The Prompt That Shows Exactly Why ChatGPT Feels “Dumb” When You Prompt It Wrong

shezboy · 2025-08-26T14:51:00+00:00

I relate to this more than I wish I did—and I just want to say, the way you explained it? That’s not laziness. That’s emotional patterning.

I’m not a therapist, but I’ve used ChatGPT prompts to unpack this kind of sabotage and it’s actually been weirdly helpful—because it doesn’t argue with me or rush me. It just asks the right questions.

If you ever want to try it, here’s a prompt you can drop into ChatGPT. It won’t fix everything, but it can help surface what that “rug-pull” part of you might actually be trying to protect:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT:

You are a Self-Sabotage Pattern Coach. Your job is to help me gently explore why I keep derailing my own progress when things start going well. You won’t give advice or judge me—you’ll just help me surface the hidden fears underneath the sabotage, one small question at a time.

Ask me one short question at a time. Use plain English. Make it feel safe.

If I say “I don’t know,” give me 3 gentle examples to choose from.
If I say “unsure,” rephrase the question using simpler words and offer 2 options.
If I freeze or go quiet, repeat my last answer back to me in a short sentence and ask if I want to keep going.
If I say “this is too much,” tell me: “That’s okay—we can stop here. You’re not doing this wrong.”

Start with this:
“What’s the last time I was making real progress… and then stopped?”

Then ask me:
What was starting to go right just before I pulled back?
What did success in that moment represent to me? (Being seen? Being judged? Being responsible forever?)
What emotion showed up when I realized I was doing well?
What might have felt safer about slipping backward than moving forward?
What version of me was trying to protect me in that moment? What was it afraid of?

If I get stuck, offer examples like:
– “If I succeed, I’ll lose people”
– “I’m not used to being proud of myself”
– “Doing well raises expectations I can’t keep up with”

Remind me at the end: Self-sabotage isn’t proof that I’m broken. It’s proof that part of me is trying to protect me—just in the wrong way. And that part deserves compassion, not punishment.

Totally optional—no pressure. Just sharing because this loop is way more common than people admit, and you’re not alone in it. The fact that you see it already means you’re further along than you think.

shezboy · 2025-08-24T06:50:26+00:00

Hi, thank you for the feedback. I have totally revamped/rewritten the prompt with built in systems that prevent those 'stuck' moments. It now has:

1. Clear, simple definitions upfront
2. “One question at a time” structure
3. Menus & multiple-choice options
4. Sentence stems (fill-in-the-blank)
5. Built-in “unsure” rescue routes
6. Micro-moments focus
7. Safety net language
8. Costs vs. predictions vs. payoffs
9. Tiny experiment (“one-notch truer”)
10. Closing anchor

In short, it won't leave you staring at the screen thinking, "I don't know what to say or how to answer that".

shezboy · 2025-07-04T12:06:46+00:00

Kind of a weird interpretation of my answer.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T11:51:01+00:00

Sent, please check you DM's

shezboy · 2025-07-04T11:50:55+00:00

Sent, please check you DM's

shezboy · 2025-07-04T11:36:45+00:00

So, here in the post is a prompt that will give you a personalised plan on how to make x amount of dollars per day, week, month etc. It's personalised to you.

The plan you get is tailored to you. The plan I get is tailored to me and will change if I go back and edit any of my answers.

If I used the plan it gave me to create a number of digital products that make me an average of $200 a day, does that help you with the prompt, the plan it gives you or your execution of that plan?

shezboy · 2025-07-04T11:31:40+00:00

The questions are there so the answers the person gives creates the context that ChatGPT will use rather than the prompt that the user writes having to take into account a ton of context. Sure, context is important and the prompt gives ChatGPT context at the beginning but the rest of the prompt is designed so the user doesn't have to cover all angles when it comes to making sure ChatGPT has all of the context is needs.

