AI Is Splitting the World in Two. Which Side Are You On?

Fredric Marshall has spent 32 years studying how humans learn, resist, and ultimately change. As an AI investor who sees the business plans and deal sheets, he has a message most people are not ready to hear: the pace of change we are living through today is only the beginning, and the world is quietly splitting into two groups of people.

Fredric Marshall is a learning and change expert, founder of Quantum Learning, former biochemist, and author of Thrive: The Antidote to Future Shock. He has personally trained over 130,000 people across fourteen countries and helped launch 74 new brands in the biopharma space. Now he is sharing his research for the first time with a wider audience.

He explains:
◼ Why either you manage your attention or someone else will
◼ The hidden emotional cost of change that nobody talks about
◼ Why slowing down is the most powerful response to a world moving this fast
◼ The PANDA method: a five-step reset for when life feels like too much
◼ Why the world is splitting in two and which side you want to be on

0:00 Intro
0:46 What Thrive Is Really About and Why the World Needs It Now
2:17 The Three Principles That Will Change How You Operate
4:06 How to Radically Simplify Your Life Without Losing Momentum
6:02 From Biochemist to Learning Expert: The Career Pivot That Changed Everything
7:45 Why Change Feels So Hard and What to Do About the Emotional Side of It
9:16 How to Use AI to Learn Anything Faster Than You Think
12:38 The World Is About to Change Faster Than Ever: What Is Actually Coming
14:37 The PANDA Method: A Five-Step Reset for When You Are Spiraling
19:52 The One Mindset Habit That Outperforms Everything Else

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You can follow Fredric here:
◼ Website:
https://thrivefutureyou.com
◼ LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredric-marshall-1984bb

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So many people are literally at the edge of overwhelm every single day. Either you manage your attention or somebody else will. If you want change to occur, you have to manage both the mental side of change and the emotional side of change. AI is the ultimate amplifier of human potential. I'm an investor in AI startups. I see the business plans. I see the deal sheets. In a world that's changing this fast, it's about to change faster than ever before in human history. And I have to tell you, a lot's coming.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Hi Fred, welcome to the Humanware Project.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Thank you. So glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

We are very exciting to announce your new book. It's called Thrive. So could you actually tell us what is Thrive about?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

So many people I know are are literally at the edge of overwhelm every single day because there's so much news, so much information. It's hard to separate what's important from what's not important. And we live in a time when the where the attention economy, Instagram, Facebook, and all those other things, are clamoring for our attention. And once they get it, they want to keep it in their ecosystem and hang ads in front of us and splinter our attention, which is the most valuable thing that we have, into a thousand pieces. And it's so hard to create the future that you want in, you know, three, four, five, seven-minute chunks. That's true. And so I wrote this book to give people a roadmap to thrive in a world that's changing really fast. And at the same time, presenting us with incredible opportunities. AI is the ultimate amplifier of human potential. It really is. And so, how do you manage the present moment and all the demands that are being made on us and all the stuff that's coming into our lives? And at the same time, build the future that you want. And I wrote it to give people a nice clean roadmap to make that happen.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

For you, like if people can take three most important key takeaways reading this book, what are those three key points going to be?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah, number one, either you know, you manage your attention or somebody else will. So let that be you. Let you decide, not the algorithm, what you're looking at today, how often you're picking up your phone. Manage your attention. That's number one. It's the foundation of everything. Yeah. Number two, I think, is you know, our lives are kind of compartmentalized. We're doing this for work, we're doing this for fun, and we're doing this for health. And our attention is also fragmented. And the power and the magic comes when you create alignment between the different elements of your life and get them working together. Okay. And when you do that, you get traction. Things start clicking, and each part of your life supports the other. So let me give you an example. Um, you know, health, good sleep, fitness, energy management, of course, it affects how you feel, how engaged you are, how how well you interact with other people and the relationships you build. So that second part of getting alignment is the second big takeaway, I think. Now the third part is really um simplifying your life, slowing down. It's counterintuitive because the world is moving so fast. You kind of want to go fast, you want to keep pace with it, but that's the road to burnout. Instead, slow down, focus on a handful of things that are most important to you. That's part one of that. Part two is simplify, get rid of all the stuff, the clutter, the mental clutter, the physical clutter.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

And that gives you more bandwidth to do the things that you really want to do.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

