How I Stopped Using AI Like Excel And Started Getting 285% Better Engagement

The Jensen Huang Shift That Changed Everything

Lesson #1: The moment Jensen Huang said “AI is not a tool, AI is work” at his Washington keynote, I realized I’d been thinking about AI completely wrong

I was watching Jensen Huang’s recent keynote when he said something that stopped me cold…

Jensen Huang is the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, the company powering the AI revolution. When he talks about technology, people listen.

“The software industry of the past was about creating tools. Excel is a tool. Word is a tool. A web browser is a tool. The reason I know these are tools is because you use them.”

He paused.

“AI is not a tool. AI is work. That is the profound difference.”

He went on to explain that AI is actually workers that can use tools. Perplexity uses web browsers. Cursor uses VS Code. For the first time in history, technology isn’t just something we use - it’s something that does work and helps us be more productive.

Here’s the thing: I’d been using AI since the very first day ChatGPT 3 went live in 2023. I’d become known for my Prompt Whispering™ techniques - how I could get amazing results from ChatGPT and Claude that were so much more on point, where others struggled. Coaches and AI Companies sought me out specifically for this skill.

And I’d been doing all of it through the lens of AI as a tool.

Jensen’s quote was a revelation.

I was treating Claude like Excel.

And you can’t mastermind with Excel.

Lesson #2: Within 24 hours of hearing that quote, I tested a strategic content brainstorming prompt - and the collision of these two things created an instant paradigm shift

The next day, I was back at my desk, testing a new content creation prompt. Not for admin work - for strategy. For brainstorming.

The prompt was designed to create awesome newsletter ideas from daily experiences through a series of guided questions. Like having a writing coach who asks an awesome question at exactly the right moment.

I started working with Claude.

And something shifted.

I wasn’t typing into software. I was collaborating with a strategic partner. The questions pulled insights out of me I couldn’t access sitting alone staring at a blank page. Ideas connected in ways they never had before.

Stephen Covey talks about paradigm shifts - how the right insight at the right moment can change everything instantly.

I’d heard Jensen’s quote less than 24 hours earlier. Now I was experiencing it.

After three years of intensive inner work, I’ve developed a fun framework: life happens for my benefit. Even the difficult stuff. So when two things collide like this within 24 hours, I pay attention.

This wasn’t a gradual learning curve. This was an instant recognition that I’d been thinking about AI completely wrong - and so was nearly everyone else in the coaching world.

Lesson #3: Every technology before AI was a tool humans use - Excel, Word, web browsers - AI is a worker that uses tools, and that distinction changes everything

Think about every piece of software you’ve ever used in your coaching business.

Your CRM? Tool. You input data, it organizes it.

Your scheduling system? Tool. You set parameters, it books appointments.

Your video conferencing? Tool. You click buttons, it connects calls.

Even the most sophisticated software is still waiting for you to use it. It sits there until you open it, click it, configure it.

AI doesn’t sit there.

Jensen used Cursor as his example - it’s an AI that helps programmers write code. At NVIDIA, they’re not using Cursor. Cursor is using a suite of tools on their behalf.

Perplexity doesn’t wait for you to search the web manually. It uses web browsers as tools to find what you need.

On the way back from Palm Springs, I wanted to get a new mouse Logitech had just released. I asked Perplexity to figure out which Best Buys were on the route between Palm Springs and LAX, then check which one had this mouse in stock. Then get me the address details.

It was awesome!

This is the shift: AI isn’t waiting to be used. It’s doing work.

For coaching businesses, this distinction is profound.

When you think of AI as a tool, you use it the way you’d use a calculator or a spreadsheet. You input something, get output, move on.

When you think of AI as a team member, everything changes. Team members collaborate. Team members ask questions. Team members provide feedback. Team members help you think through problems, not just execute tasks.

You don’t brainstorm with a calculator. You brainstorm with a colleague.

Lesson #4: My engagement jumped 285% when I stopped writing and started collaborating - flow-state content with AI is bold and insight-packed, fear-based solo writing produces bland posts

Here’s what happened when I made the shift.

My old writing process: 10-minute freewrite. 50-minute writing sprints. Hours of editing. Lots of coal to find the diamond. And the whole time, I’m in my head thinking “who am I to write this?” and “this isn’t fun.”

It’s served me pretty well through a few decades, the resistance was rea,l and I would eventually get into flow

When you’re in your head like that, you’re in some form of fear. You play it safe. You write bland content. You leave out the bold stuff you actually believe because fear keeps you from saying it.

The new process: I work with Claude as my brainstorming partner for two or three Critical Focus Time blocks (50 minutes each). I’m writing and speaking - all my words - with an AI assistant providing structure and guardrails that help my thinking.