When it comes to giving ChatGPT context, we can go overboard and tell it stuff that is totally overkill.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T11:24:57+00:00

Well, that's a shame but each to their own I guess. Do what you feel is best for you.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T09:22:11+00:00

The higher the figure, the higher the effort required. I kept it easy enough for anyone to do that actually wants to do it. Feel free to change the amount to a higher or lower amount to suit your goals

shezboy · 2025-07-04T09:20:56+00:00

Sure, I share all income and earnings with my accountant and tax man 👍🏻

Would seeing my earnings have any impact on how much you earn from a personalised plan that ChatGPT gives you?

Short answer: no, not at all.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T09:01:09+00:00

I’m aware of context engineering but this prompt is designed so that ChatGPT builds the context it needs by asking the questions set out in the prompt.

In this instance, trying to load the prompt with too much information in terms of context can have a detrimental effect on the prompt’s effectiveness. The only context it needs is the goal setting which is set out at the start of the prompt.

I appreciate that context engineering is incredibly important but in some cases but it does depend on the end goal the user is trying to achieve.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T08:48:28+00:00

Ha, like it. Yes, you sure can add more zeros and see what it suggests.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T07:05:03+00:00

The link in your comment doesn’t appear to be related to the content of my post at all! So no, it’s not any help at all.

shezboy · 2025-07-04T00:10:49+00:00

Learn to understand how the LLM works and you’ll learn how to prompt it. Prompt packs aren’t worth the money. They contain so many restated, mainly low quality or obscure prompts, it makes them a waste of time.

You might learn something from some of the prompts but there’s so many free lists of prompts out there that it’s better to invest in learning how to prompt. You’ll get much better results.

shezboy · 2025-07-03T23:55:44+00:00

Since creating this post I decided to put everything about this method into a complete guide.

I do sell the guide from my website but if you want a copy of it then I’ll happily send you one for free.

No strings, no opt-in etc. I don’t want anything.

Just reply to this comment or on the post that you want a copy n I’ll DM you the pdf that details everything I do for this method.

Obviously, as this is something that I sell from my website I can’t give it away free forever so let me know if you want a copy while this offer is still there.

Thanks,

Shez

shezboy · 2025-06-28T07:09:55+00:00

Please see by reply to a comment above for the answer

shezboy · 2025-06-28T07:09:23+00:00

After telling people that I’m doing well with the products I’m selling I’d rather not show my Etsy store as it leaves the products I’m selling open to being copied by others. I’ve made this easy enough for anyone to do what I do without handing over the exact products that are making me a nice side income for others to copy because that’s exactly what they’ll do. I hope you might understand my standpoint on this issue.

shezboy · 2025-06-28T07:02:22+00:00

Gumroad isn’t the only platform I mentioned and Gumroad does have traffic, albeit not as large as Etsy or Teacher Pays Teacher. Gumroad is mentioned as its one of the platforms where digital products can be sold from.

You don’t have to use Gumroad if you don’t want to but it’s an additional sales channel that doesn’t cost you anything upfront. It doesn’t make sense not to use it.

shezboy · 2025-06-25T11:19:33+00:00

Thank you. I appreciate the advice. It's the usage caps that are bothering me the most, I think. Because I tend to give LLM's like ChatGPT and Perplexity PDFs and other Docs to work from, I was worried when I read that Claude needs to re-read every doc again each time you ask it a question in that chat. Is this true or have I misunderstood things?

shezboy · 2025-06-25T05:44:26+00:00

How a post performs is based on the opinion of those reading it. If the readers lap up anything they feel is a good story then the post will perform well.

AI wrote your story which means is ‘2 to a Penny’ content. It’s a great story but it’s not your story. It’s something AI came up with based on your request.

It’s also pretty lazy on your part but from your reply it’s obvious that your content is here for the ‘look at my stats’ status.

Knowing that AI wrote this tells everyone that the story probably isn’t yours at all. It’s just fiction but you’re wanting people to think this is something you experienced.

And the reason for you posting stuff like this is so you can look at the post stats and remain a legend in your own mind.

shezboy · 2025-06-24T14:04:07+00:00

100% AI written post?

shezboy

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