ASI people: Is there something you’ve been trying to do that keeps getting blocked?
I offer internal bottleneck evals and research their removal:
Since 12mo ago: Daniel Tan, Emergent Misalignment coauthor, used to get interrupted by recurring burnout lasting weeks and months. After our work June–August 2025, this no longer happens (video). He also stopped distracting himself ~5h/day and started personal projects and hosting events with friends.
Since 20mo ago: An anonymous frontier lab researcher used to avoid disagreement with colleagues he admired. After we spent two evenings, he started pushing back without hesitation. In the time since he’s been promoted to manage others.
Since 24mo ago: A psuedoanonymous man’s conflict-avoidance was preventing romantic relationships. After we spent a few afternoons, avoidance in all areas of his life stopped happening (video). Few months later he entered a happy long-term relationship, which he’s still in. This also allowed him to focus to work and join a lab.
To do this, I track results years afterward, optimize for speed, and carefully evaluate good fits.
If there’s something you’ve been trying to do that’s getting blocked, we start with an eval where you’ll learn to see your internal bottlenecks for yourself:
Contact: Twitter DM or chris@chrislakin.com
Long-term data
Year 0 ~ “one-shot sessions”: Of 10 AI people who were selected, 6 paid for outcomes
Year 1 ~ “8 weeks + assignments”: Of 6 AI people, 5 paid for outcomes, 1 paused
I no longer work with people outside of ASI.
In this time, I’ve learned that removing internal bottlenecks is ineffective when people are bottlenecked by external circumstances, such as severe sleep or health issues, financial or material security, or active personal crisis. If external bottlenecks are present, I cannot help.
Priority is given to experienced meditators.
Update: They’ve been together ~1y
I got exactly the results I intended to.
—MTS @ OpenAI, reference available on request
References available upon request.
I provide neither medical treatment nor therapy. Substances are not used. Stories were shared with permission.