I read a piece on Substack recently by Tom Asacker—author of Unwinding Want—and one line hit me like a thunderclap:
“People are turning to AI for personal advice, emotional support, everyday decision-making.”
What?! My jaw dropped. That sentence stopped me cold.
He describes AI as “an oracle that provides instant answers and validation without the messy work of genuine relationship and discovery.” And that, my friends, is the part that made my stomach twist.
Have we forgotten how to be human?
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris Bueller, Paramount Pictures
In the world I inhabit—where brands are built on purpose, emotion, and connection—this rise in AI reliance feels dangerously hollow. We are not here to automate meaning. We are here to create it.
Humanity is the energy behind any brand that dares to matter. It’s not the logo. It’s not the campaign. It’s the people, the emotion, the culture—the heartbeat.
Our world is wobbling. And if we want a sustainable future, we need to care for more than just the climate. We need to care for each other.
In workplaces weighed down by overwhelm and toxicity, I hear this echoed daily. A client recently said, “At the end of a workday, the only question that matters is—what energy do you have left for your family?” Brutal. True.
In a world obsessed with speed and scale, long-term thinking feels like a luxury. But there’s one lever business leaders can pull right now: culture.
If you’re a founder, a CEO, a team lead—you hold the match. The spark. The ability to build a human-centred environment where people can thrive.
Ask yourself:
- How do our systems and processes really affect our people?
- Are we paying a living wage—or just scraping by?
- Do our expectations empower, or deplete?
- Are we building a culture where humans can live their best lives?
- What are customers seeing—and what’s making them walk away?
- Are we fuelling doom-scrolling and burnout?
- Are our people energised or checked out?
You don’t want to be the leader whose team sleepwalks through Monday to Friday, then collapses all weekend. You don’t want to be the founder who breeds a culture so disembodied people start asking ChatGPT how to live.
Because guess what? AI can’t feel. You can.
We have to reclaim that. Our emotional intelligence—our awareness, empathy, intuition—is our superpower. In business. In life.
So here’s your humanity checklist:
- How are your feelings shaping your actions?
- How are your actions impacting others?
- What beliefs do you need to challenge?
This isn’t fluffy. This is the gritty work of being human.
Think about this: what if your purpose could be the bridge between the life you dream of and the work you do every day? What if we all designed our businesses to help people live more harmoniously?
That’s real sustainability. That’s meaningful transformation.
So, what really matters to you? And how can you use that to ignite a more human way forward?
What are your next steps?
Ready to rethink, rebuild, and rise — and become impossible to ignore? Book a no obligation conversation and let’s see if I can support you.
