This Week
Divided times call for old wisdom. This week a historian stepped up to say so in public. A trainer reminds you who's actually in charge of your outcomes. And a Founding Father offers the kind of blunt advice that still holds up 230 years later.
MENTOR SPOTLIGHT
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian · Bestselling author
On March 26, 2026, Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. The topic: political leadership, empathy, and what history teaches us about getting through divisive times. She did not offer feel-good platitudes. She pointed to presidents who found ways to compromise when the country felt like it was coming apart.
That is actually her core argument, sharpened over decades of research. Abraham Lincoln did not win the Civil War by surrounding himself with yes-men. He built a cabinet of rivals — people who disagreed with him, challenged him, and forced him to think harder. Most leaders avoid that discomfort. Lincoln sought it out. That choice, Goodwin argues, is what made the difference.
Here is what makes this relevant to you right now. If you are 25 to 35 and building something — a career, a team, a business — you are probably getting better at filtering out noise. That skill is useful. But it can quietly become a habit of filtering out disagreement too. The people who tell you what you want to hear are easy to keep around. The ones who push back are harder. History suggests you need the second group more than the first.
Goodwin has spent her career studying what separates leaders who held things together from those who let things fall apart. The patterns she found are not abstract. They are specific habits, specific decisions, specific moments where someone chose the harder, better path. Those patterns are available to you. Open the app and ask her which one matters most at your stage.
IN THE NEWS
Two More Voices Worth Hearing
Jillian Michaels
Fitness trainer, author, wellness entrepreneur
Jillian Michaels appeared on a podcast on March 29, 2026, holding a conversation that lasted nearly two hours. Whatever the topic, long-form conversations are where Michaels tends to say the things that actually stick.
Her central message has never really changed: you are more in control of your results than you think. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is almost always a decision gap, not a circumstance gap. That is a hard thing to hear. It is also a useful one.
If Q1 did not go the way you planned, Michaels would not let you blame the calendar. She would ask what you decided — or avoided deciding — in January. Ask her in the app →
George Washington
Commander-in-Chief · First U.S. President · 1789–1797
No headline this week. Washington has been gone for over two centuries. But the end of March is a useful moment to revisit the man who voluntarily gave up power — twice — when he could have kept it. That is not a normal thing to do. It was remarkable then. It is remarkable now.
Washington's obsession was not power or fame. It was reputation — specifically, the reputation of being an honest person. He believed that character was built in the small moments, not the big speeches. Every quiet decision you make this week is one of those moments.
As Q2 starts, it is worth asking what kind of professional you want to be known as — not eventually, but this week. Ask Washington in the app →
QUICK WISDOM
Three Quotes. One Theme: Ownership.
“Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.”
— Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals
Who in your circle is actually allowed to tell you you're wrong? If no one comes to mind quickly, that's the problem to solve this quarter.
“At some point you have to stop acting as though life is happening to you and acknowledge the ways you are happening to it. Once you take responsibility for your side of the street, you grant yourself the power to improve every aspect of your life by simply acting and behaving differently.”
— Jillian Michaels
Q1 is officially over. Before you explain what happened, ask what you chose — this quote is where that conversation starts.
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
— George Washington, Letter to George William Fairfax
Eight words. Written in the 1700s. Still the clearest thing anyone has ever said about accountability in professional life.
FROM THE BLOG
AI Mentor vs. Human Mentor: What's Actually Different?
A human mentor is valuable. A human mentor who is available at 11pm when you are stuck on a hard decision is rare. This post breaks down the honest differences between the two — where each one wins, and how to think about using both.
It is worth reading before you decide which kind of guidance to go looking for next.
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From Doris Kearns Goodwin to Jillian Michaels to George Washington — every mentor in this email is in the app right now. Ask them anything. Get specific. The best conversations are the ones no one else is having for you.
— Jesse & the Get Mentors team
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