If your current job is automated next year, what's your Monday plan?

Imagine this. It is Friday evening. Your boss calls you. She says the company is using AI now. Your job will be done by a machine in two months. You have time to plan. What do you do on Monday morning? Some people panic. I understand. But panic does not help on Monday. Here is my Monday plan. First, I make a list. Not a list of what I can do. A list of what I like to do. What do I want to spend my days on? This is the most important question, and most people never ask it. Second, I call three friends. Not to cry. To ask: what do you see me doing well? Other people know things about us we do not know. Third, I use my free time to learn. Not just AI. I learn the things that AI still cannot do. Things like listening, building trust, making hard decisions. These are the skills that always have value. Fourth, I save money. Less food out. Fewer new clothes. I give myself six months to find the next thing. I am not ready for this Monday. But I have a plan. And a plan is not a cure. A plan is just a starting point. What is your Monday plan?

想像一下。星期五晚上，老闆打電話給你。她說公司現在開始用 AI。你的工作兩個月內會被機器做。她給你時間準備。 你星期一早上會做什麼？ 有些人會慌。我懂。可是慌，幫不了星期一。 我的星期一計畫是這樣。第一，我會寫一張清單。不是我會做什麼的清單。是我喜歡做什麼的清單。我希望我的日子花在什麼上？這是最重要的問題，可是大部分的人從來沒問過自己。 第二，我會打給三個朋友。不是為了哭。是要問：你看我什麼做得好？別人常常知道我們自己不知道的事。 第三，我會用多出來的時間學東西。不只是 AI。我會學那些 AI 還做不到的事。像是聽別人說話、建立信任、做困難的決定。這些能力永遠有價值。 第四，我會存錢。少吃外食。少買新衣服。給自己六個月找下一件事。 我還沒準備好這個星期一。可是我有計畫。計畫不是藥。計畫只是一個起點。 你的星期一計畫呢？

Imagine it's Friday evening. Your boss calls. She tells you, kindly but clearly, that the company is adopting an AI system, and your role will be taken over within two months. She gives you time, she gives you severance, she gives you respect. What she doesn't give you — because she can't — is what to do on Monday morning. Most people, in that situation, start preparing a panicked Monday. I've watched it happen to friends. They rush into the first skill the internet tells them to learn. They apply to twenty similar jobs without thinking about whether they want them. They let the fear drive. The fear is an understandable passenger, but a terrible driver. My Monday plan, if I'm honest with myself, would look different. First, I would spend an hour writing down not what I can do, but what I want my days to feel like. After twenty years of doing the first, I've discovered that most of us never seriously ask the second. Second, I would call three people who know me well and ask a single question: what do you see me being good at that I undervalue? Other people often know things about us that we can't see. Third, I would commit to learning, not technology alone, but the things AI still can't do — the long-game, deeply human skills. Listening under pressure. Building trust over years. Making decisions when the data is incomplete. These are durable. Fourth, I would cut my spending aggressively and buy myself six months of runway to choose well rather than choose fast. Being replaced is not the end. Being replaced while still thinking the old way — that is the real risk.

想像這個場景。星期五傍晚，主管打電話給你。她很溫和、但很清楚地說，公司要導入 AI 系統，你的職位會在兩個月內被接手。她給你時間、給你資遣費、給你尊重。她沒給你的，是她也給不了的——星期一早上，你該做什麼？ 大部分的人在那種壓力下，會準備一個很驚慌的星期一。這件事我看朋友身上發生過。他們衝去學網路上第一個說現在最夯的技能。他們不假思索地投二十個類似的工作，完全不問自己想不想去。他們讓恐懼開車。恐懼是職涯轉彎時合理的乘客，但是一個災難級的駕駛。 如果我誠實面對自己，我的星期一計畫長得不太一樣。 第一，我會花一個小時，手寫——不是我會做什麼，而是五年後，我希望我的日子感覺起來是什麼樣子。我們花了二十年最佳化第一個問題，但大多數人從來沒認真問過第二個。 第二，我會打給三個從不同角度看過我工作的人，問一個問題：你看到我有什麼做得特別好、但我自己一直低估？別人常常看得見我們自己看不見的自己。 第三，我會認真學——不是單獨學 AI，而是學那些這一代 AI 還沒辦法取代的、屬於長期比賽的、深度人性的能力：持續的專注、用幾年累積的信任、在資訊不完整時做判斷。這些是耐用的。 第四，我會狠狠砍我的生活開銷，給自己六個月的跑道，讓我可以選得好，不是選得快。 被 AI 取代不是終點。被取代了還用被取代前的邏輯想事情——那才是真正的失敗。

