“You cannot use an old map to explore a new world.” – Einstein
In this edition:
🔹 Personality traits that quietly add years to your life? Yes really.
🔹 MIT finds 47% drop in brain activity when you outsource to this.
🔹 The 25% tariffs on overseas labor? What you need to know.
🔹 What we’re loving—fresh tools to compound your edge
Estimated read time: 4 minutes
💡THE BIG IDEA: YOUR CHARACTER IS YOUR LONGEVITY STRATEGY
What’s happening: A new study tracking 22,000+ people found that those who described themselves as organized, active, helpful, conscientious lived longer—even after controlling for wealth, health, and environment. Meanwhile, traits tied to neuroticism (chronic worry, irritability, impulsivity) correlated with shorter lifespans.
Why it matters: We obsess over supplements, VO2 max, and trackers. Turns out, how you show up in daily life—habits of steadiness, activity, generosity—has measurable biological payoff.
FutureProof Take: Longevity isn’t just medicine. It’s personality hygiene.
➡️ Action Step: Pick one “longevity trait” (like consistency or helpfulness) and practice it daily for 30 days. That’s cheaper than NMN and might outlast it.
🧠 FUTUREPROOF YOUR BRAIN
🏋️ YOUR BRAIN IS NOT A GPU—USE IT
A new MIT Media Lab study sparked a firestorm: when people used ChatGPT to write for them, neural activity in regions tied to attention, planning, and memory dropped ~47% compared to writing manually. In short: your brain idles while the AI does the work.
Reliance on AI might steal neuroplasticity, reduce critical thinking, and make your internal “muscles” lazy.
Why it matters (for a leader): If your brain capacity is your competitive edge, outsourcing your thought is like contracting out your gut. You risk long-term cognitive atrophy even if short-term speed wins.
FutureProof Take: AI is a tool — not a substitute. Use it to augment output, not erase the workout. Your mental horsepower must still be exercised.
➡️ Action Step:
Use ChatGPT for drafts, tweaks, ideation
Force yourself to co-write or edit heavily
Schedule “AI-free” writing blocks (journaling, essays) to flex your own thinking muscles
THE LABOR BILL: 25% TARIFFS ON OVERSEAS WORK
What’s happening: New policy analysis may put a $3.5B annual price tag on 25% tariffs aimed not just at goods, but overseas labor and outsourced services. Industries leaning on offshore manufacturing, coding, or customer support are suddenly staring at ballooning costs.
Why it matters: This isn’t just trade noise. If your cost edge depends on overseas teams or factories, tariffs effectively act as a salary increase you can’t control.
FutureProof Take: Tariffs don’t just rewire trade—they rewrite your HR and vendor math. Optionality (nearshoring, automation, blended teams) becomes a moat.
➡️ Action Step:
Map how much of your ops rely on offshore labor.
Explore hybrid models: partial nearshoring, AI augmentation, distributed freelancers.
Reframe “cheap labor abroad” as “tariff-exposed capital” in your planning.
🎉 You’re halfway through this week’s FutureProof.
Quick reality check: Which story hit you hardest? Brain pills? Chocolate medicine? Your secretly ancient organs?
Tweet of the Week
“Overseas labor isn’t cheap anymore when tariffs turn it into hidden payroll.”
🕊️ Tweet this🎥 Mood gif:
Alright, now let’s get back to stretching your brain 🧐
“The 2025 moat isn’t finding cheaper labor—it’s finding labor options. Character, culture, and cashflow are useless if your supply chain is tariff-fragile.”
🎯 WHAT WE’RE LOVING
Span Health — Think of it as a personal trainer for your bloodwork. They poke, prod, and coach you until your metabolism behaves.
Opal — The bouncer for your phone. Try opening Instagram during a deep-work session and watch Opal slap it shut.
Endel — AI soundscapes that turn your brain into a zen garden. Sleep, focus, or recover—without another lo-fi beats playlist.
Fyxer.ai — An executive assistant that never takes PTO. Schedules, ops, grunt work—gone. You keep the strategy, it keeps the scraps.
Want to get featured? Apply here →
💭 THE FINAL WORD
Traits compound into years. Tariffs turn cheap labor into expensive payroll. And fintech quietly rebuilds the pipes beneath it all.
The edge isn’t hacks. It’s optionality.
See you Tuesday—steady, sharp, FutureProof.
— Team FutureProof
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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial, investing, or health advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets, products, or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.