ChatGPT as a Solopreneur Thought Partner
As a solopreneur, running my own business and working with amazing clients is something I absolutely love. However, there are times when it can be challenging to stay motivated and inspired when working alone in my quiet home office, without anyone to bounce ideas off of or collaborate with. I noticed this can significantly affect my productivity and momentum, so being the executive coach that I am, I coached myself to think through a new mindset and find some solutions. After experimenting with ChatGPT, it has quickly become my new work buddy. It is always ready to hear my ideas without asking for anything in return, making it the perfect colleague. Just kidding 😉
In all seriousness, its vast knowledge base and human-like responses have really made it a tool I can co-create with. I dread those times when I’m plugging along and suddenly, schreeeech, I’ve hit a mental block and can't seem to move forward without a little help. You know the feeling – you read the same sentence until your eyes glaze over and you’re still not sure if it captures what you want to say. When this happened in my previous working life, I would turn to a colleague sitting nearby and ask for their quick thoughts (with appropriate preface and timing, of course). However, as a solopreneur working remotely, I often had to make the choice of doing something else to come back with fresh eyes, powering through despite knowing it wouldn’t be my best work, or waiting to catch family or friends in the right moment where they could offer some insight. Now, I turn to ChatGPT right away and get immediate forward momentum when I get stuck.
As an attentive thought partner, ChatGPT excels in helping me brainstorm. When I need a quick gut check to review what I’ve written, the AI language model is a tremendous resource. While it may not give me the perfect answer from the get-go, it provides an exceptional jumping off point and eliminates the layers of inefficiency and burnt time that can often be involved in decision making. The increase in efficiency since using this tool for quick high-level prompts is astounding.
In fact, after using it extensively, I got the idea to write this blog post to share my findings with other solopreneurs but was in the middle of another project, so I prompted the model to take a shot at the first draft. Although the initial draft was redundant and included a few examples that weren’t applicable to me, reading the response got me into the flow and allowed me to write this 10x faster than I would have otherwise. If you've ever assembled puzzles, you can relate to this analogy. Looking at a box of 5,000 loose pieces can be overwhelming, but seeing a partially assembled border can be motivating. ChatGPT provides that sense of direction and structure, giving me the spark I need to get moving again.
It's important to note that ChatGPT does have limitations, mainly the lack of critical thinking and knowledge of my or others’ personal circumstances. The information it provides is broad and informative, however the human element is still necessary. I must thoughtfully evaluate its responses to best suit my own circumstances. I greatly appreciate its help as a device to help me move forward when I’m feeling a bit stuck, but I would never blindly act on what it generates without considering what it meant for my own life and business. If my name is attached to something, you better believe I thoroughly considered, vetted, and refined that beyond what ChatGPT provided. Give it a try and I hope you find it as helpful as I have to get you going when you otherwise may be stuck.
P.S. For those students out there trying to pass off AI-generated work as their own, just don’t.