The Dynamic of Change, in 3 Stages

The 3 stages of change, and my personal story of inner and outer transformation.

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Hey, Fis here.

This is an article analyzing the dynamics of change and telling my story over the last year, evolving from AI, PKM, and Tana to Self Knowledge; through the study of Astrology, Human Design, Ayurveda, and more.

On top of that, I have been going through some major changes in life since 2023, in which I moved homes 4 times in the span of 3 years, ended a long term-relationship, lived with a friend from school, started a new relationship, and moved home again.

The theme of 'changing' has been on my mind for a while.

And the world is changing faster than ever, so this might as well be a timely piece of writing.

Let's focus on my most recent change for now.

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Disclaimer:

I will continue to practice and work with Knowledge Management and AI for the foreseeable future.

But I had to let go of identifying and limiting myself to only working with this, so that I can open space for my true authentic self to shine through.

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Career and Professional Evolution

In 2025 my professional interests and vocation evolved. And I didn't allow myself to express this honestly.

I got stuck in my old identity and old ecosystems, and did not allow myself to pursue my deepest interests with freedom. Even though I have been studying spiritual, mystical, sacred knowledge, and reading countless books on the most varied topics around spirituality...

I still did not give myself permission to pivot into these topics with authenticity. Until now.

Change is hard by itself, but I made it worse. I was a harsh critic of my changes, and tried to keep myself safe. I did not allow myself to be fully seen for who I really am, and tried very hard to resist the changes passing through me.

Things change. People change. We all know change is normal.

But human nature still makes you resist the change, even when the new direction may be more aligned and truly connected to your true purpose.

For me, specifically, I found it very tough to change an identity, public image, and professional living I had built for years around a specific theme (AI, Second Brain, Tana), and suddenly notice my whole life has been pushing me to another direction, Spirituality, Astrology, Self-Knowledge, Alchemy, and more.

And on top of that, several beliefs about financial insecurity creeped in, keeping me in a standstill with my content, while silently building in private.

This email/article serves a threefold purpose:

• A deep explanation of the process of change
• What happened in my process of transformation
• A public statement of my new identity during this change

Let's start off with a quote that measures this very well.

This is a quote about habits, from the book 5AM Club, for those seeking inspiration to wake up early. But I just happened to remember this quote, after a few years off the radar, and hey, it fits perfectly here.

Change is not easy, but if it's happening in your life, somehow, it is necessary. And arguably the best thing that could happen.

The Dynamics of Change

Change, as everything else, follows the eternal pattern of the Universe.

The bad part is that change can be hard. But the good part is that humanity has learned how to deal with change for a long time, we just need to listen and learn from the past.

Change aligns intimately with the 3 modes of operation of the Universe:

1. Creation
2. Preservation
3. Destruction

These 3 stages are represented in several ancient wisdom traditions:

The Vedas understood this millennia ago, and represented this in their 3 major deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Alchemists use the 3 alchemical elements, or the Tria Prima, which are Sulphur, Sal, Mercurius, in their latin names.

The Kabbalists, mystical tradition of Judaism, also understood this as the 3 pillars of the Tree of Life, which are Mercy, Balance, Severity.

Taoism touches on the concept of the Yin-Yang, Yang is the masculine, Yin is the feminine, and Yin-Yang is the balance between poles. The Tao is also related to the I-Ching, which is called the Book of Changes.

How they Connect:

• Creation: Brahma the Creator - Sulphur - Mercy - Yang
• Preservation: Vishnu the Preserver - Sal - Balance - Yin Yang
• Destruction: Shiva the Destroyer - Mercurius - Severity - Yin

All we have to do is to understand these pillars that have been mapped for over 5000 years.

And here is the good thing: the Universe operates in sequence.

These 3 phases follow an order of Creation → Preservation → Destruction.

First comes creation. Then, once created, it is preserved to ensure survival. And when it reaches the lifetime attributed to it, destruction comes to clean up, and open space for a new creation. And this cycle continues again and again.

This helps us to understand change and work with it, instead of against it (as I tried to).

When it comes to change, we are standing in Preservation. We are 'stable', which means the next stage in line is Destruction, the process that gives birth to change.

And change is hard in the beginning.

Destruction

Change always starts with destruction.

First, you must destroy what was previously there, to open space for the new. Transformation begins not by birthing something new, but with death.

This is why the 'beginning is hard', you have to remove a previous identity, a previous version of yourself to open space for something else to emerge. You need to resist the urge to identify yourself with your previous identity. Can you feel the irony here? This is the reason MANY people resist and avoid change.

But those who are attuned to the universal pattern understand that this is normal.

The snake must shed it's skin to replace it with a new one.

We must go through destruction, it might be a choice, or a sudden change, from an internal or external cause. It might be hard or easy, you might face more resistance or less resistance.

But one thing is sure, destruction must occur for creation to come next.

And this doesn't mean you must destroy everything, (you might still preserve some parts of what previously was) but you must destroy something.

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And destruction was hard for me. Even though I usually handle the concepts of death and destruction quite well, this time it was not easy.

