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People often define “power” as being able to make others act or believe in a certain way. I prefer to focus on personal power, which means you are empowered to believe, behave, and act in ways that are aligned with who you really are and what you want in life.

You should not be subservient to others or controlled by anyone else (e.g., a boss, coworker, friend, loved one, stranger).

• Personal power helps you influence the outcome of events at work and in your life.

• Self-confidence, competence, and a dash of courage help develop it.

• People often surrender their power out of worry and fear.

• They worry about disappointing people in their lives.

• They fear upsetting people in authority at work.

• A lack of options feeds this fear and worry.

• A lack of control leads to unhappiness.

• Healthy power enables a better life.

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress

6. Becoming Invincible (June)

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Written version linked below…

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Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

Would you like to help support my newsletter and podcast, but don’t want to commit to a monthly fee? Check out my ☕️ Buy Me a Coffee. I’m self-employed, and coaching and writing are how I provide for my family. Thanks for your help!

Buy Me a Coffee

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When you’re invincible, it means you have removed single points of failure from every aspect of your overall ecosystem of work and life. No single event or individual can disrupt your life for very long. Empowered people get to work and live their lives on their terms.

Becoming empowered requires building unshakeable confidence by…

• Developing your competence in multiple areas.

• Leveraging your full potential to achieve what you want most in your life.

• Ensuring you always have other options so you never feel trapped and vulnerable.

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress

6. Becoming Invincible (June)

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Read more

One topic you requested is how AI can play a role in keeping your job and pushing back against ageism in the industry. So, let’s talk about it!

Read more

Who can help hold you accountable for making progress? It could be individuals or groups you check in with regularly. For example:

• A peer who is on the same journey with you (i.e., shares the same goal).

• A friend who can check in with you regularly (may not have the same goals).

• An accountability buddy selected from online acquaintances.

• A real-world community built around the goal you’re pursuing.

• An online community that provides support and accountability.

• A coach who schedules accountability appointments with you.

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress (May)

6. Becoming Invincible

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Read more

Unfortunately, that’s pretty common. In this episode, I talk about the need for you to take time away from the office to focus on your career development, leadership development, and/or personal development.

Subscribe now

Episode summary

• Start Investing in Yourself: Who is focusing on making you happy and helping you future-proof your career? If your boss isn’t, we will.

• Virtual Burnout is Real: We’re all tired of sitting behind the Zoom screen. That’s why I’m moving beyond online workshops to bring more training and experiences back into the real world.

• 3 In-Person Events I’m Planning:

  • The Invincible Job Quest: A 1-2-day workshop in the real world for navigating your job search, practicing interview techniques, negotiating salaries, and more.

    • Provide your input on the format and agenda

  • The Exit Blueprint: A 2-day deep-dive for experienced professionals to plan a future strategic transition into semi-retirement through self-employment (without draining your precious nest egg).

    • Learn more about planning your escape business

    • Provide input and sign up to be notified

  • The Leadership Retreat: A weekend escape to rewrite your leadership operating manual, navigate leadership challenges in the age of AI, define your legacy, and plan what comes next for you.

    • Learn more about these retreats

    • Provide your input on the agenda

• Note: Leaders Need Off-campus Retreats: Corporate training sessions frequently fail because you can’t be completely honest and vulnerable in front of your boss or peers (who are often your competitors). My upcoming retreats offer a confidential, safe space with peers from other companies where you can be yourself and truly solve your toughest leadership challenges without fear of political fallout.

• Join Us in a Beautiful, Fun Setting: To get started, we are looking at locations around Lake Tahoe and the Bay Area in California. We want places where we can enjoy nature, disconnect from the demands of the office, reconnect with your purpose, and redefine your future.

Not sure which event is right for you? Have questions about any of this? Schedule a free call with me to chat more about it!

Book Your Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

Would you like to help support my newsletter and podcast, but don’t want to commit to a monthly fee? Check out my ☕️ Buy Me a Coffee. I’m self-employed, and coaching and writing are how I provide for my family. Thanks for your help!

Buy Me a Coffee

If you don’t protect your time, someone will take it from you. You need a strategy to ensure you focus on what you want, when you want. This week’s update helps you apply the following strategies to defend your precious time.