And when you talk about radically simplifies your life, what is the action and or practice we can do?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah. So the way I look at the world is there are two layers to the world. There's the visible layer, that's all the stuff that we can see, hear, touch, experience, and then there's the hidden layer. Our bodies are the ultimate hidden layer. There are so many things going on underneath our skin, inside our bodies, inside the cells. And the hidden layer is where all the complexity lives, and the visible layer is where you live. And the key to I think having a great life is to be intentional about the way you design the visible layer. And this car is such a beautiful example of it. It's so clean and simple. There aren't a thousand buttons here, there's just a couple of buttons. The interface to your life should be beautiful, clean, functional, and then take all the complexity, all the things that are hard to do, automate them, and put them in the hidden layer. The engine is in the hidden layer.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

I love this manifold you make. Could you bring us back? What is your background and what inspired you to write this book?

SPEAKER_00 5:12

So I started my career as a biochemist and a molecular biologist, worked in the research lab, worked on the design of new drugs, and uh after a while I really hated it. I didn't want to do it anymore. I didn't want to be, you know, a lab rat anymore. Uh so I went into marketing and sales and training, actually, in the biopharma world. Uh, did that for several years, you know, progressed through and and and uh then one day I said, you know what? I really love training. I really love helping other people. And so I shifted into that, worked for a couple of companies, and then 32 years ago, I started quantum learning. And that company is all about helping pharmaceutical companies, large and small, biopharma, launch new products.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

What you observe from those learning patterns?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

That's a great question, and there are patterns. Most people don't like to change, they don't want to shift out of old ways of thinking or old habits. It's hard, it's uncomfortable for them. So you need to help people manage the change process. And there are two parts to that managing the change process. There's the thinking part, which is actually the easy part, and then there's the emotional part. The emotional demands of change can be really large. Sometimes there's grief associated with it, and I know that sounds crazy to say that, but if I have to change from this way of doing things that I've been doing for such a long time, and I have this circle of friends, and the idea of you know shifting from that to maybe a new circle of friends or doing a new career, there's a lot of emotion and there's a lot of grief hidden underneath the hood. I think the big lesson is if you want change to occur, you have to manage both the mental side of change and the emotional side of change. And when you do that well, then change feels seamless. It doesn't feel overwhelming, it doesn't feel that hard. And the third thing is to break it into little steps. You know, I'm going from here to here, that's going to take a while to get there. So I don't want to fall into this, right? Where I exercise and then I get so sore I never exercise again. I want a better body. Um, break it into incremental steps and manage the mental and the emotional process, and you will be so good to go.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Me personally, I still find sometimes I feel tired about certain things. So, what is your advice for the younger generation or the people watching this episode when they have so much going on? Yeah, what the first step they can do?

SPEAKER_00 7:48

There's so much, it can be overwhelming, and we're tired anyway. There's a lot of fatigue that's associated with living in the modern world. And so the first thing to get a handle on is that fatigue. And so, you know, these are simple things, but getting a good night's sleep, not scrolling on your phone, everybody knows these things, but um finding a way to get good sleep is transformational. Eating good food that doesn't spike your blood sugar or cause it to crash that helps you keep even energy across the day. So that's that's a bit of a foundation. The second part is is really uh to use the tools. Say to ChatGPT, I want to learn more about this subject. Can you give me an executive summary of it? Okay, that's good, that's interesting, and no more than 200 words, and do it at a sixth grade level. Then, all right, that's interesting. Tell me more about this part of it, and then tell me more about this. And and if you sneak into it that way, it's much more, it's much easier to process the information. And then the the the other thing I would recommend, and this is such a simple idea, but it's a powerful idea, and that is you know, every day I may or may not have time to get to something, but within a week, I can always find 30, 40 minutes to focus on something.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Okay, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

I might not be able to do it today, but sometime this week I can carve out 20, 30, 40 minutes. If I do that every week, it starts compounding on itself. If every week I go to Chat GPT and I, you know, ask it questions and learn a little bit more about how to use the model. Tell me how to use this model. Here's what I'm trying to do. What suggestions do you have? 20, 30 minutes. The next week, do it again, the next week, do it again. That consistency across 52 weeks, wow. I think working out is a good metaphor. If you work out every day, you'll over-train. That's true. But if you work out a couple days a week, it's perfect. And if you do that for a year, your body will change. And I think our minds are the same way. Our minds won't change unless it has to, but a really simple way is to do something every week.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

And throughout your career, because you obviously need to adapt into a lot of changes. So, how did you train yourself to be so flexible to the change?

