Hello reader,
I’m a luddite and I know it. Y’all, I left instagram and took all social media off my phone in March 2020 and never looked back.
As a result of my mindset, I’ve only recently played with ChatGPT. Why did I even go there? A client was exploring the concept of Ikigai, and invited ChatGPT to question him so that he could do deeper thinking about his own ikigai.
Yeah. My client was on his way to replacing me with a bot.
I know we’ve all had that thought — is my job replaceable with a AI? A bot? ChatGPT? Doctors, lawyers, realtors, writers, teachers…we all have experienced that moment of uh-oh where some of the skills you think you bring to the table are done, and done better by ChatGPT.
Another client and I have been brainstorming for a month on the attributes of the brand for a business she’d like to launch. After I saw how the bot advanced the thinking of my ikigai-seeking client, I suggested she give it a go.
So she invited ChatGPT to come up with some ideas for her brand. Mind. Blown. Best brainstorm she’d had. Eerie, like they knew her.
This luddite has tapped into the beast (as I’m sure you already have, or will shortly after reading this newsletter). And I have decided: it’s good! ChatGPT is creative caffeine that can help us think.
And, by demonstrating what it can do better than me, it helps me clarify my strengths.
Coaches as questions. Coaches help you think. Coaches provide accountability. Bots and timers can do that too. AI-generated questions can help you think deeply. A good prompt, and some discipline to pursue it, helps.
But here’s where I’ve got the edge. ChatGPT can’t connect. They can’t love you, energetically vibe with you, or care about you. They can’t see an article and think of you, or hold you in their heart and pray for you. They can set a timer to check in or send you an automated email, but they can’t be a human on the other end of the line when you respond (dontcha just love those “no-reply” e-mails)?
All humans have flaws and try their best. You’ll recognize it with children: part of the charm of endless recitals is that the kids screw up. The trombone squeaks, a cymbal falls. Someone reliably takes the wrong position on stage or forgets their line.
These moments of human vulnerability are delightful, because we’ve all been there. They generate empathy and love, humor, and understanding. They are real real moments in a choreographed, orchestrated, structured, and rehearsed performance.
When we human together, we recognize the struggle that helps us grow, chick-emerging-from-egg style. Watch that child take their first steps and go boom.
AI struggles too, and it’s funny, but not in the relatable way that beings with souls understand. Human struggles help you grow.
Having a coach means a partner there with you, with the balm that is a smile or a hug, knowing you, looking in your eyes. Love, care and support, is magic, and that helps you tend to the wound so that you can grow back stronger.
A coach helps you push yourself, tear muscle, heal and grow. Push, grow. The coach helps you to know it’s safe, that you can attempt that thing you’ve never done before.
My kids are on fields all over town right now playing their various sports and my two favorite parts of the game are watching them try and listening to the coaches talk with them. Last baseball game, the coach told my son “I need you right now.” Five words. They made eye contact and my son nodded. He felt needed, like he could make a difference (tied single elimination playoff game, second to last inning).
My son didn’t deliver. He came to me after the inning, shaking his head, “the coach needed me and I couldn’t do it” (his pop fly was caught). I reminded him that he did his best. And in the final inning, facing two outs, he hit a single that brought two RBI’s that turned the game from a tie to a win. The energy from the coach — the implied “I believe in you”, helped him deliver.
The energetic beliefs that another person hold for you can help you go beyond your demonstrated capabilities and achieve more. That’s why Olympians thank their coaches and their moms for what? For believing in them.
My friends, that transfer of human energy, that quantum shift, that’s the thing ChatGPT can’t give you. That joy, that spirit connection.
But I can! So I’ll continue to do my coach thang, and bring in my new business partner for more expansive brainstorms. Then I’ll love you across that finish line.
Abundant love to you,
Allison
