Letters From Alex

Hey Reader, Most high-achievers I know (myself included, for years) are absolute masters at thinking. We analyze, strategize, optimize, and foresee every possible risk. But here’s the uncomfortable truth I had to face: We’re often just as addicted to negative thinking as we are to productivity. I used to think my constant inner commentary was “realistic” or “responsible.” “If I share too much, they'll know my secrets.”“These people are hypocrites.”“If I leave this job, I’ll lose everything...

In 2020, I knew someone was spiraling. I had tools that could help, but I said nothing… Hey Reader, In 2020, my wife mentioned that her friend Cristina, from Portugal, was spiraling hard. The pandemic chaos was really affecting her. I had just started waking up to how my own thinking — not the external chaos — was the real source of suffering. I was learning tools that were pulling me out of the darkness I’d carried for decades. I knew those tools could help her. And I thought about reaching...

I discovered my purpose in 2020, sitting alone in a quiet lab at 2 PM, when I finally admitted the truth I'd been hiding for 13 years: I was living someone else's life. Looking back, I realized my purpose was just behind the unaddressed limiting beliefs I'd been carrying. I've also realized this insight has been true in helping others find their purpose. The Golden Cage It was 2020. I was staring at a mountain of data I had no desire to go through as the fog from my glasses clouded my vision....

Most people don't have what they yearn for the most because of one main reason. When what we want seems to always be at arm's length, we try harder to get it, struggle more, or spend our time trying to "manifest" it. But what if the real issue isn't effort, strategy, or even luck? Being unable to get what you want often points to a deeper, unaddressed issue: blocks around being able to receive. When we're blocked and unable to receive, we're also unable to genuinely give. Receiving blocks...

Reader My client was about to make the biggest mistake of her academic career... Until I told her to do the exact opposite of what every productivity expert recommends. Sarah's hands shook as she clutched her lecture notes. Her ex had just said "Hey" in the faculty hallway—such a simple word that hit like a punch to the gut. Five years together. Same department. And now every casual encounter left her completely drained, like someone had pulled the plug on her energy. "I can't keep doing...

We Get Trapped by Invisible Patterns That Keep Us Stuck Growing up, I learned early that I wasn't enough. When I was in 9th grade, I fought a bully who sexually harassed my girlfriend. I couldn't stay silent. I stood up to him—and got beaten up for it. Walking home afterward, bruised and humiliated, the message felt clear: You're not enough. That belief followed me everywhere, even into my research lab. When I couldn't solve the challenging troubleshooting steps in my RNA localization...

How to Focus So Effortlessly It Feels Like Cheating Most people exhaust themselves trying to manage their focus all day long. But what if I told you that the highest performers never manage their attention at all—instead, they set intentions so powerful that focus becomes automatic? Picture two people starting their Monday morning. Person A sits down with their coffee and opens a productivity app. They review their 23 tasks, color-code them by urgency, and spend 20 minutes deciding what to...