• Day Theming

• Time Blocking

• Calendar Strategy

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress (May)

6. Becoming Invincible

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Read more

I’ve found it challenging to pursue a new goal unless changes are made in how one operates each day. Creating the right habits will improve your odds of success.

• What new habits do you need to establish?

• What old habits do you want to eliminate?

• What do you want to schedule weekly to ensure it receives attention?

• What needs to be done each month?

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress (May)

6. Becoming Invincible

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Read more

1. When to have them (days, times).

2. The topics you would like to see covered in those meetings.

Please take a minute and share your preferences. Thanks!

Read more

Grab the content of this week’s update so you can paste it into your copy of the Invincible Career Guide. It’s about establishing milestones and tasks for your most important goals.

I like it when you pursue goals that let you enjoy smaller wins during the journey. What milestones would you like to reach as you make progress? Think about measures that will help you stay on track. You might have daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly targets.

• For example, if you wanted to write a book:

  • Daily target - 500 words/day

  • Milestone 1 - Create an outline

  • Milestone 2 through X - Completed chapters 2 through X

  • Final milestone - Rough draft of the full book

Get the Update

The Invincible Career Guide for 2026

I created the companion guide to provide additional structure for the weekly emails I will share with you this year. If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, use the button below to access and save it.

It’s in Google Slides format, so you can save a copy of the presentation to your own Google Drive in your preferred folder. This will allow you to edit the placeholder text to enter your answers to the questions in the guide.

Get the Guide

How to use the guide

Every month this year will have a specific theme.

• Each week will have a set of homework questions related to that month’s theme.

• I will share a new presentation document with that week’s questions via the newsletter email and in my private community (you’re welcome to join us for free!).

• Then download the new presentation, copy and paste the new slides into your editable copy of the guide, and use it to answer the questions.

New slides will come each month. Stay tuned for more emails about those.

Subscribe now

Themes this year

1. Your Goals

2. The Blockers

3. Your Toolbox

4. Strategy & Plan

5. Making Progress (May)

6. Becoming Invincible

7. Your Network

8. Targeting

9. Broadcasting

10. Systems

11. Resources

12. Evaluation

Schedule a complimentary call with me if you have questions about the guide or if you want to discuss the specifics of your career situation.

Book a Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

📕 Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!

Read more

You know, when your boss asks you to take on more responsibility, but without an actual promotion or even a raise?

Those are the worst, and they are becoming more common in this job market. Do you know why? Because employers think they can get away with it.

• They conduct layoffs and flatten organizations.

• The remaining employees absorb the workload left behind.

• However, to keep costs down, no one gets a real promotion or raise.

• Employees may hear vague promises of a future promotion to make things right later.

• They suck it up because they know the market is terrible and worry about finding a new job.

If you receive a dry promotion, you have three choices:

1. Suck it up and make the best of it.

2. Negotiate the promotion and raise you deserve.

3. Quietly start looking for a better job and plan your exit.

Let me go into more detail for each of these options below.

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1. Make the best of it (for now)

In a terrible job market, sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation and ride out the storm. However, that doesn’t mean you have to suck it up and suffer. Instead, look for opportunities to set boundaries, manage your workload, and get what you want from the situation.

First, ask about the timeframe for absorbing this extra work. Is this expected to be a forever thing, which means your job will always be like this now? Or is this a temporary situation until they rebalance work across the team, hire some new employees (or contractors), etc.?

Then, have an honest conversation with your boss about your workload, what was already on your plate, and what the additional responsibilities require. Scope the additional work and expectations to get a sense of how much more it adds to your days and weeks. Don’t let them set you up for burnout!

Discuss boundaries to ensure you don’t get overworked (e.g., hours you can put in per day). It may be possible to adjust expectations to make the additional responsibilities less of a burden (e.g., moving out delivery dates, reducing scope).

But you should also establish clear priorities with your boss for what is now on your plate. Everything cannot be a “top priority”! Something has to give, and that will be the stuff at the bottom of the list.

Find ways to get what you want to make the additional responsibilities feel more acceptable. Compensation isn’t always financial. You can ask for other perks to balance the equation, such as more flexibility in your work schedule, working remote more frequently, additional vacation days, and training and development to advance your career, etc.

Also, this could be an opportunity to level up, strengthen your network, and make yourself more attractive for a later promotion, a transfer to another department, or a new job.

