📰 The one small change that makes ChatGPT actually useful

I am writing this from Bora Bora.

I have seen photographs of this place my whole life. The lagoon, the colors, the mountain rising out of the water. I always assumed it was the kind of place that looks better in pictures than in person.

It does not.

My wife stood at the railing this morning as we came into the harbor and did not say anything for a long time. Neither did I. Some things are better met with quiet.

But Thursday is Thursday. So here is something useful.

On Tuesday I asked what has started to feel less uncertain. A lot of you said something that used to feel confusing now makes a little more sense. A few said they had tried something they would not have tried before.

That is exactly the shift we are building on today.

Think of something you asked ChatGPT in the last few weeks. Now ask the same question again but change one word or add one small detail.

For example:

If you asked: "Help me write a thank-you note to my doctor."

Now try: "Help me write a short, warm thank-you note to my doctor - something that sounds like me, not like a form letter."

That one addition changes the answer completely.

You are not learning a new skill. You are just getting more specific about what you want.

That is the whole thing. That is the entire shift.

When you know what you want, ChatGPT gets more useful. And the more you use it, the more naturally that specificity comes.

If you try this today, hit reply and tell me what you changed. One sentence is enough. I am reading from a lagoon that did not look real until this morning.

Saturday I will be writing from Moorea, the island my wife and I woke up to on the 2 mornings after our wedding. More on that then.

See you at the bank. 💰
Bob

If you’re curious about the guy behind these emails, I put a few stories and photos over at bobcaine.com. No pressure, just a place to see the face behind the screen.