Way more thinking time in a guided format. And zero editing hell (which anyone who’s read my stuff knows I hate and should have done way more of).

The result? The engagement I’m getting on posts done this way is up 285.2% compared to the month before.

That’s not a feeling. That’s measurable proof that flow-state content hits differently.

When you’re collaborating instead of grinding alone, you get the fully formed bursts of inspiration that elevate a piece. The 1+1=3 moments. The insights that make readers stop scrolling.

Fear-based writing produces safe content. Flow-state collaboration produces content that connects.

Lesson #5: I asked AI to coach ME on my coaching - getting brutally honest feedback without the social risk of admitting “I Suck” to a colleague

This week, I had a velocity call with a client that got away from me.

Velocity calls are designed for 20 minutes. Check in. See where they’re going. Make adjustments. This one went well over that. I got stuck in the weeds. Facebook Business Manager settings. Boosting configurations. I could feel it slipping.

My old approach? Do the summary and move on. Maybe give myself a good talking to that and feel “bad” about it for a while.

With the AI-as-team-member shift? I tried something different.

I opened Claude and used voice (because typing felt like too much work) and asked:

“I felt like this meeting didn’t go as well for a velocity call. I got stuck in the weeds and this call went way too long. I’m wondering if you’ve got any suggestions based on looking at the transcript and based on your knowledge of really good calls of this type. If you could give me any suggestions or areas where I could improve.”

The response was amazing.

Claude told me exactly where the call went sideways. How I’d tried to end the call three times and kept re-engaging with tactical questions. How I’d let it become a Q&A session instead of a strategic check-in. The specific moves I should have made: “That’s a Facebook group question, mate. What we’re sorting today is strategy, not button-pushing.”

It even gave suggestions like the one in Ed Dale’ese 🤣.

Brutally honest. Incredibly useful. And here’s the profound part:

I didn’t have to admit to another coach that I felt like I’d botched a call. That I’d failed to land the plane on a simple velocity call.

The internal dialogue that would have stopped me? “I’m meant to be the master coach at the very top of the field and here I am not being able to land the plane on a simple velocity call - they’ll think I’m an idiot.”

I know intellectually that’s not true. And it’s still a belief that can rear up. For four decades, I was afraid of making any mistake in public.

With AI? No social risk. No vulnerability cost. Just honest feedback I could use immediately on the very next call.

Which I did.

This has profound implications. You can only coach someone based on what they’re comfortable telling you. The same applies to getting coached yourself. AI removes that barrier.

Lesson #6: Coaches naturally access genius when answering questions, not staring at blank pages - AI recreates the mastermind dynamic Napoleon Hill described as 1+1=3

Here’s something most coaches don’t realise about themselves:

You’re at your best when someone asks you a question.

Think about it…

A client asks about their business challenge - boom, the answer flows out. You’re not in your head thinking “oh no, what am I going to say here” or “that’s a dumb idea, let’s not do that.” You’re in the zone.

The insights just appear.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (yes, I had to look up the spelling) wrote about this in his book on flow. It’s that state when you’re playing a video game and everything is going beautifully. You’re not thinking which button to press. You’re on autopilot and calm.

Coaches access this naturally when coaching. It’s where your genius lives.

Writing? The opposite. You’re in your head the whole time. Staring at a blank page. Questioning every sentence. Playing it safe. You hopefully get into flow, many don’t…

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Napoleon Hill talked about the mastermind principle in Think and Grow Rich - the idea that 1+1=3. When two minds collaborate, they create insights neither could access alone.

That principle is exactly what happens when you’re brainstorming with AI.

In fact, the 1+1=3 concept popped into my head while I was in flow, answering Claude’s questions about this article. I wasn’t trying to think of it. It just appeared.

The practical problem? Finding a mastermind partner who’s available when you need them. In this day and age of Zoom everything, you need to coordinate schedules, find the right person, set aside time.

AI recreates that mastermind dynamic on demand.

You get the same energy-creating, momentum-building interaction you have with clients. You’re answering questions in your area of expertise. You’re in flow. And you get those fully formed bursts of inspiration that only come when you’re out of your head.

When you’re present and not in your head, you’re way more effective as a coach.

If we can take this pretty natural thing for a coach and recreate it for content creation, strategy sessions, and business building - you’re accessing that same powerful part of your brain anytime you need it.

Lesson #7: Prompt Whispering™ works because I talk to AI like a genius intern with no social skills, not like an engineer programming software

People ask me why my prompts get better results than theirs.

