#20 | See the iceberg before it sinks you

Hi Iceberg Spotters,

Quick question: Have you ever had a problem sneak up on you—and by the time you saw it, it was already too late to stop the disaster from happening?

I’ve been there—plenty of times, more than I actually want to admit.

For me, that chaos used to be exams in university. You know the drill—procrastinating for weeks, telling myself, “I’ve got time,” only to end up cramming the night before.

The panic. The stress. The rushed decisions didn’t let me retain anything. A classic recipe for a disaster.

Later, in my business, I repeated that mistake. I ignored Google’s algorithm changes, thinking they were temporary. “It’s just a glitch,” I told myself.

And by the time I finally acknowledged the damage, my traffic had tanked.

I failed to see that the ecosystem had already shifted, and I was just waiting for things to improve instead of taking control.

Every failure has one thing in common: I missed the iceberg before it hit.

But I’m not alone. We all have our icebergs.

And today we learn ​how to spot them​ before they sink us.

The struggle: the little things that sink you

So, we all know one, two, or more of these experiences, I assume?

You let the small stuff slide—skipping workouts, delaying important conversations, ignoring your finances because, hey, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Right?

But life is a bench​*​: small cracks lead to big fractures.

We tell ourselves, “I’ll deal with it tomorrow”—but tomorrow comes, and the problem is bigger.

Suddenly, that one small issue is no longer manageable. It’s become a disaster.

Whether it’s missed deadlines, poor health, financial stress, or business decisions, you didn’t act on soon enough …

… those small, invisible icebergs can turn into the kind of disasters that are hard to recover from.

The cost of ignoring them? Massive. I’ve felt it. And it wasn’t pretty.

The shift: stop waiting for disaster—predict it

Here’s where we flip the script.

What if we assume failure has already happened instead of waiting for failure to hit us head-on?

​Premortem Analysis​ works because it helps you see where things might go wrong; it forces you to identify the risks before they escalate.

It’s also about acting now to prevent bigger problems down the road.

Imagine a world where, instead of reacting to the chaos of a missed deadline or financial collapse, you spot the iceberg from a mile away and steer clear of it.

Spot your icebergs before they wreck you

Here’s where my free Personal Iceberg Spotter AI prompt comes into play.

​Use this link to access​ and copy and paste it to your AI tool of choice.

Ok. This isn’t just some fluffy tool—it’s the key to spotting your risks early and taking action before the iceberg sinks your ship.

Here’s how it works, although you can do the steps without AI, of course.

Step 1: Describe your decision, project, or goal Be specific. Are you starting a new business, making a career move, or tackling a personal project?

Step 2: Assume failure has already happened Imagine everything has gone wrong. (Everything! Sounds fun, right?) What could have caused this failure? Don’t hold back—get specific.

Step 3: Identify risks & blind spots What warning signs did you miss? What assumptions led to this failure? Where did things go wrong?

Step 4: Reverse-engineer solutions If you could go back, what would you do differently? What safeguards can you set up today to prevent this from happening?

Step 5: Implement proactive steps Now, take one immediate action that could shift the course of your project or decision today. Small steps lead to big changes. Start now.

How to make this work in real life

Let’s make this practical: You’re launching a new product. You think everything’s lined up perfectly.

But as you dig into the details, you realize there are some small cracks you’ve missed:

—market shifts, customer trends, or production delays you ignored.

You run the ​Personal Iceberg Spotter​ prompt and realize you missed a major competitor’s recent shift and didn’t account for supply chain disruptions.

By acting early, you change your strategy, pivot your launch plan, and get ahead of the issues before they blow up.

Your personal risk radar is on

Here’s your next move: run the free Personal Iceberg Spotter (​link​) on any decision or project you’re working on.

What risks have you missed?

What icebergs are you spotting before they sink you?

Then, tell me about your icebergs or experiences, or ask me about mine in more detail.

Ps: There are different techniques to spot icebergs. ​Here is an overview of them​.

Happy Friday,
Mark
The AI Learning Guy
👋⚡😎