Summary
Let’s be honest, I love tech. Always have. I got my start with one of the first home PCs and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve seen a lot of tech evolve and, for the most part, underwhelm compared to the promotional promises. So when AI became available to the general public, naturally, I was an early adopter. It was the cool new toy, and I certainly didn’t expect AI to save me. But I did expect it to make everything easier.
Spoiler: It did. Until it didn’t.
Like everyone else, I started testing AI for the usual suspects: content ideas, email drafts, brainstorming workflows, summarizing research, and finding shortcuts to getting things done. At first? It was pure magic. I felt like I’d found the cheat code to my own chaos.
Until I realized something no one warns you about: AI will absolutely make you faster, but it won’t make you clearer. And it won’t make you honest.
What AI Actually Changed
Here’s what improved immediately:
- Friction dropped. I stopped staring at blank pages.
- Speed surged. First drafts became a 10-minute thing.
- Mental fatigue decreased. I saved real decision-making power for strategic work.
- Repetition got outsourced. No more reinventing the same responses every week.
Honestly? My systems started humming. But underneath that new efficiency, my old patterns were still running.
What AI Didn’t Fix (That I Wanted It To)
It didn’t fix my tendency to overcommit.
It didn’t protect my energy from calendar chaos.
It didn’t tell me which ideas were aligned and which were distractions.
It didn’t clarify what actually mattered. That still had to come from me. From quiet. From review. From saying no.
AI can produce at scale. But clarity? That’s still a human job.
Initially, being able to produce a huge volume of output quickly seemed incredible, but ultimately, it only added to the burnout as the piles grew larger.
The Real Lesson
AI augmented my execution, but it didn’t replace my discernment. And that’s where so many high-achievers go wrong right now: they’re using AI to speed up—but not to filter.
So they publish faster. Build faster. Burn out faster.
Without a system underneath it? You’re just accelerating misalignment for you, just like I did for me.
What I Use AI For Now (On Purpose)
Yes:
- Drafting outlines and long-form content
- Exploring “what if” ideas without overthinking
- Rewriting emails in different tones
- Getting out of my own head when I spiral
- Getting a second opinion from one of the custom “brains” I’ve built
- Doing advanced editing
- Summarizing things that feel too long to read at the moment
- Punching holes in ideas before moving them forward
No:
- Final copy on brand-critical content
- Decision-making on priorities
- Personal stories or sensitive client-facing writing
- Replacing my voice or intuition
My Updated Workflow (Post-AI Integration)
- Clarity First
→ I define the goal, audience, and tone before I ever open a prompt window. - AI for Acceleration
→ I use AI to shape, test, expand—not decide or finish. - Personal Pass Always
→ Every draft passes through my lens for alignment, tone, truth. - Systems Before Speed
→ If I don’t know why I’m creating it, I don’t. AI or not.
Final Thought
AI changed how I work, but it didn’t change who I am—or what I stand for.
That’s your job. That’s the real work.
Don’t fall into the trap of trading clarity for speed or outsourcing your judgment to a tool trained to sound confident—even when it’s wrong.
You can use AI brilliantly, but only if you own your workflow—and lead it with purpose. Let the machine run. But you? Stay human. Stay in charge.
