How GPT walk me out of self-doubt
THIS IS ACTUALLY WORKING
(just realized how pathetic i am after drawing down the title😹)
This was a rare, back-and-forth, enjoyable, and helpful conversation between me and GPT, so I decided to record it and analyze how it helped me turn emotions into actions.
Conversation Summary
I told GPT that I had some self-doubt recently. GPT helped me to recall the past and build confidence. At the same time, it helped me to set short-term goals for the future and come up with some solutions that could be acted quickly and get feedback.
Prompt used
Friends who want to use GPT as a life coach can also try this prompt 🙂
Use active listening, try not to give advice, and help me find solutions to problems on my own.
Please limit your reply to 4 sentences or less.
Gains
Talk therapy > Direct advice
During the conversation with GPT, it kept asking me questions. While answering the questions, I actively thought about it and "convinced" myself. Just like solving a problem, it is better for the teacher to guide the students to think rather than directly give the solution.
The GPT model is usually: first say a few useful nonsense to show that it understands you, and then ask questions about what you said to push you to turn your ideas into executable goals.
How to cope with emotions
Growth Status Chart
Addendum - Conversation Log
Discovering Self-doubt
Me: Hey, I find that I seem to be more willing to believe that an authority figure will affirm the efforts I am making than to believe in myself.
g: It sounds like you're having some self-doubt about your decision. What do you think is causing this feeling?
Me: There is no clear reward for what you do now. The future is uncertain and there are opportunity costs.
g: Understandably. It’s hard to trust your decisions without clear rewards, and it’s challenging to move forward in an ambiguous situation. Would you like to explore some ways to build confidence in your decisions, even when the future is uncertain?
Me: Middle.
Recall the past and trust your feelings
g: First, you can recall your previous successful decisions. This can help you strengthen your confidence in your own decision-making. Second, setting small achievable goals can help you get rewards immediately and increase your confidence in making big decisions. What do you think?
Me: That makes sense. I’ve traveled a few times on my own in the past, to Burning Man, Mexico, and Dali. I was a little skeptical before I went, but the results were beyond my expectations, in a good way.
g: It sounds like you’ve made some bold decisions that have had a positive impact on your life. Do you think reflecting on these decisions can help you believe in yourself more in your current situation?
Me: Sure. I learned that I should trust my true feelings and use them to guide my decisions.
G: Intuition is a powerful guide, especially if you've seen it help you in the past. How do you feel about following your intuition and taking small steps in new situations?
Me: (I didn't see that GPT wanted to guide me to take action) I think the current situation is similar to the previous one. There are some doubts around me, but these doubts may be because they don't have as much information as I do. And this trip is longer than a short trip. But I should still believe in myself, know what I am looking for on the road, and have a clear goal.
Small steps, then big steps
g: That’s a good analogy. (Continue trying to bring the topic back to goals and actions) So how do you want to stay focused and confident along the way?
Me: I set some short-term and long-term goals. These goals drive me to work hard and make continuous progress. Of course, it is also important to have fun in the process of hard work.
g: It’s a very proactive and balanced strategy. (Continues to push me to refine my goals) What is your first goal?
Me: I want to write 5 newsletters. I have written 2 so far. I want to write an article every week and a newsletter every two weeks. And I want to establish a writing process, from collecting ideas, to writing drafts, editing, to publishing, to collecting feedback. Make this process sustainable and repeatable.
g: (Updated memory!) (Started to talk nonsense) Good, having a workflow can help you improve your skills and help you manage and execute projects more efficiently. How did you feel about writing newsletters the first two times? What did you learn? Is there anything you can use in your next writing?
Me: The first two times were not easy. I wrote two book summary articles, which were long and dry, and took a lot of time. I felt that it was unsustainable. But I still like to write about philosophical topics because it provides me with counterintuitive thinking and challenges my existing lifestyle. I don’t like some short and fast "opinions" on social media because their dissemination is in line with human nature, such as pornography, gambling, and drug content, selling anxiety, mindless entertainment, which cannot withstand scrutiny and is harmful to the brain. I like answers that can stand the test of time after careful thinking.
G: Good, you have discovered your passion for philosophy and the challenges of your current working style. You can consider writing about a few chapters in the book, so that you can explore them in depth and put forward your unique perspectives, and the workload will be smaller. What do you think?
Solve problems and try new tools
Me: That makes sense. I also have the idea of using cards or a teleprompter to generate a body of writing so I never run out of ideas.
g: Oh, that's a good idea too. You could generate some philosophical themed cards or questions so that readers can keep reading new things. How do you want to implement this idea of using cards or teleprompters?
Me: Are there any existing tools?
g: (gives a few tools) Do you want more?
Me: I heard there is a way to write card index. Do you know it?
g: zettelkasten? It is a powerful tool commonly used by writers and researchers. Use cards to record inspiration, references, quotes, and ideas. Each card can be classified and linked to other cards to form a large system. Some software, such as roam search, obsidian, zettlr, all use the zettelkasten method to help users connect, classify, and quickly find ideas. Do you want to learn how to build your own card index system?
I think!
Then gpt introduced to me how to use this method to record inspiration every day and organize it regularly, from notes to drafts, to social interactions, etc.