Use ChatGPT to find what's holding you back
The prompt in the reel gets you five truths about how your mind works. Reading them is interesting. Seeing which one is quietly running your week is the useful part, so this guide takes it further. Start with the short prompt if you just want the list. Use the fuller one when you're ready to answer some honest questions about yourself.
You'll have a best guess at which of the five patterns is costing you the most right now, and a 7-day plan, built from your own answers, to start working on it.
Before you start
Open a new chat in ChatGPT. Claude works too.
If you'd rather the conversation not stay in your history, use ChatGPT's temporary chat (the icon at the top right of a new chat). ChatGPT says a copy may still be kept for up to 30 days for safety.
Answer with something real, but leave out names and anything sensitive about your health, money or identity that you wouldn't want stored.
This is self-reflection, not therapy or a diagnosis. If it brings up something heavy, stop and talk to someone you trust or a professional. If you feel unsafe or at risk of hurting yourself or someone else, contact local emergency or crisis support now.
The prompt from the reel
When to use it: first, if you want the five truths on their own.
Prompt 1 · The five truthsYou've read every psychology study and every psychological thinker and philosopher. What are the five things everyone must understand about their own psychology, or they risk failing at life?
Five truths, each with an explanation and a question to ask yourself. Your list won't match anyone else's word for word; ChatGPT phrases them differently each time.
The five truths, as ChatGPT gave them
When we ran prompt 1, these came back. The fifth is the one the reel saves for the guide.
- 1
- Your mind is not a reliable narrator of reality.
- 2
- What you avoid psychologically will often control you.
- 3
- Your habits and environment will usually overpower your intentions.
- 4
- Your relationships are not a side issue. They are a central part of your psychological health.
- 5
- If you don't consciously define what makes life meaningful, you'll spend your life pursuing someone else's definition of success.
The question ChatGPT gave with number five: "If nobody could admire me, envy me, praise me, or even know about my achievements, would I still want the life I'm building?"
The fuller prompt: put it to work on your life
When to use it: in a new chat, when you have 20 minutes and you're willing to answer honestly.
Prompt 2 · Five truths, then find mineI want you to act like you've read every psychology study ever published, and every major psychological thinker and philosopher, from Freud and Jung to Kahneman, Brené Brown and the Stoics. What are the five things everyone must understand about their own psychology, or they risk failing at life? For each one: - Give it to me in one short, blunt sentence. - Explain why it's true, in plain language, and tell me which research or thinker it comes from. - Show me what it looks like in everyday life, with a real example from work, relationships or money. - Tell me the warning sign that it's running my life right now. - Give me one small thing I can do this week to work with it instead of against it. Don't soften it. Be honest, even if it's uncomfortable. No fluff and no motivational quotes. When you're done, ask me three questions, one at a time, to figure out which of these five is holding me back the most. Then, based on my answers, give me a simple 7-day plan to start changing it.
Five truths, each with where it comes from, an everyday example, a warning sign and one thing to try this week. Then "Question 1 of 3", and nothing more until you answer.
Answer the three questions
Right after prompt 2. There's nothing to copy here; just answer. Pick the answer that's costing you the most right now, not the one that sounds best, and add one real example from the last month. The example is what makes the plan yours.
After your third answer: the pattern it thinks is holding you back, the belief underneath it, and a 7-day plan with one small action a day. When we tested it, we answered as a made-up freelancer who had put off raising her rates for eight months, and the plan had her send the email on day 4.
For the moment you catch yourself
When to use it: in the same chat, after the plan.
Prompt 3 · The 60-second resetNow give me something to use in the moment. When I catch this pattern happening, what do I say to myself and do in the next 60 seconds? Keep it to three short steps I can remember without looking at my phone.
Three steps short enough to remember, each with a sentence to say to yourself. Ours came back as "Name it. Reframe it. Move." Write yours on a sticky note.
Make it check its own work
When to use it: last, in the same chat. ChatGPT sounds equally sure about everything, and in psychology some findings are solid and some are just a good way to think. This makes it tell you which is which.
Prompt 4 · Push backPush back on yourself. Which of the five truths is the weakest, and where is the research thinner than you made it sound? Tell me plainly what's well proven and what's just a useful way to think about it.
A grade for each truth (strong, moderate or mixed), a better-worded version of the weak ones, and an honest note about how much three questions can really tell it about you. In our run it called its own read of the test answers "plausible, not proven."
The first prompt comes from a reel by Sabrina Ramonov (@sabrina_ramonov).
If you get stuck
It asked all three questions at once.
Answer them one by one anyway, in order, each with an example.
The plan is generic.
You probably answered without an example. Give it one real situation from the last month and ask for the plan again.
It wrote an email and there's a Send button.
ChatGPT can show a draft email with its own Send button. Read it first and change anything that doesn't sound like you. Nothing goes until you press it.
It quoted a study I want to repeat.
Look it up yourself first. Prompt 4 tells you which claims are on solid ground, but it doesn't replace checking the study.
It's bringing up something heavy.
Stop there. This guide is for everyday patterns, not for working through hard things alone. Talk to someone you trust or a professional.
My truths came out different from the list.
That's normal. Each run words them a little differently. Go with the five you got.
Your final check
Tick these as you go. The ticks reset when you leave this page.
Keep going when you’re ready.
Pick another guide for the next problem you’re working on.