convenient answer. It refuses to settle.
The frame is simple. Practice on a manageable resistance first. Build the muscle. The bigger ones stay on the map for later. That's how this actually works.
What you walk away with
One page. Five sections. The markers on your map. What each one is pointing toward. The starter you're leaning into. Your opposite move this week. What's on the map for later.
Reread it as needed to help you move towards your treasure.
If the starter goes well, come back for the next marker. If it doesn't, come back to work out why. Ninety days. The Guide remembers what you wrote. You walk through what happened. You decide what's next.
This is not:
Therapy or coaching
A self-help formula
Advice about what to do
A demand to face your biggest fear
This is:
Questions no one else will ask
Your own words, found by you
A map you can act on this week
Ninety days to build the muscle
TELL YOUR STORY BETTER AI
You've answered "What do you do?" hundreds of times.
You've been getting it wrong.
Your standard reply is a factual description of your current job. The right answer is what you want to do next.
When you say what you want, you give others the opportunity to help you make your dreams come true. When you are too embarrassed or cautious to say what you want, you make it impossible for others to help you.
Your resume says where you've been. Your story should say where you're going.
Most people default to listing what they've done — their title, their company, their credentials. It's safe. It's verifiable. And it's exactly backwards.
The happiest and most successful people nearly always have a sense of what they want to do next, or how they wish to grow. They say where they are headed, not where they've been for the past few years.
One of the main purposes of LinkedIn is to help you discover career opportunities. Yet when you look at how most people present themselves there, they're describing their past to an audience that could open their future. This tool is designed to fix that.
Most people say…
What they've done
Their current job title
Where they've been
A description of the past
What others expect
What actually works…
What they want to do
Where they're headed
How they wish to grow
An invitation to the future
What makes the right person say yes
You will walk away with five ready-to-use documents.
All in your voice. All positioned for where you want to be next.
Short Bio: A concise, compelling introduction that opens doors — not one that closes them by sounding like everyone else.
Long Bio: The full narrative of who you are and where you're headed, told with the arc of a story rather than the flatness of a résumé.
LinkedIn Headline: The single most visible line in your professional presence — rewritten to attract, not merely describe.
LinkedIn About Section: The place where most people bury their ambition in credentials. Yours will say something that makes the right person stop scrolling.
Casual Website About Page: A warm, human version of your story for the visitors who want to know the person, not just the professional.
An AI ghostwriter that listens the way no one else has.
This process begins with an interview — a series of questions about where you want to go, not just where you've been. The questions adapt based on your answers, going deeper where it matters.
The approach is based on my Transformational Listening method: what happens when you listen deeply to another person with the intention to allow them to be seen, heard, and understood. To do this effectively, you must set aside your own ego and agenda. An AI, unburdened by either, may actually be the ideal listener.
This Tell Your Story Better AI guide is inspired by the principles in my book Never Tell People What You Do — the principles that helped me attract over 800,000 followers and half a million newsletter subscribers on LinkedIn.
MAKE A BETTER DECISION AI
Facts blur with fears.
Values blur with obligations.
That's why you're circling.
Most people don't struggle with decisions because they can't choose. They struggle because everything gets mixed together.
Your mind keeps returning to the same loop — not because the answer is impossible, but because the decision hasn't been properly unpacked.
How it works
Better Decision walks you through the same seven-step sequence a skilled coach or advisor might use. Step by step, it separates what's true from what's assumed. It makes room for emotion — not to let feelings run the process, but to ensure they're seen. It names the values in conflict, which is usually the real heart of a hard decision.
Then it moves you toward a path you can respect later, not just one that brings temporary relief.
Facts What's actually true, separated from mere assumptions.
Feelings Named, not suppressed.
Values What you actually care about when no one's watching.
Options All of them. Including the ones you ruled out too quickly.
Consequences Honest about what each path costs and what it opens.
Decision Made, not deferred. With reasoning you can return to.
Commitment A specific next move, with a deadline.
What you walk away with
One page. Your decision, the reasoning behind it, and the specific next move you've committed to. Something you can return to in a week, a month, a year — when you want to remember why you chose what you chose.
Not a journal entry. Not a summary of feelings. A document you can act on.
This is not:
A pros and cons list
Generic decision advice
A formula someone else applies to your life
Permission to keep deliberating
This is:
Seven steps that separate what's real from what's assumed
Your own values, named clearly
A decision you can respect later
A commitment with a deadline
BETTER DECISION $50
WRITINGS
My newsletters include:
Bruce Kasanoff on Substack—My most personal and provocative writings go here.
Mountain Minute (181,435 subscribers)—Open your heart. Enrich your career... and life.
Distill the Real You (86, 134 subscribers)—For builders and leaders: get closer to what you're meant to create next.
Meditate for Peace (85,210 subscribers)—Professionals & seekers spreading peace through stillness.
Stop the Pain (65,430 subscribers)—Find and remove the things causing you the most pain.
Selflss (82,180 subscribers)—Lead without ego. Scale without limits.
You can find many of my most popular articles in the well-hidden blog on this site. I also love to write short fictional stories with a twist.
I have written six books, including…
How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk is about doing well by doing good.
Never Tell People What You Do is about learning to say what you want, instead of merely telling people what you have done so far.
I Am is a meditative and enriching workbook co-authored with Amy Blaschka.
TRAVELS
I split my time between Bend, Oregon, Manhattan, and Seattle. In the winter, I shift that pattern to indulge my love of skiing, which means I spend a few months in mountain towns. I spent eight years living in Park City, and I developed a habit of spending time at Alta and Snowbird.
Lately I’ve had the urge to roam further, and I’m actively working on those plans.
SPEAKING/FACILITATING
Once upon a time, I travelled the globe giving speeches. I rarely do that anymore, because I dislike talking at people.
But I love to facilitate conversations, which means I often host gatherings under the banner of Bend Reality, which means bringing together the most expansive people I know (or wish to know). When invited, I also jump at the opportunity to moderate a panel and/or conversation at an event. My panel discussions are nothing like what you probably imagine when you hear that phrase.
To learn more, please drop me a note.