SPEAKER_00 10:18

I think being curious and getting mad.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Getting mad.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Getting mad, I think there's a great value in getting um pissed off about something. Saying, well, you know, what we're doing right now takes too long, is way too hard, and we have to we shouldn't be tolerating this. We should not be tolerating this, get mad about it, and say, there has to be a better way. And ask yourself that question. That's sort of one side of it. And then the other side is be open and curious to different perspectives and ways of looking at things, and that includes different people. I think if if you wanted, you know, if I had one thing to say to somebody who wants to change their future, hang out with different people.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Actually, that's uh one thing I believed. The people who change you is always the person not around you. Right? It's always the people who not come from the same background. They will just say something out of blue and maybe after years you said, think, wow, that makes sense, and then you make different decisions.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Yeah, yeah. Now how about you? What have you found to help you change?

SPEAKER_02 11:30

I I I really felt um like what you said about to make life simple. Um, I'm extremely focused when I do certain things. So I think focus and simplifying my life. Uh, also other people like yourself. I really enjoying having the conversation that stimulate me.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

I really feel that is most time where I find the strength to change.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

I I like that. I feel the same way. Yeah. You know, having a fresh perspective, having somebody support to support you, um, but maybe challenge your thinking. And that's kind of a lovely combination. They're they're pushing you, but they're supporting you. They're they they want you to do well, they have your well-being in mind.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah. And for the people that they don't really see how important it is to at least try the new technology, what do you think will happen to them?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Do you think it could be danger or yeah, it's pretty clear that uh it's not good. In a world that's changing this fast, and and our world is not only changing fast right now, it's about to change faster than ever before in human history. I'm an investor in AI startups. I see the business plans, I see the deal sheets, and I have to tell you, a lot's coming. And so it's it's we're gonna break into two worlds. Those people who are leaning in and curious and want to know and are willing to play and try and experiment, and those who are digging in, and they're gonna separate really fast in this new world into two pools of people. And I it's so much more fun to be in this group.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

And for you, what are your biggest motivation to write this book and who you want to read this book and the getting inspired?

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah, so just like I said, all these companies I invest in, I see what's coming, and I think, oh my god, nobody knows how fast it's gonna change, it's gonna be faster than they think. So the audience that I had in mind was my kids and their friends who are millennials, and then also Gen Z. I have a bunch of friends who have kids that are now Gen Z age, 22, 24, 28. In fact, I just had lunch with one a couple days ago, and he we were talking about the future and what he wants to do. He's a musician and he wants to break into music, and AI's coming, and how do you navigate that? And we were having a big conversation about it. It's that group that I had in mind when I wrote the book, but I think it's I think it's good for anybody who is struggling with how to navigate all the changes that are coming and stay positive and stay focused, like you said, and not get distracted by the noise. If you feel overwhelmed, if you find yourself distracted, if you feel stressed, then this can help.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

I do know you have a method here called the panda. What does each word stand for? I find this is very easy to memorize. Could you share with us?

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Yeah. So you know how sometimes in life you get upset about something and you spiral.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Yeah, you are in the rabbit hole of your own mind.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Exactly. So when you find yourself either off balance or um overwhelmed or spiraling, panda is a little process that you can run. Okay, and it's five steps, P-A-N-D-A. P is pause and take a deep breath. And you can do it a couple of times, but it just resets your vagus nerve, it resets your nervous system, switches us out of auto-reactive or auto-reactivity and into a more you know conscious and aware state. That's the first step. Second step, ask yourself, where's my attention right now? Is it in is it in all the stuff I'm worried about, all the things that I think might go wrong, or is it in something more empowering? So the second question is, well, where should my attention be? Given the larger goals I have. So you're kind of helicoptering up. My attention is right here, helicopter up, where should it be? Bigger picture. And the answer will come. We know where it should go. You just have to ask yourself. That's the second step. The third step is how am I talking to myself in my head? How am I and narrating events? Am I saying, oh, this is such a disaster? I should never have done that. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm such an idiot. You know, that self-talk that just that spirals.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

