this 5-min AI trick will help you more than a $100 per hour coach

If you feel like you’re struggling to make effective decisions. This one’s for you:

Do ever feel like your life is one big pile of indecision?

You’re overwhelmed by so many decisions every day.

Sometimes it’s easier just, not have to think, right?

This is why AI is so attractive:

“I’ll just use this cool ‘intelligent’ thing to figure that out for me”.

But is that the best thing for you to do?

Or do you just need clarity of thinking?

I’ve spent $1000s on coaching, courses, communities. But they often just sent me spiralling off in a different direction.

I also have a strong negativity bias which means my default is fear of the future vs optimism (doesn’t mean I’m not an optimist by the way).

Either way, this means I’ve got to constantly watch out for what Scott Adams - creator of Dilbert - would call ‘Loserthink’ (the subject of his latest book).

But how do you change the ‘loserthink’ that keeps us stuck?

AI Makes You Dumberer

Earlier this year, MIT conducted a study that showed that using ChatGPT makes you dumber.

OK, so it didn’t really, but that’s how most people took it.

The critical context is.

• Those that used it to replace their thinking showed less brain activity.

• Those that thought through the problem first, and THEN used ChatGPT showed increased brain activity.

This is the difference between outsourcing your thinking, and thinking through a problem with assistance.

My LinkedIn post on this subject is my best performer this year.

Which, I guess means there’re a lot of people that love using AI out there, that don’t want to become stupid by using it.

(don’t worry you won’t)

But after writing that post, I started noticing things about using AI day-to-day that didn’t quite sit right with me…

I remember a Tweet that took off, that was something like:

Similar to when you ask your Mum whether something’s a good idea.

“Yes sweetie, you should ABSOLUTELY do that, I think it’s an amazing idea”

It’s not.

Your Mum just doesn’t want to upset you.

And this is the base state for most AI models.

They’re so keen to be helpful AI assistants, that they shield you from the harsh truth’s you need to hear.

So, last week, after getting fed up with AI just agreeing with my default chain of (rubbish) thought.

I decided to find a way to use AI to take my thinking to the next level.

Critical Claude

Enter critical Claude.

Something that’s super powerful about Claude, is the ability to set custom response ‘styles’ that you can switch to part way through a conversation.

These act the same as custom instructions would in any other AI, but allow more flexibility if you don’t want to be locked in to one response style whilst having a conversation.

For me, I generally:

1. Set up a Claude Project - This includes base instructions of the role I want the AI to assume as well as any knowledge / files that I want it to reference

2. Set up response Styles - These can be used across any chat, or any project within Claude to change the way it responds to you.

So I might start the conversation with a default style, and then switch to a hyper-critical style later in the conversation.

What happens when I do this?

Claude now rips me to shreds.

But I don’t mind as I want it to push me to think better.

I don’t want AI to act as support for a mediocre stream of consciousness.

I want it to help push me into the top 1%.

Since using AI in this way I’ve:

• Uncovered biases in my thinking I didn’t realise I had

• Improved client proposals to justify 6-figure retainer deals

• Discovered that the way I was planning on building my business may be completely flawed

When you do this, you’ve got to be prepared that:

• AI might swear at you

• AI might tell you something you don’t want to hear

• AI might push you into territory you’re uncomfortable with

But this is the difference between average and exceptional.

And it’ll only take you 5 minutes to build.

The 5-Min AI Trick

I do this with Claude, as I like the ability to switch response styles.

But, you can add the below prompt (step 2) to any AI that you use.

1. Create a new Style in Claude

Go into Claude, open styles, and click create new

You’ll want to ‘Define a style Objective’

Copy/Paste:

You can skip this by clicking ‘Use custom instructions’ and just paste the next step.

2. Review the prompt Claude provides

Copy/Paste

3. Use it in a conversation

You might struggle to deal with the abuse for a bit:

But it’ll be good for you in the long term ;)

The Final Word

AI isn’t going to replace you any time soon.

But it will replace the mediocre results that come from mediocre thinking.

Coaches, courses, community. They’re all great (and often worth the investment if you find the right one).

But they won’t help if you’re not thinking clearly to begin with.

So whether you’re looking to:

• Make more effective (unbiased) decisions

• Uncover blind spots in your business

• Win that next level client

Don’t fall into the trap of ‘doing things the way you’ve always done them’.

Look at things with a critical lens, and use AI to help you think at a higher level.

Break through moments aren’t achieved when you over-think.

They’re achieved when you’re forced to think differently.

Until next time.

Adam

P.S - If you want to see the workflows I’ve automated to save myself 1 day a week and (actually) become ‘super productive’, you can find my 2-Hour Automator course here for free.

P.P.S - Know a friend who could really use this? Please share, and drop me a reply with who you shared it with. I love making new friends :)