Imagine the scene. It is Friday evening. Your manager calls you, kindly but firmly, to tell you that the company is adopting a sophisticated AI system and your role will be absorbed within eight weeks. She is gracious. She gives you notice, severance, references. What she doesn't give you — because she can't — is the answer to a deceptively small question: what do you do on Monday morning? Most people, under the compression of that moment, prepare a panicked Monday. I've watched it happen to friends whose talents I admire. They rush into the first skill the internet tells them is in demand. They apply to twenty adjacent jobs without asking whether they want them. They mistake motion for progress, and velocity for direction. Fear is a legitimate passenger in the car of a career transition, but a catastrophic driver. If I am honest about my own Monday plan, it looks very different. I would begin not with action but with excavation. One hour, pen in hand, writing not what I am able to do but what I want my days to feel like five years from now. After two decades of optimizing the first question, most of us have never seriously asked the second. I would then call three people who have watched me work from different angles, and ask a single question: what do you see me being unusually good at, that I have always undervalued? Other people routinely see in us what we can no longer see in ourselves. I would commit to studying — not artificial intelligence in isolation, but the long-game, deeply human skills the current generation of AI still cannot replicate: sustained attention, earned trust, judgment under incomplete information. These remain durable. And I would cut my personal burn rate aggressively to give myself six months of runway, so I could choose well rather than choose fast. Being replaced by AI is not the end. Being replaced while still thinking in the logic of the pre-replacement world — that is the real failure. Thinking clearly is Monday's first job.

想像這個畫面。星期五傍晚，你的主管打電話給你，語氣客氣但堅定，告訴你公司要導入一個成熟的 AI 系統，你的角色會在八週之內被吸收掉。她很得體。她給你預告、給你資遣、給你推薦信。她沒給你的，是她也給不了的——那個看起來小、實則巨大的問題：星期一早上，你要做什麼？ 大部分的人在那個時刻被壓縮之後，會準備一個很驚慌的星期一。這件事我看過好幾個我很欣賞其才華的朋友身上發生。他們衝去學網路上第一個說現在最缺的技能。他們沒問自己想不想去，就申請了二十個類似的工作。他們把動誤認為進，把速度誤認為方向。恐懼在職涯轉彎時是一個合理的乘客，但是一個災難級的駕駛。 如果我誠實面對自己，我的星期一計畫，長得完全不一樣。 我不會從行動開始，我會從開挖開始。一個小時，筆在手上，寫的不是我能做什麼，而是五年之後，我希望我的日子感覺起來是什麼樣子。我們花了二十年在最佳化第一個問題，大多數人從來沒認真問過第二個。 然後，我會打給三個從不同角度看過我工作的人，問一個問題：你看到我有什麼是異常地擅長、而我一直低估？別人常常能在我們身上看到，我們已經看不見的自己。 我會認真研讀——不是只有人工智慧本身，而是那些這一代 AI 還沒辦法模仿的、屬於長局的、深度人性的能力：在壓力下仍能持續的專注、需要幾年才累積得起來的信任、資訊不完整時仍能下的判斷。這些東西，耐久。 我會大幅砍掉我的生活開銷，給自己六個月的跑道，讓我可以好好選，而不是快快選。 被 AI 取代，不是終點。被取代了，卻還用被取代之前的世界那套邏輯在想事情——那，才是真正的失敗。想清楚這件事，是星期一的第一項工作。