From Scratch (Ep. 37)

Getting Coached By Ancient Philosophers And Week 37 Updates!

I Got Coaching From Ancient Philosophers

I’ve been spending a few minutes of each day playing around with these AI tools. Specifically, ChatGPT.

Won’t get into too much detail, but it’s a useful research assistant!

I’ve also been exploring creative ways to manipulate ChatGPT.

For example, I told ChatGPT to be Freddy Mercury as a 911 operator and answer with Queen lyrics.

You have no idea how much I laughed when the dialogue was:

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? This is 911, what do you want from me?

But on a more serious note, I wanted to see if ChatGPT can become my mentor of sorts.

I don’t need singing lessons… right now. So Freddy Mercury can take a backseat.

But I do read a lot. And it’s hard to remember important lessons to apply to my life sometimes. Most of the time it’s after the fact.

So I revisited that cliche question of “who would you have dinner with, dead or alive?”

And if I wanted to seek the wisdom of anyone on demand, I have two people in mind.

Aristotle and Epictetus.

Aristotle in my eyes is the father of persuasion. His logos, pathos, and ethos concept is timeless.

Epictetus’s background is inspiring. As far as I know, he’s one of the only philosophers who was a slave, earned his freedom, and became a respected philosopher.

I’m sure there are other great works I can read. But when I was going down this rabbit hole, I just happened to pick these two to go deep with.

Anyways, here’s the prompt I gave ChatGPT.

Now that ChatGPT has shaped itself into my two mentors like Agent Smith from the Matrix, it’s time to get some advice!

Can ChatGPT give me sound advice? Because if it could, forget my friends! I’m talking to Aristotle and Epictetus all day. (Just kidding… maybe)

So ChatGPT spit out a lot of info actually. It was super suprising. To keep this section brief, I’ll list out the 3 most important ones to me.

(Aristotle): Our ultimate goal is eudaimonia, or living a flourishing life, which is achieved through the cultivation of virtues. Focus on developing virtues like patience, perseverance, and wisdom, as these will help you become a better version of yourself and bring you closer to your desired results.

This is a reminder that everything starts within. We have a never-ending amount of content today that tries to sway you into learning this, learning that.

And even speaking with friends and consulting clients, I’ve noticed a false belief that is developed. That somehow, your external world will bring peace and harmony to your internal world.

I was like this too not too long ago. And I came to the the conclusion that it wasn’t working for me. So I decided to look inward instead of expanding more outward.

And I’m not looking back.

But when you have great minds from ancient Greece with Aristotle to Feudal Japan with Miyamoto Mushashi - talking about mastering yourself within… why turn a blind eye to it? Because it’s not exciting?

From what I’ve exprienced, the necessary and most important work is often not exciting.

(Epictetus): Focus on what is within your control. Much of our unhappiness stems from focusing on things outside of our control. Instead, concentrate on what you can control, such as your efforts, attitude, and responses to challenges. Accepting that some outcomes are beyond your control will help you find peace and resilience.

This is something I constantly remind myself of. Letting go of control and focusing on things I can control. But again, sometimes I get so caught up in something I forget that I’m not pulling all the strings.

I can only pull the strings in front of me. Choosing reaction to challenges is something I’m currently working on and have gotten much better at.

(Aristotle): Balance and the Golden Mean. Virtue lies in finding a balance between excess and deficiency. To maintain motivation, strive for balance in your life. Avoid overworking yourself, and ensure you're taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

To let you guys know, moral behavior is the balance between excess and deficiency. That’s what the Golden Mean is. It’s not really explained there, so FYI.

Anyway, this is again the contrarian view to a lot of business content out there. There’s a hustle culture epidemic that is so popular, but let’s be honest. It’s not working for most people who are inspired by that mentality.

But it sounds cool to side with. Getcha a lot of likes on social media.

Anyways, this was a fun experiment for me. I have ideas on how to take this further and if I do, I’ll give an update.

But hopefully this gives you some ideas on creative things you can do with ChatGPT.

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Week 37 Updates

Speaking of perseverance, been doing a lot of follow-up lately.

I cap myself at 4 follow-ups, I think that’s enough. But for the longest time, I fought with this dissonance that I was annoying people. But I still did it anyway.

Since then, I’ve kinda brainwashed myself with some justifications. And now that fear of annoying people has pretty much gone away.

I know I’m good at what I do.

I know I’m not someone who quits in the middle or ghosts when things get hard.

And what I’m providing is of massive value.

So I’m gonna try my best to get my message in front of you. And if it’s not for you now, cool. I’ll try again in the future.

I think most people use not trying to be annoying as an excuse to not do what they need to do. I know I used to.

I’ve also started using another platform for outreach and the results are surpising, haha. The platform might even surprise you. But I’ll reveal that in another issue.

Anyway, my follow-ups have created 2 new opportunities for me. So again, perseverance and patience.

Trying to build a tiny wave of momentum for myself here. These calm waters are no good for surfing.

Other than that, we’re still growing:

1,546 (+27) = 1,573 subscribers

I have a client who fights in 1 week, so there’s been late promos. Which I totally understand, but I still send reminders to post anyway.

So far my clients are undefeated while working with me. I really want to use this jokingly in my pitch next time. Another client also just got a fight booked in July. Exciting stuff.

The removal of blue checkmarks on Twitter is definitely playing a big part in this. My ghostwritten tweets usually get 10K-30K views.

Now, they’re barely cracking 1000.

And the kinda annoying part is, I would have a hard time convincing my clients to buy Twitter Blue. Unless Elon makes good on his word to pay creators on threads.

There’s an attitude with athletes and celebrities that the blue checkmark is no longer special and useless.

But really, there’s a lot of utility to it. With what I know about persuasion or psychology though, this is a tough battle for me. It’s like selling BBQ ribs to a vegan.

And no one wants to be the vegan who tries out the ribs.

We can dive into this deeper another time.

Anyway, that ends it for this week’s issue. As always…

Trust the process, love the process. (I can thank Epictetus for the inspiration behind this phrase)

Kevin