From “walking in the desert” to Escaping Flatland

Why and how Henrik Karlsson raised his ambition

Welcome to today’s installment of “Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them.” This is likely going to be the last one for at least a few months while I really go head-down on my book. Meanwhile, you may be hearing from my husband and co-author Matt Bateman, to whom I’m basically handing the reins of The Psychology of Ambition during this time (believe me, he’s more than earned it).

Builder’s Spotlight: Henrik Karlsson

Principles on display: Raising your psychological ceiling, Your life as the yardstick, build yourself by building, Worrying on schedule

Image credit: https://x.com/phokarlsson/photo

When I stumbled into Escaping Flatland author

Henrik Karlsson

’s note about how he “decided to be more ambitious” with his writing and parenting—and his subsequent note thanking himself for that decision a year later—I had half a mind to just republish that original note verbatim, so emblematic is it of the kind of story I like to spotlight in this series. But then I realized it would be way more fun to get t…