In this solo episode of 'Lessons From Your Hairstylist,' host Sarah Crews dives into how ChatGPT and AI tools have become a game changer in her daily life. Whether it is crafting emails, planning meals, or setting personal goals, Sarah shares five practical ways she uses AI to save time, stay organized, and get things done more efficiently. If you have ever wondered how ChatGPT could fit into your life, this episode is for you.

AI tool Sarah uses: https://chaton.ai/

Well, hello and welcome to the Lessons From Your Hairstylist podcast. I'm your host and hairstylist friend, Sarah Crews. Hey, I'm happy you're here with me today. We're doing another solo episode. So it's just you and me. We're just chatting it up. And speaking of chatting, I wanted to talk about something that I've been using in my day-to-day life. And it's just kind of been a game changer for me. I don't know if I could live without it now, and I wanted to share it with you and kind of how I use it. So what I'm talking about right now is something

called ChatGPT. So ChatGPT is actually, it's like an AI language tool. It's where you would put information into it and then get valuable information back. I know you've heard of it. Maybe you've used it or you haven't, but I've just discovered some ways in my day-to-day life that I like to use it. And this is going to be a real shorty episode, but I wanted to pop on because I think it's something

that you might find useful. And like I said, it's these little things in our lives that elevate everything else. So if you're not really familiar with how to use ChatGPT, it's something that you can access on your desktop or your phone, and you can download the app.

and it's something where you would type in prompts. Some of the prompts that you could type in might be where you're trying to compose a message or an email, or you're trying to find out some information. It could even be like something that you would normally Google, but it's kind of like having a conversation with someone and getting very targeted results back. Rather than when you Google something,

it's like you get all of these different results that come back, but you don't really get to have it in a conversational form where you're getting the very detailed results that are dependent on the input that you've given it. And so I'll give you some examples, but it's very easy to use and actually, it's not expensive. I actually can't remember how much it is. I paid for mine

for the year, and I'm actually not using ChatGPT. I think the program that I'm using is called Chat On AI, and I'll put the link in the show notes for you. But ChatGPT is kind of like the Kleenex of tissues, I guess you could say, because it's like everybody kind of thinks of this type of tool as being called ChatGPT, but it's really an AI language tool.

So with that, how do you use this dang thing? And what are people doing or talking about when they're talking about this thing? All right, like I said, it could be something that you get on your desktop, something that you download through an app on your phone, and then you just type in a prompt. And here are...

ways that I like to use that have kind of made a difference in my day-to-day. The first way that I like to use Chat On AI is writing anything, anything that I want to write. It makes it so much easier if I'm trying to compose a

message or an idea of some sort. One of the ways that I use it is when I am creating captions for Instagram. Now, if you're not somebody that uses social media or you don't have a business where that's something that's important to you, that's totally okay. You can also use this in your business to craft an email that says what you want to say without you spending so much time toiling over the

exact right language or exactly the way you want to say it. You could put a prompt into Chat On AI and say, "Hey, I'm writing an email to such-and-such. It could be your boss, a friend, or anyone you want to craft a message for so that it says exactly what you want to say in the way that you want to say it, without you having to spend all your brain cells thinking about how to do this."

So you'll put in the idea that you're wanting to get back. You could say, "I want to send an email to my boss and ask him for a raise." That could just be one example. You could put the details in there and say, "Here are the things that I have done for the company up to this point. Here's how long I've been there."

"Here is my argument for why I need a raise. Compose a respectful and compelling email."

That might not be a great example, but that is kind of the way that you would do that. So it's great for that kind of thing. The other way that I use Chat On AI is to help me craft my podcast questions or topics for certain guests. I'll put the input in there, and depending on what it sends me back, I'll tweak it and give it more input and detail so that we

narrow it down to a really good set of topics or questions for the guest. That's another way that you can do it. Another way that you could do it would be

if you're a blogger, you could get help with writing your blog, and it could take you maybe half the time. So many times we know exactly what we want to say, but there are all these complexities to it. Then there's the language, then the wording, then "What's another word for this?" and "How can I say this same thing more concisely?" make it shorter, more compelling, more interesting.

