I Love the Sound of My Own Voice

It’s 0615 on a random Wednesday.

My son has popped awake, ready to start his day.

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My wife is fast asleep - that means I’m going one on one with the little man for the next few hours.

I heave a handful of banana and a hard boiled egg in his general direction, to keep him temporarily occupied while I get dressed.

If I don’t quickly get this dude outside - he is going to have a meltdown.

That said, I usually do my most productive work in the morning.

I’m in a pickle.

As always, once I’ve gulped down my cold brew - my mind starts racing with business stuff - even as my son and I plod along the coast line.

But - what the hell am I supposed to do with these nascent work thoughts?

I’m not sitting at a computer.

Nobody else is awake who I can call.

Recording voice notes to review later is OK - but it’s a bit one sided.

I need the dialectic of discussion to really refine my ideas so I can keep thinking about them as I walk.

(Note: My dad yells at me when I use big words, but dialectic is really the right word here - definition - a method of discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a means of intellectual investigation).

Enter GPT-4s mobile app.

It is a revelation.

Here’s how I use it - and how you can too.

First you gotta get the ChatGPT app downloaded on your phone.

The key is these little wavy lines here - they let you record your voice.

One important note here - this software uses the new Whisper AI transcription, which is about 10,000% better than the normal speech to text you are used to with Alexa or the Iphone:

Now, I talk - usually the first thing I say is something like this (The below is me speaking, and the AI is transcribing my text):

“I've recently launched a new company called govivaldi.com and we've sold out our first dozen slots and I'd like your help in refining a more defined customer avatar. I want you to act as a expert in digital marketing. Ask me one question at a time to help me refine my thinking about who the true avatar is and take my answers to further refine your questioning. At the end of this I'd like a fairly detailed customer avatar profile.”

You can give it any role you want - but I usually say something like “Act like an X (business coach/sales trainer/copywriter) and ask me one question at a time to help me refine my thinking.

It types back a response.

I repeat this pattern over and over - talking with the transcription, and it texting me back a response.

This whole time I’m walking, thinking, stream of consciousnessing - and TALKING.

Occasionally I look down to read what the AI responded with. Here are a few exchanges:

It’s helping me refine my thinking!

At the end of about a dozen questions, I asked it to write out a first person letter from a target customer.

I access this from my computer when I get to the office - so I can use it for some of our marketing.

Here is what it gave me, based on our conversation:

Pretty dang useful right!?

All, while walking my son along the beach - watching the surfers.

I’m using this for all sorts of things now - planning, writing memos, developing operations manuals - the list goes on and on.

It’s been a game changer for me to have a smart conversation partner, 24/7 - I hope you’ll find it equally useful.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

P.S.

For Sale: One Click Assistant

For Sale: - the service mentioned above: Vivaldi (Waitlist)

Passage of the Week:

Stoics value their freedom, and they are therefore reluctant to do anything that will give others power over them.

But if we seek social status, we give other people power over us: We have to do things calculated to make them admire us, and we have to refrain from doing things that will trigger their disfavor.

Epictetus therefore advises us not to seek social status, since if we make it our goal to please others, we will no longer be free to please ourselves. We will, he says, have enslaved ourselves.

William B. Irvine

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