As OpenAI’s dramas have been dominating headlines, an intriguing story slipped under the radar. A new study found that GPT-4 outperformed humans on not one, but three separate tests of imagination. Researchers found that the model is especially good at cooking up surprising and unexpected ideas—serving as a powerful sparring partner when brainstorming. But this edition of Action Digest is sure to prompt (pun intended) insight and action more than any AI bot can muster.

Here are the gems of insight we’ll be unearthing in this week’s fourth and furious edition:

• ❤️ The morbid origin story of The Thesaurus reveals why love is a neglected guarantee of greatness.

• 🎷 Psychologists, a 7-year old, and a world-famous writer come together to help us understand when it’s time to quit with confidence.

P.s., if you’re just joining the action as a new subscriber, here’s what to expect…

Success leaves clues. And the biggest clue of all is that the greatest artists, entrepreneurs, and athletes, etc, operate with a bias for taking action. And if you dig one layer deeper, you realize they rely on many of the same best practices to make bold ideas happen. That’s where this newsletter comes in. By bringing you…

• Case studies of the world’s greatest innovators and creatives;

• The latest scientific studies on creativity; and

• Insights from some of the world’s most productive creative individuals and teams

…the patterns of success become ingrained. By keeping these hacks and insights top of mind, your creative fitness will stay in fighting shape. You can check out the first few editions here in case you missed them.

Alright, on with the show…

1. A labor of love always pays off, just not how you might expect.

The life of British physician, Peter Roget, was punctuated with misery. As a boy, his mother’s dark depressive episodes made for a troubled upbringing. Later in life, he struggled to help his sister and daughter cope with their own mental health disorders. His wife died young and his uncle committed suicide in Peter’s arms.

To cope with the tragedy that shadowed him, Peter turned to an unusual labor of love: writing lists. Peter would start by writing down a word on some paper. Then he would list as many other words he could think of that shared a similar meaning.

As Peter’s collection of synonyms grew, he had no expectations for them. They simply satisfied his passion for linguistics and served as a therapeutic exercise. But then, after a lifetime of list writing, something strange happened. Peter’s work caught the attention of a publisher who saw the value of what he’d created.

And so in 1852, at the age of 73, Peter’s lists were published as Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases—the world’s first thesaurus. The book was an unexpected hit and Peter’s version alone has since sold over 32 million copies worldwide.

A labor of love always pays off, just not always how you’d expect.

We’ll leave you with this…

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