Note: If you can’t find ways to manage your workload and get what you want from this situation, it won’t be sustainable for very long. So, you may end up exploring option 3 later (see below).

2. Negotiate a raise or promotion

Yes, they want you to take on this additional responsibility with no extra pay and maybe not even a title change. But that doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate and try to get what you need.

During my tenure in the corporate world, I’ve watched people receive dry promotions. Some employees took on the additional work without a peep. Others said, “What’s in it for me?” Depending on their value to the org, personality, and willingness to walk away, some employees could negotiate something to make it right.

So, you certainly can use this opportunity to ask for the promotion or raise that should go along with this extra responsibility. Obviously, don’t threaten to leave if you’re not really willing to do it. Simply explain how the additional work you will do is in line with what someone at the next level would be responsible for.

If you’re successful, great! However, if they say they just can’t make it work, ask for a timeline.

If you agree to take on this additional responsibility, when are they willing to revisit the promotion conversation? This establishes a limit for how long you will put in the extra work before something needs to change.

3. Look for a better job

I always recommend that you should be looking for your next job anyway. This situation simply accelerates the timeline. Obviously, use discretion as you begin your job search. In a bad market, you don’t want to risk your employment.

The funny thing is, since you are taking on this additional responsibility and operating above your current position, you can now confidently interview for roles at that next level with other potential employers.

I call this the “Silicon Valley promotion,” and I used it every time I took a new job with a new employer. I never made a career move that didn’t give me a promotion or a big raise. It’s a great way to advance your career more quickly, especially when upward movement slows down once you’re inside a company.

Empower yourself!

We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react and the actions we take in response to that event.

Receiving a dry promotion sucks, but turn it to your advantage or make a plan to move on. You don’t need to put up with this forever.

➡️ Do you want to talk with me about your situation? You can always schedule a free session. No strings attached!

Schedule Your Free Call

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you're fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.
➡️ Ready to create an exciting future? Book a free call today to learn how!

Would you like to help support my newsletter and podcast, but don’t want to commit to a monthly fee? Check out my ☕️ Buy Me a Coffee. I’m self-employed, and coaching and writing are how I provide for my family. Thanks for your help!

Buy Me a Coffee

However, sometimes even the best-laid plans run into headwinds (e.g., the kind of disruptions happening in tech right now).

Are you at a pivotal moment in your career?

• Were you recently passed over for a promotion you deserved in this last review cycle?

• Did you get caught in the rounds of layoffs now running rampant through the industry?

• Are you still safely employed, but feel stuck in a role that drains your soul?

• Are you looking to make a big change and want to try something new?

• Are you feeling a growing itch to step off the corporate treadmill and explore better options?

I know you probably already have the talent, skills, knowledge, and expertise to get what you want out of your career and life. Many of the people who reach out to me do! The problem is that you are dealing with the "Paradox of Choice." You could do almost anything with your life, but you are at a crossroads, facing a multitude of uncertain paths.

It's overwhelming! I get it. It happens to the best of us in moments like these.

What you need now is the perspective of an outside expert.

Someone who understands your situation and can help you get the clarity you need to move forward without blowing up your current safety net. An experienced advisor who has been in your shoes before, created their own successful life path, and has mentored others for decades as a corporate leader and career coach.

I know people are worried about this economy and the crazy job market (aren't we all?). So I'm introducing my new and more affordable 60-minute Deep-Dive Problem-Solving Session!

It's a concentrated coaching call to help you get unstuck and move ahead. The package includes:

• 📋 A pre-call questionnaire to focus our problem-solving conversation on the right issues.

• ☎️ A 60-minute call with me to dive deep into your background, concerns, and desired goals and outcomes.

• ⚙️ My recommended framework and process to help you plan the next steps with more clarity.

• 📄 A post-call summary to share the key takeaways and action items to help you move forward.

As always, the call is completely confidential. Your boss doesn't need to know about it. 😉

Schedule Your Call

Testimonials

Larry Cornett, Ph.D., is a career coach who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley at Apple, IBM, Yahoo, eBay, and several startups as a designer, leader, and product and design executive. Whether you’re fighting for a promotion, navigating a layoff, or planning your exit to independence, he combines executive experience with psychological insight to help ambitious professionals reclaim their power and build an Invincible Career.

Read more