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make it shorter, more compelling, more interesting.

You know, you could say, give me an attention-grabbing opening statement or

You could say, give me a call to action at the end of this message. And you could tell what you wanted it to say, how you wanted it to say it. And it can be very crude. Your wording, you can sound like a kindergartner just kind of rambling on. In fact, I use the dictation part of it because I can't even type that fast, especially with these nails. So I just talk into it and I just ramble on and talk into it, then it will spit something cohesive.

And it is so helpful. It saves so much time. I think a lot of times people think that people are just using this tool to write something, and they're taking the first iteration, and that's not the way that you use it. The way that you use it is you feed the detail in the information and you continue to refine until it's exactly what you want.

It works incredibly that way. All right, number two, this is another way I love to use this. You can literally create a roadmap to any goal you want to reach. Now, I will say, I've done this so many times because I have goals. I have a lot of goals. Do I always follow the roadmap? No, I may not always follow the roadmap, but by golly, I can get a really good roadmap. And,

Sometimes I do follow it, and it has been so helpful in doing this. Let me give you an example. One of the things you might want to do: say you're going on vacation, say you're getting married, say that you might want to lose ten pounds for an occasion. Just say that you want to get healthy or you want to start exercising. This is one way that I have done this.

You might want to create a meal plan that you can follow so that you can hit your goal. I've done this so many times, especially when I am looking to hit a certain

nutritional goal for the day. Maybe I know what my macros are, and I'm trying to get my macros in or my protein in for the day, or I'm trying to keep all of that in line, and I need a meal plan for the day, and I can refine that. I can say, okay, look, I know that I want to have 120 grams of protein. This is just an example.

And I want to stay under this amount of fat, and I want to stay within these calories, and I want to stay, you know, within this amount of carbs. So I can say to ChatGPT, give me a meal plan for today that will keep me within these calories,

keep me within these macros.

And here are the things that I have in my refrigerator and in my pantry that I can use. With that information, it will spit back to you a complete day's menu of what you could have. Now, using those ingredients, which is great, somebody might say, you should make this dish or that dish. You could say, well, I have no idea even how to make that dish. Then you could say, give me a recipe for that dish.

First thing that comes to my head is like chicken parmesan. That's probably not the best example, but you could be like, I don't even know how to make that.

Well, then you could say, give me a recipe for chicken parmesan, and then it would send you back the ingredients and the directions for making that dish. It is really incredible because it's such a time and a game saver that way.

Now, say that you want to lose a certain amount of weight before a certain date. But you don't really know how many calories that would equal out in a certain amount of time. You don't know what your macros should be. You don't know what type of an exercise plan, how do you get from here to there? What is the process? What would I have to do?

To reach my goals. What does that look like? This is where this is so cool.

This is such a game changer for everyday life. First of all, I've done this. I love this. I've said, okay, I'm 53 years old. I'm 135 pounds.

I'm this gender, I exercise three times a week doing this, and you can be very specific. You can say, like for me, I run three miles a day, three days a week, my neighborhood is hilly, and I run about an 11-minute pace.

You could say that, and then you could say I also strength train three days a week.

I want to lose 10 pounds by such and such date. What should my macros be every day and give me

an exercise regimen

for each week until I hit my goal? And it will spit all that information back at you. It is incredible. I love that part of it. Again, do I always follow it? No, I don't. I try. But at least I have the tool. So that's another way that I like using it. That is just a very practical everyday use.The other thing you could do is you could say,

“Okay, I need to go to the grocery store. What do I have here in the cabinet? I have nothing. I have four items.” You can say, “I have these things in my pantry. I have these things in the refrigerator, and please give me a meal I could make out of these things.” You could have like the most random stuff, and then it will give you some options that you could actually make a meal out of. Things that you don't even think about, it will give you such great information.

