How to Make AI Your Mentor

What Stops You From Setting Professional Goals?

Fear and overthinking.

Yes, it is that deep and that straightforward at the same time.

Both make you give up and end up doing nothing in regards to self-improvement.

To be able to achieve your goals, you have to first set them correctly.

I’ve learnt the hard way that an unrealistic vision without a structured plan tends to fail and can just make me feel worse than not setting any goals at all.

Let’s learn how to define objectives effectively and engage ChatGPT to help with creating realistic action points.

How to Define Your Objectives Efficiently?

Split your objectives into goals and tasks. I see goals as long-term commitments which require a number of smaller tasks to be achieved.

When setting goals, I like to follow a popular need/want matrix.

I simply divide my goals into 4 categories:

1. Need and want - The goals that I am both motivated to achieve and that are important and useful for my professional career.

   
   

2. Need and don’t want - The goals that are essential for my growth and improvement, however, I don’t feel very motivated to do them - they might be tedious or uncreative.

   
   

3. Don’t need and want - The goals that are not very necessary in my professional field, but I have a desire to achieve them, can be just for joyful reasons.

   
   

4. Don’t need and don’t want - The goals I should get rid of asap, they bring no profit and no satisfaction.

   
   

The most desirable group for me is of course number 1, the pinnacle of goal setting.

Groups 2 and 3 are perfectly normal though and just part of a not linear career path. I just don’t waste too much time on them.

For tasks within goals, I tend to use the Eisenhower matrix.

It simply helps to prioritize my tasks based on their importance and urgency.

ChatGPT as a Personal Mentor - Practical Inputs for Successful Action Plans

I ask ChatGPT to help me create a clear, action point plan for the goal I set using the mentioned method.

Input:

My professional goal is: (here put your goal) Write an action point plan, naming the subsequent steps that will help me achieve my goal. Make the plan realistic and names of the stages clear and simple in the form of imperatives. If needed divide big steps into smaller ones. Do not include the teaching other step.

I chose: learn how to use Notion better.

Then, I ask ChatGPT to help me with the timeframe:

Now, I want to achieve my goal in the matter of: (number of weeks). Adjust the action plan into the given timeframe. Make it realistic and doable.

I gave myself 4 weeks.

What I get is a clear, day-by-day action plan to help me achieve the set objective:

Week 1: Getting Started with Notion Basics

• Days 1-2: Watch introductory tutorials and set up a basic Notion workspace.

• Days 3-4: Experiment with creating simple pages, blocks, and get comfortable with basic features.

• Day 5: Organize your personal workspace and identify your primary use cases.

  
  

Week 2: Mastering Essential Notion Skills

• Days 6-7: Dive into mastering different types of blocks and practice creating dynamic content.

• Days 8-9: Explore and customize templates that suit your workflow.

• Day 10: Begin understanding the concepts of databases and start creating basic databases.

  
  

Week 3: Advancing Your Notion Skills

• Days 11-12: Learn advanced features such as linked databases, filters, and roll-ups.

• Days 13-14: Apply these advanced features to enhance the organization of your workspace.

• Day 15: Investigate integrations with third-party tools and connect Notion with one of your commonly used tools.

  
  

Week 4: Refinement and Optimization

• Days 16-17: Familiarize yourself with Notion's mobile app and explore offline usage.
• Days 18-19: Regularly practice and review your Notion workspace, making necessary adjustments.
• Days 20-21: Stay informed about Notion updates, engage with the community, and troubleshoot any issues you encounter.
• Days 22-28: Allocate time for continuous learning, explore additional features, and solidify your Notion skills.

Now, based on the Eisenhower matrix I mentioned, I’d like to also get an overview on the importance and urgency of the tasks, just to help me see which areas I should put more focus on.

Now, use the Eisenhower matrix and divide those tasks based on their importance and urgency.

Here is what I got:

Important and Urgent (Quadrant I):

• Week 1:
  • Days 1-2: Watch introductory tutorials and set up a basic Notion workspace.
  • Days 3-4: Organize your personal workspace and identify your primary use cases.
• Week 2:
  • Days 8-9: Explore and customize templates that suit your workflow.
  • Day 10: Begin understanding the concepts of databases and start creating basic databases.
• Week 3:
  • Days 11-12: Learn advanced features such as linked databases, filters, and roll-ups.
  • Days 13-14: Apply these advanced features to enhance the organization of your workspace.
• Week 4:

  • Days 18-19: Regularly practice and review your Notion workspace, making necessary adjustments.

  • Days 20-21: Stay informed about Notion updates, engage with the community, and troubleshoot any issues you encounter.

    
    

Important but Not Urgent (Quadrant II):

• Week 1:
  • Days 5-7: Experiment with creating simple pages, blocks, and get comfortable with basic features.
• Week 2:
  • Days 6-7: Dive into mastering different types of blocks and practice creating dynamic content.
• Week 3:
  • Day 15: Investigate integrations with third-party tools and connect Notion with one of your commonly used tools.
• Week 4:
  • Days 22-28: Allocate time for continuous learning, explore additional features, and solidify your Notion skills.

Urgent but Not Important (Quadrant III):

• None of the tasks in the provided action plan fall into this category.

Not Important and Not Urgent (Quadrant IV):

• None of the tasks in the provided action plan fall into this category.

Don’t Forget to Monitor Your Progress

I don’t see the point in completing certain goals without monitoring my progress along the way.

It helps me see if the methods I chose work and what pace suits me best.

You can do it repetitively throughout the process or just at the end of it – so choose either the formative or summative assessment.

Based on the type of tasks/goals you chose, you can focus on the reached numbers (quantitive method) or not (qualitative method).

Note down all important observations; they will help you while setting your next goals.

Make action plans that will be successful. Finally, achieve your goals and complete your tasks using AI!

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