Will ChatGPT be a game changer for self development?

The answer is yes and it won't be just ChatGPT.

One of the things I have been diving into over the past couple of months is the impact AI and particularly ChatGPT can help in self coaching and self development. For those who are not familiar, ChatGPT is an AI-powered tool that can simulate human-like conversations. It has been trained on a massive amount of text and can answer questions and carry out conversations on a wide variety of topics. It’s like a virtual assistant, a confidante, a motivator and a coach (within reason).

Now, I am no techo (I have survived not being able to use Excel in over 20 years of management consulting including 5 years at a professional services firm), but ChatGPT is one of the easiest, user friendly websites that is a game changer with respect to self-development.?Not only that but it’s free – there is a premium service that charges $20 USD per months but for what most people need for self-coaching and self-development you only need the free version.

How does it work? You simply provide a prompt. Within seconds ChatGPT spits out a response.

Let’s look at some examples (not exhaustive) of some prompts:

1. You want some advice on how to handle specific situation. The prompt might be “I want to interrupt less in meetings and stop dominating the conversations but still have my voice heard on important matters. What would you advise?”
2. You can use it provide self coaching. The prompt might be “Act as my coach. I want you to use open ended questions and wait for me to respond before asking me the next question. I want to work on my delegation skills.”
3. ?You can use it to provide affirmations? The prompt might be. What are 3 affirmation statements that I can use to motivate me about public speaking?
4. ?You can use it improve a skill. The prompt might be “What are 5 actions I can put in place to improve my delegation skills”
5. ?You can use it to deepen your self awareness. The prompt might be “what are 5 questions that will help me understand myself”
6. ?You can use it to help better manage your emotions. The prompt might be “I am feeling frustrated. Help me better understand why I am feeling that way and what could I do to feel less frustrated. Use open ended questions and wait for my reply before responding”

??They key with ChatGPT is the questions or prompts you ask. Some guidelines here:

?1.??????Be Specific – Make sure your questions are specific or provide specific questions and context. For example – What are 10 questions that will deepen my self awareness. Assume I know my strengths and weaknesses.

?2.??????Be Clear – Avoid jargon or ambiguous language. Similar to above, be clear in your language.

?3.??????Provide feedback – Sometimes it will involve iterations as you ask and re-ask your questions (prompts). Give feedback if something doesn’t feel quite right. You can also ask it to re-generate its response. Sometimes you will get a better response.

?4.??????Experiment – Try different questions asking different types of questions and see what kind of responses you get. ChatGPT is very versatile and can handle a wide range of topics and questions, so don't be afraid to experiment and explore.

?Here is an example of how you can use it.

?Enter the prompt “I am feeling frustrated, ask me 5 questions to help me better understand why I am feeling frustrated”

?Here is the response that came back in seconds

?Sure, I'd be happy to help. Here are five questions to help you explore your feelings of frustration:

1. What specifically is causing you to feel frustrated right now?
2. Have you experienced similar situations that have caused frustration in the past?
3. How long have you been feeling frustrated? Has it been building up over time or did it start suddenly?
4. Are there any external factors that may be contributing to your frustration, such as stress or lack of sleep?
5. Are there any underlying beliefs or expectations that you have that may be contributing to your feelings of frustration?

?ChatGPT can do some amazing things if you are willing to give it a try. It can help you with your writing, deepen your self awareness, provide advice on what to do in a situation and coach you through open ended questions where you respond on pretty much anything. It can explore your emotions.

While ChatGPT cannot replace professional coaching or therapy, it can be a valuable addition to your self-improvement toolkit.

As I build a developmental scaffolding process to help individuals make progress on transferring learning into meaningful development this will be a tool that will provide excellent support. ?