By skyforbes - Use "Act like you're solving this for yourself" — Suddenly it cares about the outcome. Gets way more creative and thorough when it has skin in the game.
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Say "What's the pattern here?" — Amazing for connecting dots. Feed it seemingly random info and it finds threads you missed. Works on everything from career moves to investment decisions.
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Ask "How would this backfire?" — Every solution has downsides. This forces it to think like a critic instead of a cheerleader. Saves you from costly mistakes.
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Try "Zoom out – what's the bigger picture?" — Stops it from tunnel vision. "I want to learn Python" becomes "You want to solve problems efficiently – here are all your options."
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Use "What would [expert] say about this?" — Fill in any specialist. "What would a therapist say about this relationship?" It channels actual expertise instead of giving generic advice.
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End with "Now make it actionable" — Takes any abstract advice and forces concrete steps. No more "just be confident" – you get exactly what to do Monday morning.
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Say "Steelman my opponent's argument" — Opposite of strawman. Makes it build the strongest possible case against your position. You either change your mind or get bulletproof arguments.
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Ask "What am I optimizing for without realizing it?" — This one hits different. Reveals hidden motivations and goals you didn't know you had.
The difference is these make AI think systematically instead of just matching patterns. It goes from autocomplete to actual analysis.
Stack combo: "Act like you're solving this for yourself – what would a [relevant expert] say about my plan to [goal]? How would this backfire, and what am I optimizing for without realizing it?"
Found any prompts that turn AI from a tool into a thinking partner?
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