Part of this was because of my existing income sources, which came mainly from AI systems and Tana, both with digital products (templates) and mentoring people 1:1.

And since I have a Master's in Computer Science, and have worked for several years with technology, this made me fear the new scenario. 'Destroying this' meant starting over without an official or established credibility, relying on my own studies and abilities, in an area where I hadn't earned money before. And I won't lie, this was (and still is) scary.

Another resistance came from caring about what you (yes, you) would think.

And another part of my personal resistance is because I would be going against the AI trend.

Everyone is jumping ON the AI bandwagon. I'm doing the opposite, less emphasis on AI, deeper focus on self-knowledge, turning inward, and listening to the stars.

I believe that knowing yourself is the foundation to know what to use AI for, and why.

Today, I understand my resistance, and I move forward with my destruction, to open up space for something that is much more aligned and truly authentic.

Creation

And then there is creation.

Creation is messy, it is chaotic, it requires courage to face uncertainty.

The Creative chaos is the part where you need to push through and birth a new version of yourself, which is still not clear, and usually not well defined.

For this reason, creation might bring a lot of insecurity, this includes unprocessed insecurity from previous stories, stored trauma, lack of self worth, and self doubt.

That's why creation can be messy.

You're actively bringing something new into existence and simultaneously finding the courage to overcome your own insecurities (be it in your personal life, or as a professional or external project). And finding the courage takes effort.

P.S. This is even worse if you are NOT done with the destruction phase. Doubts kick in harder and stronger if you haven't fully gone through the proper destruction.

Courage is foundational to creation.

It is the element of Fire, the creative courageous impulse to bring something new into the world. Courage is to push through your harsh (outer and inner) critics, to stand for what you believe in and give life to a project.

Keep in mind that not everyone is built the same. This courage might come easily to someone and take months of study for others. The same goes for destroying the old versions of yourself, it has different degrees of difficulty involved.

The key is knowing where you fall into, how you're wired, and supporting yourself in the journey with self-love, self-honor and self-empathy.

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For me specifically, this courage took me a while.

To me, courage comes after I feel confident and safe within a subject matter. Courage takes security, I must truly know what I am doing, and be safe in my own understanding, my courage takes research and preparation.

And that's what I did. Study. Build. Prepare.

In early 2025, I started creating knowledge bases inside Tana for personal pleasure.

Later that year, I made a large investment to study a live online course on Applied Astrology. And over the last few years, I've been studying through self-paced courses, books, resources, etc about these topics.

And all of this knowledge started to be saved into Tana.

What began as private notes became a living system I now call the Astrology Wisdom Co-pilot, a complete astrology knowledge base built inside Tana. Every planet, sign, house, aspect, decan, and dignity is its own interconnected node, with relationships defined between them. And on top of the knowledge, sits a small panel of AI agents (a tutor, a counsellor, a chart analyzer) that reads your chart and analyzes your placements inside Tana.

Later, this evolved into a system of interconnected knowledge inside Tana about Astrology, and also Gene Keys, Human Design, and more, with supertags and entities for every concept, organized knowledge explaining what everything means and how it connects within and across wisdom traditions.

Eventually, I decided to build my own app (more on this soon, as it is almost ready) to represent this knowledge, so that users can visualize the design as charts and mandalas, and use AI agents to study yourself.

And being honest, now I understand that building my own app was possibly also a way to postpone the act of sharing this raw Tana version out into the world, and being seen for who I really am.

So for over a year, this knowledge was kept in private in Tana format, and honestly it felt a little sad to keep it hidden. But now I am ready to share. I have decided to honor my creations and put them out into the world.

Before I announce the proper Tana Wisdom Copilot template, you can find a free, read-only version you can explore right now: with the signs, the houses, the planets, to get a taste of what I've built.

🔭 Explore the Astrology Wisdom Base - free, read-only​

Preservation

After creation, you preserve what was created.

This is the gorgeous part, you know who you are, having removed what which is NOT you, having the courage to create your new version. Preservation kicks in when you have built something, and now you can keep it going, it becomes a matter of maintaining it.

This is supposed to be easier than the other two phases, as it requires less effort, less questioning.

An object in motion stays in motion.

Things flow during preservation. This is why it is gorgeous. Because you have changed, you are now effortless in your new habit, or in your new identity. The creation was a success, and now you are ready to maintain it.

And notice that you must put SOME effort into preserving the new version of you. Clearly, you need less effort to Preserve something than what is necessary in the Destruction phase or in the Creation phase, but it is still effort nonetheless.

And of course, all things come to an end. After preservation, comes destruction again, it's the natural cycle.

For this reason, there might be a time, where you need MORE effort to preserve something than to destroy it. This might be an indicator that this something (profession, relationship, situation) is coming to an end.

And here we can apply the wisdom of how the Universe operates to make an educated decision.

Ask yourself the questions:

• Is it time to preserve or let go?
• Do you want to (or can you) put the effort into preservation?
• If something is asking to be destroyed, what parts will you let go of?

