iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

9 books that shaped my life. What are yours?

Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

1. I asked over 100 people for their life philosophy as research for my book How To Live. The primary way people arrived at their own philosophy rules was from suffering or things they did not control.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“The mind wants to live forever, or to learn a very good reason why not. The mind wants the world to return its love, or its awareness... The mind's sidekick, however, will settle for two eggs over easy. The dear, stupid body is easily satisfied as a spaniel. ” ― Annie Dillard

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing him, always. —Arthur Miller

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

"On the days you're tired of the world, remember that there is never a shortage of captivating, unbelievable things. Bees dance to give directions. Butterflies taste with their feet. At daybreak it's actually the bird song that awakens the trees." - L.E. Bowman

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

oin me tomorrow at 12pm PST - I will teach you How To Live! And teach philosophy from the new book. open.substack.com/live-stream/...

open.substack.com

LIVE SOON: How To Live: Learn Rules weekly lesson

Starting Sep 2 at 3:00 PM EDT

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My mission was to rethink self-help books & make one that actually works. In How To Live these were the goals: - Be honest - Be fun - Be short - Use learning theory - Tell great stories - Don't assume because *I* did it, it's easy for others - Share the best of a lifetime of studying philosophy

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

“Sooner or later, life makes philosophers of us all.” - Maurice Riseling

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The two questions to ask about your life philosophy: 1. What rules do you follow in life? 2. When do you break them? We have a pretend philosophy and a real one. The pretend makes us feel good (e.g. the golden rule). The real we don't see well because we're not as self-aware as we think.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The fastest life philosophy audit: just two questions. 1. What rules do you claim to live by? Work hard. Tell the truth. Do unto others. Everyone has their list. 2. When do you break them?

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The 6th commandment is Thou Shall Not Kill. It's a classic example of exceptions defining the rule. Just moments after Moses showed the commandments, he decided to start killing people. The history of rules and our ability to follow them is fascinating and surprising.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Everyone believes they have a philosophy for life. The problem is self-awareness - we don't see the gaps. Our true behavior is our rules, minus the exceptions. And we don't realize all of the exceptions and excuses we make.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

When you read a book only a fraction of what you get from the experience is the information in the book. The vast majority of what comes from reading is a new experience of yourself that comes to exist in relation to the book’s unique patterns.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Coming this fall - my next book. How To Live: Rules for People Who Don't Like Rules. It's a self-help book for people who do not like self-help books. This is book #10 - it shares the best wisdom I've learned from my life experience in a short, fun and memorable way. Stay tuned for details to come.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

“Almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans out of an alley with some sort of 'psst' that you usually can't hear because you're in a rush to something important you've tried to engineer.” ―David Foster Wallace

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Join me tomorrow for a fun chat about what's coming next. I'll share some big news and then it's Q&A/AMA. Hope to see you.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I have big news coming: new book, new website and new brand. You're invited for a sneak peak and chat about what I'm up to next. Tuesday July 14th, at 1pm PST. Will be fun and interactive, but you can just lurk and watch if you like. 20 mins + Q&A/AMA. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I wish American holidays all had a ritual of learning something rather than just eating certain foods. For example, for July 4th we all should read the Constitution. It's short enough to read with a beer while waiting for food to cook on the grill.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Beyond AI there are always these questions: - Is this a good decision? - Do we have wise goals? - Should we prioritize long term or short? - Are the right people involved? - Is good work happening? - Are customers and staff happy? - Is this good for the world?

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Makes me laugh every time I see this.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I hate how in sports if someone makes a mistake at the end of game everyone blames them for the loss and completely forgets all of other, often larger, mistakes that were made by other players much earlier. These are team sports.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

It is a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere. - Ursula K. Le Guin

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Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

honestly think this could save our democracy

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

“If you think technology will solve your problems, you don’t understand technology and you don’t understand your problems.” - Bruce Schneier

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Andrew: weird and loud @ak0.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

One of my hotter academic takes is that every college degree should include a class in the first month where the new students have to engage with the most boring parts of the ideal job associated with the degree *before* spending many thousands of dollars

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Celebration time: It's the 20th anniversary of my author career. And book #10 is on the way. Thanks for following me making all this all possible. I had a party here in Seattle. I even wore a tie! If you're a local fan LMK and I'll put you on the list for the next book party.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I asked 120 people to explain their life rules and philosophy. The results are fascinating! So many surprises. I'll be sharing the highlights live on Wednesday at 11am PST. This is research for my next book on how to live well. open.substack.com/live-stream/...

open.substack.com

LIVE SOON: Research report: What rules for life do 100+ people have?