That's true. Stop.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

My wife loves to do this. I call it the Nancy Chop. Her name is Nancy. She says, no. Uh, stop and say, what's a more empowering narration? No, what can I learn from this? You know, this is just one little problem. We'll get through it. I always figure it out. We might get this is just a delay, it's not the end of the world. That's much more empowering in the narration than you know, it's just like me to screw this up. That's such a bad way to talk to yourself. The next step is D, decision. What do you want to say yes to or no to? Making those decisions in advance for as much as you can is great. So, an example would be I say no to sugar, yes to Whole Foods. There are cookies out there, walk on by. Don't look.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Don't look.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

I literally sometimes I'll put my hand up. It's like, don't even look at the chocolate chip cookies because I know it'll be at least four cookies. Right? So having that decision hierarchy already in mind for the big things in your life, like what you eat and who you hang out with. And then the last is action. A what's a little step you could do? Not too big, don't overthink it.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

That's a very easy to memorize uh formula, and uh also um I feel it's very helpful for me to especially the part of stop and make a new decision part. I feel that can trigger some better decisions.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, especially for the you know, decision fatigue is such a real thing. We're looking and we're going like, where should I go? I'm not sure, and you know, you can see my face are frowning, worried, and stressing about it. But if I've made decisions in advance, I don't do sugar. As an example. Yeah. Um, I go for the Whole Foods. That's my that's my thing. Okay. It simplifies so much.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Yeah. And when we talk about those difficult times, what are actually one of the most difficult decisions or difficult moments for your career?

SPEAKER_00 18:15

I've had several difficult moments, um, and maybe that's why the the book is so good because it's tested in the battlefield of the real world. Um, you know, uh, I think uh when I was really young, my dad died, and so that was a difficult moment. Um when I was doing science for a decade and said, I don't want to do this anymore. Now what the hell do I do? You know, if you're trained in biochemistry and you're used to working in a lab, to go into sales and marketing seems crazy. Yeah. So, but the way I managed it is I just said, what are the big building blocks that add up to being really good at that thing, whatever that new thing is? And there's not there may be 50 things that you need to do, but there's probably three things that are the lion's share of it. I'll give you a health example. In health, VO2 max, which is aerobic capacity, how well your mitochondria are working, um, sleep, lean muscle mass, nutrition, that's it. You get those right, it'll take care of 80% of longevity in those spew. So for every field of endeavor, whatever category it is, there might be 20 things, but there's three or four, five at the most that carry the most impact. Pick one of those, ask Chat GPT how to approach it. In fact, you could ask ChatGPT what those are, and then break it, then break that down and do one little bit every week.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

It's really about uh the repeatable good actions. If you were to give our audience one advoice on longevity and health habit, what that would be?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Your mindset is maybe one of the most important things. And so what does that mean? Um Sophia Loren was once asked, I think she was 60 at the time, and they said, You're still so beautiful. How is this possible? And and she said, think good thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Think good thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Yeah, I think I it's it's you know, it's just as simple as that. You know, I love it. It's not complicated.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

That's very beautiful. Thank you, Brad.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

You're welcome. It affects me. But I think it's important because it's so easy to go negative. Cynicism is really easy. It's safe, it's emotionally safe. Um, to dare to be hopeful and think good thoughts takes courage, believe it or not. In this world, it does. It takes courage.

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Uh I totally get you when you said, you know, to critic someone is always easy, put you in a shield. But I think the truth behind the true communication and openness, but that's take a lot of courage sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

It does, to be vulnerable, to be willing, to open yourself up to a situation, to be willing to be influenced by other people, to not cling to your view, but to say, all right, well, maybe this was true a while ago, but maybe the world's changed. I need to reevaluate the situation. That openness and curiosity, I think, is also part of that mindset. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Thank you so much. I'm so excited for the work that you're doing too, I have to tell you. It's really important work.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

I believe we all part of this new movement. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Yeah. And we can change the world, you know. And that that different way of looking at the world. So I I admire.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

That's why I believe it's not me who's going to be that superstar, but it's really the heroes like you. Like you write books, you guys do companies, and we are just the curator for the exhibition. And then we just need uh to make sure the whole world sees what people done. So it's really for me, I think the package matters. That's how to get people into the door, but then the people like you guys do have the true work that shines. Uh, I feel that's very honored to be able to document those.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Your example of putting this together will be inspiration to other people as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

And when is the book coming out?

SPEAKER_00 22:42

May 12. Thank you, Brad. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Thank you for watching this new episode of the Human Ware Project. So that we can bring more amazing topics like this one. Please like and subscribe. Your support means the world to us.