Over the past few days, I’ve been learning how to build custom GPTs, tools that could actually coach people through change.
At the same time, I’ve been reviewing some coaching basics through master coach certification training.
And somewhere between the two worlds, AI and coaching, I had an “aha” moment.
General ChatGPT isn’t a good coach.
At least not without good training.
A good coach doesn’t try to give you everything all at once - no matter how much you ask for it.
She listens first.
She asks questions to understand exactly where you are, what drives you, what blocks you, what resources you already have.
She challenges what you say you want, because sometimes we chase patterns, not purpose.
She senses when to push and when to pause, giving you time to adjust to change.
And most importantly,
she knows that giving you more isn’t better.
It’s noise.
It overwhelms, distracts, and kills momentum - you freeze, protect status quo, stay where you are.
A good coach gives you just enough - the smallest, clearest next step that moves you forward, and what you need for it.
When I built my Self-Talk Trainer, the early versions behaved like a bad coach.
It kept talking, questioning, suggesting, until the only thing I wanted was to shut it down and do nothing.
Too much. Too fast. Too overwhelming.
The moment it became useful was when I started deleting.
Cutting everything that wasn’t essential to achieve the goal - I removed functionality instead of adding. One prompt, not 5. Maybe there's genius to the Google page after all!
Change doesn’t come from adding more - it comes from removing what gets in the way of doing the right thing.
Just like coaching, just like great design.
More isn’t better.
Enough is our brain's paradise.
So, over to you, dear leader,
What could you eliminate to make change feel simple again?