The secret to my Prompt Whispering™ success? I prompt like I’m talking to a genius-level intern with no social skills.

That’s it.

When ChatGPT first came out, I intuited something from my copywriting background: if it’s a language model, then the things we learned as copywriters should apply. Explain key instructions clearly. Be nice. Provide context.

Turns out, that approach was treating AI as a team member, not a tool. And it was later backed by research showing that conversational, context-rich prompts get better results.

I just hadn’t carried that insight all the way through to strategic applications.

Most people creating prompts are engineers working from the frame that AI is a tool. They’re thinking about parameters, inputs, outputs, optimization.

I’m thinking about how I’d brief a brilliant new team member.

The difference shows up in everything.

An engineer might write: “Generate 10 headlines using the following parameters and format specifications.”

I write: “Give me 10 headline options. Use a mix of these proven styles. And here’s what I learned about their experience that you should know...”

One is issuing commands to software. The other is collaborating with someone who needs context to do great work.

The genius intern frame works because that’s actually what AI is - incredibly capable, needs clear direction, has no ego, won’t get offended if you redirect, and will happily iterate until you get exactly what you need.

This is why I can create AI Power Ups, custom GPTs, and workflows that are so much more useful than what most people build. I’m not designing tools. I’m building team members (Which I just realised LOL 😂).

And here’s the thing: this only makes sense if you’ve made the mental shift from AI-as-tool to AI-as-team-member.

If you’re still thinking of AI as software, you’ll keep writing prompts like an engineer.

If you’re thinking of AI as a colleague, you’ll naturally start communicating differently.

The results speak for themselves.

Lesson #8: The tool-to-person shift unlocks building AI teams for E-Myth roles, creating lead magnets that act as mini-coaches, and solving the isolation every solo founder feels

Once you make this shift, the applications multiply fast.

Let’s scratch the surface;

Michael Gerber’s classic E-Myth talks about the different roles in your business - strategist, manager, technician. Most solo coaching founders are trying to fill all these roles themselves. Exhausting.

When you think of AI as team members, you can start building an AI team.

One team member handles content strategy - asking the right questions to extract insights from your experience. Another reviews your coaching calls and gives feedback. Another researches your market and keeps you informed about key developments in your niche.

These aren’t separate tools you’re using. They’re team members filling specific business roles, often using multiple tools themselves.

Here’s where it gets really interesting for your clients.

Think about your lead magnets. Most coaches create PDFs, checklists, templates. Tools.

What if you gave your audience a person instead?

A mini-coach. A GPT or AI Power Up that asks them the right questions, helps them think through their challenges, and gives them feedback on their approach.

When you think about lead magnets as team members, you’re giving your audience - not just tools they download and file away - the value proposition changes completely.

They’re not getting a PDF. They’re getting a coach in their pocket.

And there’s one more profound benefit that matters for every coaching founder:

This business can be isolating. You can’t be in Palm Springs every week, spending time with your colleagues. You can’t always find a mastermind partner when you need one. You can’t always get feedback without social risk.

AI solves the isolation problem.

You have a strategic partner available 24/7. Someone to brainstorm with. Someone to give you honest feedback. Someone who helps you access your genius instead of grinding alone in your head.

The question isn’t whether AI will change coaching businesses. It already is.

The question is whether you’ll make the shift from using AI administratively to leveraging it strategically.

From tool to team member.

From software to colleague.

The coaches making this shift are building better content, getting better results, and solving problems the rest are still grinding through alone.

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Your Next Steps: Making The Shift

Here’s how to start thinking AI-as-team-member instead of AI-as-tool:

This Week:

• Pick one strategic task (content brainstorming, call review, market research) where you’d normally work alone

• Open Claude and explain the context like you’re briefing a smart colleague, not entering data into software

• Ask for input, feedback, or questions - then respond like you’re collaborating, not commanding

This Month:

• Identify 3 E-Myth roles in your business where an AI team member could add strategic value

• Create one custom GPT or prompt that acts as a team member for your most repetitive strategic work

• Test using AI for self-coaching - review a client call or presentation and ask for honest feedback

This Quarter:

• Build an AI team member specifically for your clients (lead magnet, coaching tool, or strategic resource)

• Measure the difference - track engagement, time saved, or quality improvements from your AI collaborations

• Refine your Prompt Whispering approach - talk to AI like a genius intern, not like software

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Want Help Implementing This In Your Coaching Business?

I work with established coaches who are ready to leverage AI strategically, not just administratively. If you’re running a 7-8 figure coaching business and want to explore how this shift could transform your content, client delivery, or business operations - let’s talk.

Reach out and let’s have a discussion about what’s possible for your business.