Thinking About Thinking
Life Updates and a Look at my Next Chapter
Hello everyone — it’s been a while.
If you’ve been subscribed to this newsletter for some time, you may have noticed my absence from your inbox. The reason is simple: the last few months have been a whirlwind. I’ve been navigating a significant life transition while also channeling all my remaining energy into a lifelong dream.
In short: I started a new job, and I’m writing a book.
The challenge of onboarding at a new company, combined with the all-consuming effort of writing a 75,000-word manuscript, meant something had to give. Unfortunately, that was my regular writing here. But I’m thrilled to be back in your inbox to share what I’ve been up to…
I’ll start with my professional news. In July, I started a new job as the head of analytics for a marketing agency. It was bittersweet leaving my prior firm (for the second time), but I was ready for a new challenge. My first five weeks have been an immersion. I’ve been diving headfirst into the humbling and exhilarating process of learning the rhythms of a new company, the dynamics of a new team, and the complexities of a new set of projects. It’s been an intense period, demanding my full focus as I drink from the proverbial fire hose of information. But I’m enjoying the work and my new colleagues, and am excited to continue to grow within the role.
And now for the book: I’m thrilled to announce that my book will be published in Spring 2026! I don’t yet have an official title, but the working title I’m using is Sophia: Thinking in Systems, Living with Purpose. Sophia is the ancient Greek word for “wisdom.” And it’s one of the core themes I am exploring within the book.
I know, I’m a bit crazy to be working on such a massive project at the same time as starting a new job. But, to be fair, I started writing the book in March before I knew I would make this change. I was churning away on the first draft for three months before things became hectic.
A Lifelong Dream
Writing a book has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager. For years, I fantasized about becoming an author but never took the leap.
Austin Kleon has a quote I particularly like: “Lots of people want to be the noun without doing the verb.” Reading that for the first time hit hard. I wanted to be a writer, but I had never taken the time to seriously write.
Writing on my website and through this newsletter was the first step I took in changing that. This was a place I could practice the craft, share my ideas, and get over my imposter syndrome. It helped me find my voice and, eventually, the topic for this book.
Over the past couple of months, that topic has become clearer in my mind. Throughout my life, I’ve been fascinated with the way we think: how we do it, how we fall short (often), and ways to do it more systematically. Our innate ability to solve problems is what makes us human. It has fueled our development as a species.
However, as a society, our ability to think is not keeping pace with the increasingly complex problems the world is throwing at us. While we have been able to utilize technology to help us, it’s not a panacea — there are plenty of problems that require our thinking skills. And unfortunately, we’re getting worse at solving them.
I certainly don’t have all the answers. But I’ve been obsessed with finding them. What I am writing is my reflections on the ideas, methods, and tools that I have found to be most beneficial. It can probably be described best as an exploration into systems thinking and Stoicism, the significant overlap between these two seemingly different disciplines, and how their core concepts can be used to navigate life. I think of it as my 'love letter to thinking' — a bridge between the powerful discipline of systems thinking and the practical, everyday challenges we all face in our work, health, relationships, and lives.
I’ll have more updates to share in the coming months. In those, I’ll be giving you a sneak peek into the book’s core ideas. For today, I thought I’d share a piece of the Introduction. The text below will almost certainly not be the same version as what gets published in eight months, but some of the bones are there. This is the story of what sparked the idea for the book and the core conviction that drives it.
The Catalyst (from the Introduction)
In the summer of 2022, I hit a low point in my life. Technically, I was “between jobs,” but in reality, things felt far bleaker. In the prior year, I had left a senior role at a great company with security and a promising future to start a business. Despite convincing myself of its eventual success, things were not going well, and I was becoming more convinced by the day of its ultimate futility.
Sleep offered little escape; I was constantly riddled with anxiety about my finances, how I was going to support my family, my purpose…everything. Physically, I felt sluggish. I was out of shape and felt a continuous lack of energy that made simple joys, like playing with my kids, feel draining. I wasn't just directionless and drifting. I was completely lost.
It was then that I picked up a book about Stoicism: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. It was an unusual choice. I wasn’t reading much at the time, and ancient Stoic philosophy wasn't exactly on my radar. Maybe I was allured by the promise of the title. Maybe I was grasping for any hope of turning my situation around. But something compelled me to buy it and dive in.
I won’t pretend that the book immediately transformed my life. It certainly didn’t offer me easy answers. But it did offer an alternative way to frame the struggles I was facing. This subtle shift started me down a better path through small, deliberate actions. I began focusing on being more present, keeping distractions like my phone in my office when with my family, and listening more fully instead of just waiting for my turn to speak. I started taking better care of my body by moving more, tracking my eating, and respecting its limits.
Crucially, that book also reignited the spark inside of me for learning. I began reading more — much more. Consuming books across philosophy, psychology, science, and history, and combining that with consistent writing and reflection, set me on this journey. It was through this lens — this habit of active reflection fueled by diverse ideas — that I began to see an important connection. The connection was deeper than I first realized.
It wasn’t just that Stoicism helped me personally; its core tenets seemed to reflect an intuitive understanding of how complex systems work. Principles like focusing on cause and effect, understanding the network of mutual interdependence, and distinguishing what we can control from what we can’t were not just ancient wisdom, but early forms of systems thinking woven into a philosophy of life.
I started recognizing patterns between these ancient ideas and the systematic problem-solving I'd learned in college as an engineer and honed over two decades as a consultant.
I realized how my life, even the parts I'd taken for granted, hadn't just prepared me for this moment. It had equipped me with a powerful toolkit — a way of thinking focused on interconnections, feedback, and structure — that was directly applicable not just to professional challenges, but also to the messy, complex, everyday problems I was facing. That realization, the bridging of my professional skills to my personal struggles, is what ultimately sparked the idea for this book.
A Call for Beta Readers
I’ve just completed a full draft of the manuscript, but the work is far from over. To make this book as clear, practical, and impactful as possible, I need your help.
I am looking for a small group of beta readers to review the manuscript in September-October. Your feedback will be invaluable in shaping the final version. If you are interested in getting an early look at its content and sharing your thoughts to help me shape the final output, please fill out this short form.
Thank you for your continued support and for being a part of this journey. It feels great to be back in your inbox, and I’m excited to share more with you in the coming weeks.
All the best,
Michael Lukich