Think of something you love to do.

What is your least favorite part of it? What’s the thing which deters you from doing the thing you love or that, if you could just fix one part of it, would mean you could do the thing you love even more?

Have you tried using AI to improve the thing about it which turns you off? Maybe you don’t know where to begin with artificial intelligence or you feel a bit sheepish starting now when it feels like everyone else is AI fluent?

By the way, they’re not.

Let me show you how I cleared one of my obstacles and how you can do the same thing both in your personal life as well as at work.

Pull up a seat. Which color train do you want?

Pulling Out of the Station

I love playing board games. Getting my favorite people around a table and enjoying time together lights me up inside.

The laughing. The strategy. And, yes, I do love to win.

But learning a new game is a pain in the neck. It’s the one thing about board games which can keep me from suggesting a game night.

Regardless, I’d planned to play “Ticket to Ride Europe” Saturday evening with my girlfriend after attending a meetup in downtown Harrisburg. I figured we’d likely stumble through the rules and maybe play one round.

During the meetup, the presentations got my wheels turning. And when another attendee mentioned how he used the AI tool Claude Code to build an online game, I perked up.

Oooh, maybe I could do something like that, too.

So I did.

Headed Down The Track

I prompted Claude, one of the foundational generative AI models, to tell it what I wanted to do:

I am going to be playing Ticket to Ride Europe this evening for the first time. Playing with another person who has never played. I want to make a quick web app to use to ask it questions while we are playing. It would function as a chat bot. We will ask it questions, and then the app would guide us with how to play. It will also offer strategy suggestions if we want them. Help me set this up so I can hand it off to Claude Code to create this project

I described what I wanted to do, how I wanted the application to perform, and the features I wanted it to have. And then I had a conversation. Right there in the meetup.

Before the final presentation, the application was up and running. Resembling a web page on my phone, we asked it questions about how to get started playing, how to add up the scores at the end of the game, etc.

We used it a lot to get started, then referred to it less and less. The app did its job of eliminating new game confusion so well, we got to play and enjoy two rounds.

Nobody had their head buried in the rule book deciphering instructions. When we had a question, we asked the app, and got the answer.

Simple. Straightforward. An obstacle cleared.

You can do the same right now.

Engineer A Solution

Think back to that thing you love to do.

Got it? Okay.

Open your AI model of choice. Most effective for this will be ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, or Claude.

Although a paid account is not required, be cautious with what you share. Before you start the chat, take a minute to check your privacy settings. I wrote a quick guide on how to do that here.

Now, in the AI chat window, describe the one issue with your thing which holds you back or that you want to improve. Include as much detail as you can about what frustrates you about it and what would improve it for you.

A few examples:

• I want to lose 10 pounds but I can’t afford a gym membership. I never went when I had one anyway. I think I need to eat more healthy foods and move more but I don’t know where to start. Build a plan I can stick with. Make sure it starts super easy so I don’t get discouraged.
• I meet with my team every week. Afterward, I never remember the decisions we’ve made or what project work we decided each of us would handle. Also, I don’t know what decisions remain. Let’s build a quick and easy way for me to stay on top of all this
• I enjoy riding my bike but it is always a hassle to plan a route, get my gear together, and get out the door. Let’s design a system together to ensure I ride more this year.

The chatbot likely responded with a plan to meet the goals you expressed. How did they land for you?

If you don’t agree with them or you think they should be improved, tell it what to change. If you like something about its response, tell it what it is and why, then ask it to make it even better.

Remember, this is a conversation and not a search engine. You can question what it outputs. You can demand it show you the sources it used to create its responses. And you can tell it what you’re not satisfied with and what to do to provide better responses.

Stick with it, and you are one step closer to doing more of the thing which you had previously avoided.

You added more joy to your life by using AI.

What else can you do?

Off The Track?

Getting started with anything can be daunting. If this approach makes sense but you can’t figure out how to start, let me help.

One way is to email me by clicking this link. I will read and respond to every response as quickly as possible.

You can also book a free 30-minute call with me. You’ll describe what you’re trying to accomplish, and before the conversation ends, I’ll suggest at least a couple ways you can approach what you want to do.

You’re a prompt, an email, or a free phone call away from doing more of something you love.

Let’s go.