Introduction

I didn't set out to become good at using ChatGPT. I just kept asking it for things I needed. A bio. A rewrite. A poker range breakdown. A TV pilot outline. A regret I hadn't fully admitted yet.

I started by asking it to help me write a tighter version of my resume and LinkedIn bio. Then I tried using it to simplify a patent abstract I co-wrote years ago.

I even asked it to model poker scenarios based on real hands I'd played, just to test its range analysis. It nailed spots I missed and it didn't gloat.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized something: most people are barely scratching the surface of what this tool can do.

I once saw someone ask it to write a dinner recipe and stop there. Meanwhile, I was using it to create reusable frameworks for entire content campaigns.

A friend even asked it to name their startup. I asked it to run five naming frameworks, simulate domain checks, and rank by SEO potential.

ChatGPT isn't a search engine. It's not a chatbot. It's not a toy. It's a co-processor for your brain, if you know how to use it.

I use it to break down my half-formed thoughts into outlines I can take action on. Not answers. I sometimes need structure.

I once described ChatGPT to a colleague as "a sounding board that works at the speed of thought."

I don't save prompt ideas. I save patterns. "Give me 3 versions, each with different tone and pacing," works in almost every writing scenario.

I ran a full interview prep routine in ChatGPT: job description, mock Q&A, follow-up emails. The system I built with it got me to confidence faster than reading blogs or prepping solo.

So this isn't a tutorial. It's a field guide. A list of what actually works, drawn from my own experience across hundreds of prompts, projects, and thought experiments. The lessons here aren't theoretical. They're tested. They're practical. And if you use them, you'll stop thinking of AI as something you occasionally talk to. You'll start using it like a second operating system.

This isn't a tech review. It's a working log, and what follows is what I've learned so far.

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