Actually, so fun. So that's another way that I like to use it. And along the same lines, the third way I use it a lot is food tracking or nutrition tracking. It could be that I had

Starbucks this morning or we decided to have pizza tonight, or you could say, I had these things. What is the approximate nutritional content of this thing? Or give me the macros and it will tell you. Then you'll kind of know where you are, and you could say,

What can I eat for the rest of the day where I can still stay within my calories and still hit my protein goals or something like that? Whatever your goal for the rest of the day is, you could ask for Chat On or Chat GPT to adjust and account for what it is that you've already had and give you a plan for the rest of the day. So very convenient.

Just a very cool way that you can stay in control of little things like this so that you don't get off track. I will say, again, even though I don't always follow my plans to a T, knowing that I have this at my disposal helps me to feel like

I'm just more in control. And feeling like I'm more in control, I think, sets me up for just success overall, even if I'm not doing everything perfectly.

Now, another way that you can actually use Chat GPT or Chat On is kind of like a therapist. Now, please do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting for you, if you have a great therapist, to replace your therapist with Chat GPT. That is not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that you can use it as an exploration tool

that you have at your disposal to discover and learn perhaps more things about yourself and what's going on on the inside.

Saying it's just another tool, another resource that you have that you can use for things like self-discovery and personal development. That is all I'm saying. Nothing replaces a professional therapist. Hear me when I say that. But you might give it a prompt, like, I notice that I'm feeling a certain type of way about this situation or with this person or in this circumstance.

Why might I feel this way? What are some coping mechanisms I might employ? What are some blind spots I may be having? What are some things that I can do to navigate the situation? And you can almost have a conversation with it and you can continue to ask questions. And it's just a very handy way—it's just a very convenient way to

feel that you are taking a small action.

And it's just a small but very impactful way that you can be in control.

So I love it for that. There are so many things that you can actually learn. Speaking of learning, this is gonna be my last one.

Learning a new skill. This is something that you can use Chat GPT for if there's something that you don't understand. For example, if I'm working within my small business and I don't feel that I am a math or business-minded person.

I have the ability to now teach myself and find out how to navigate some of the things in my business that I may not have been comfortable with before. So you can find out what certain concepts are. For example, you're working on your taxes or you're trying to budget for your taxes, or there are certain business concepts that you truly don't understand but you want to.

That you are taking the reins and doing the responsible thing and stepping up, it really places you in the driver's seat so that you feel equipped and empowered. And I did this recently when I was working on taxes for my business. There were certain concepts that I just really truly didn't understand, and I did a little bit of a deep dive into finance and bookkeeping and taxes and all of those really nice

fun things that creatives like me usually don't like to dive into. But it did make me feel like I was more empowered since I was actually being taught by Chat GPT what these concepts were and how to

operate more effectively in my small business. I will say you want to make sure that you are fact-checking when you're using this tool. There's so much great information out there, but it does make certain little mistakes. There are little inconsistencies or things that may not be exactly right sometimes. So you want to check your results. You've got to make sure that you're still doing your own research on things. But for the most part,

It is just an insanely valuable tool that you can use really in your day-to-day for so many things.

So just to recap, five ways that you can use Chat GPT. Number one was writing. You can write emails, questions, captions, anything you want to write, you can get help with Chat GPT. Number two, create a roadmap to anything. Create a framework, set your goal and...

those little steps along the way.

And follow them to success. Number three, tracking your food, planning your meals. Number four,

problem-solving and guidance. A little bit of a therapy session. Not to replace your therapist. Don't forget what I said. Don't use Chat GPT as your sole therapist. I'm just saying, it's good sometimes for a little guidance. Use it wisely. And number five is education. Learn a new skill.

I hope this has helped you. Hope it's been inspirational and I hope it adds a little something to your everyday life. I've enjoyed being here with you today. So glad you joined me. Do me a favor. Take a moment, go over and leave me a rating and review. It really helps me. I would appreciate it if you would share this with someone who might be interested in it. The more you engage and the more that you interact.

The more reviews, the more downloads that this podcast gets, especially in the early days, it is so helpful. It will make the biggest difference. And if you could take a moment to do that, I would certainly appreciate you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you next week on the Lessons From Your Hairstylist Podcast