Starting May 6 at 2:00 PM EDT

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Six years ago today I published my first book about design

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

open.substack.com

LIVE SOON: Research report: What rules for life do 100+ people have?

Starting May 6 at 2:00 PM EDT

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

"Any time I hear the term self-help I think of George Carlin’s mockery of the whole idea: “If you’re looking for self-help, why would you go read a book written by someone else?” There’s something backward about these books that sets us up to fail." rulestolive.substack.com/p/why-self-h...

rulestolive.substack.com

Why self-help rarely works

And what to do instead

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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 23/04/2026

benches, buses, and bathrooms. they should be everywhere

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

“The trouble with people is that they’re busy fixing things they don’t even understand. We’re always fixing things, aren’t we? It never strikes us that things don’t need to be fixed. This is a great illumination. They need to be understood. If you understood them, they’d change.” - Anthony de Mello

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Rule to live by #24: Wake UP Waking up means facing a truth you have avoided or did not know was there. It’s a paradox: we hate waking up, but when we do, we are transformed for the better. rulestolive.substack.com/p/rule-24-wa...

rulestolive.substack.com

Rule #24: Wake Up

We can't grow if we stay asleep

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Are you a fan of my work? I need your help to shape my future. After 9 books and 20 years I'm coming up with a new plan! Your input will shape my future - you can tell me about what I've done that you value and what you'd like to see in the future. Thanks! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

Berkun 2.0: help shape my future

After 20 years, it's time to set new goals for my author life. If you are here it means you value what I have done so far and have insight into where I should head next: What value do I give you? What...

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

docs.google.com

Berkun 2.0: help shape my future

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

The AI Novelty Cycle is the realization that what you are using is far less useful than you believed and in order to actually do your job or make progress on important work you will need to do it in a more conventional way. biblioracle.substack.com/p/the-ai-nov...

biblioracle.substack.com

The AI Novelty Cycle

What Sora has to do with Chuck Berry's ding-a-ling.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

We all need to notice the sky now and then.

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Bobbie Chen @bobbiechen.com · 25/03/2026

Preach @berkun.bsky.social - "Our culture rewards us with status for never having time for things. We admire busy... When we see a silly video on social media, we often judge the creator by saying, “Well, that’s someone with too much time on their hands.” This is just Puritanical bullshit;

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Tommy Siegel @tommysiegel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

feeling compelled to post this new yorker reject from years ago, for some reason

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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Hallucinations compound: 1) A worker uses an LLM to generate a report. 2) A manager uses an LLM to extract insights from the report. 3) An exec uses an LLM to turn the insights into a memo. 4) Another manager uses an LLM to summarize the memo. Each person human-washes the text for the next person.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

What rules do you live by? I want to know. This is research for my next book. You get a chance to win $500 worth of prizes and signed books. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. And the questions may be help you. Thanks. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I want YOUR life philosophy. Will you share it with me? This is research for my next book. You get a chance to win $500 worth of prizes and signed books. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. And the questions may be useful to you. Thanks. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #rulestolive

docs.google.com

What rules do you live by? Book research

Share you personal philosophy and get a chance to win $500 in prizes and signed books. I'm author Scott Berkun, and my tenth book is about what rules and wisdom help people live well. I want to lea...

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

docs.google.com

What rules do you live by? Book research

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

If you're free in 4 hours, join me live to talk about how to live well and why most books on this subject don't help much.

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

What rules do you live by? I've asked dozens of people this question and most of the answers are the same. People quickly say "be kind". "Follow the golden rule." Nice, but obvious. It gets trickier when I ask a tougher question: when do you break your rules?

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Scott Berkun @berkun.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I just finished the first draft of my 10th book and I'll be on Zoom talking about it - you should come 🙂 Tentatively titled Rules To Live By, it's a better way to think about self-help and philosophy. It will be fun & as interactive as you like. Hope to see you. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Scott Berkun's Rules To Live by book project - live event

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Communication Arts @commarts.com · 09/12/2025

Scott Berkun on unlearning the false design beliefs that are holding you back. ow.ly/zcwZ50XGlNr

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