Remember that the Universe operates in cycles, and that you can become aware of these cycles to guide and direct your own life.

Preservation is also an interesting concept, After being through destruction, having created something new, you can now decide: What do I take with me?

Preservation is about deciding what is valuable to be taken forward in your journey.

This is the distinctions between pure maintenance, and preservation across cycles.

Maintenance is the energy directed at not letting something be destroyed. Continuous preservation is what remains AFTER several cycles of Creation → Preservation → Destruction have taken place. And THIS is what I am talking about here with Preservation in regards to my personal contemplations.

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Preservation has been a central word in my life recently. In the Gene Keys philosophy, it is the gift of my Life's Work. And I have contemplated this concept a whole lot ever since discovering the Gene Keys in 2021.

The key questions I since ask myself are:

• What do I want to preserve in my life?
• What do Iwant to preserve in this world?

This has made me continuously seek that which is worthy of being preserved. What is so valuable that it deserves to be preserved for future generations?

And here, it is a beautiful synergy as that the entire Knowledge Management practice is an act of Preservation. PKM is preserving the knowledge that you found to be valuable, so that it can be used by you again in the future.

And for this reason, I will continue to practice and work with Knowledge Management indefinitely. The same may be said about AI; with the surge of AI, it is safe to say that I will be using AI, and working with it for the foreseeable future.

These are topics I've learned, and that I will preserve in my life.

But I had to let go of the identity of limiting myself to only working as a PKM Coach or AI Expert. I had to destroy that static identity to make room for something deeper and more authentic that has been pushing through (for a long time).

A popular concept is the idea of asking ourselves "What will NOT change?" or in our terms "What will be Preserved in the future?"

This is specially relevant in a moment when the world is going through constant, accelerated change. So instead of focusing on the change, we can ask what will be preserved.

One thing is certain: AI will change A LOT. Very fast.

What will NOT change?

When I ask myself this question, a couple of answers pop up.

Our spiritual existence will never change. Even after we die, our spiritual essence, our spirit will keep existing.

In this lifetime, the fact you exist will never change. While you are alive, you exist. And you will definitely change, but the fact you exist won't change. This means knowing yourself is one of the most important things you could ever study.

The fact that the skies will continue influencing you and me will not change. Following the aphorism, "That which is above corresponds to that which is below," it is safe to assume that the stars will continue influencing us. So knowing more about the skies, the stars, the planets, and the influence they have upon us is a source of long-term wisdom.

Your birth date will never change. Your personal design when you were born will influence you forever. The sky in the moment you were born has left an imprint, and the soul choses the exact moment of our birth to be given this exact imprint and the energies from each planet, star, numbers, and zodiac signs.

Now, on a personal note.

My personal interest in spirituality and understanding myself will not change. This has been a central theme in my life, and has been presented to me in so many different ways, to the point I cannot keep hiding it from myself and from the outer world anymore.

My personal tendency towards transformation and learning new topics will not change. This is evident in my chart and has been a clear pattern in my life.

I am learning to give myself permission to change and be seen for who I really am (thus the theme of this article); and I am learning to preserve what I've learned from previous stages, to make sure I build foundations

Concluding Thoughts

The Universe operates in 3 modes:

• Creation
• Preservation
• Destruction

When you are amidst a change in your life, big or small, it is important to attune to which of these modes of operation you are currently in.

Ask yourself:

• Have you been through the phases of Destruction and Creation fully?
• Are you ready to complete the change and arrive at a new state of preservation?
• Or do you need more inner or outer processing?

And what about me? Where am I, Felipe, in these 3 stages?

For over a year, I resisted the change moving through me. I have been creating for a loooong time, but I was doing it as a half-off creation while still carrying resistance from an incomplete destruction.

Now I have officially and properly gone through the Destruction phase.

This opens up space to create properly, with courage, with full permission.

Now I move with the change, because I finally understand the pattern and allow it to happen: destruction clears the ground (and it is a good thing), it opens space for the new. Creation demands the courage to build and promote the new version of yourself. And I am now confident that what I bring to the world is worth preserving.

And that is the message that I want to put forth:

I believe knowing yourself is the most important task you are given in this life.

And knowing yourself is the foundation to understand what you can use AI for, and why.

Authenticity is the highest form of frequency you can access.

And authenticiy is all about knowing yourself, so that you can find your uniqueness, and honor it. So you can use AI to augment what you uniquely have to share with the world, and not what others expect from you.

And that, my friends, that's where I'm pointing now, inward.

And I extend this invitation to you. Seek to know yourself first; then you'll know what all this technology is even for. And if you need it after all.

Stay connected and know thyself,

Felipe Poggi (Fraga)

Felipe Poggi 🎓 M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence 📝 Author and Entrepreneur ✨ Mystic

Want to go deeper?

1. Work with me 1:1. A personal astrology reading, or a working session on your AI setup in Tana, Claude, or other. Book a Session.
2. Read the whole archive. Every essay and email now lives in one home: Know Thyself on Substack. Substack chanel.