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AI prompts for ideas and decisions

Sometimes you do not need an answer, you need help thinking. An AI assistant can produce many options quickly, argue the other side of your plan, and break a large vague task into small clear ones. It does not know your life, your family or your money, and it tends to agree with whoever is typing. These prompts push it to question you and leave the decision where it belongs, with you.

The prompts

Brainstorm options

I need ideas for [WHAT, FOR EXAMPLE A NAME FOR MY SHOP, A SCHOOL PROJECT TOPIC, A WAY TO EARN FROM HOME].

About my situation: [WHAT MATTERS: BUDGET, PLACE, SKILLS, LIMITS]

Give me twenty ideas, including a few unusual ones. One line each. Do not judge them yet. Then ask me which three I like and why, so that we can develop those.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Pros and cons

I am deciding between [OPTION A] and [OPTION B].

What matters most to me: [LIST, IN ORDER]
What I know about each: [THE FACTS]

Make a table comparing the two on each thing that matters to me. Then list what I do not yet know and would need to find out before deciding. Do not tell me which to choose.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Question my plan

Here is my plan: [DESCRIBE IT]

Do not be polite about it. Act as a careful friend who wants me to succeed. List the five ways this is most likely to go wrong, the assumptions I am making without evidence, and one question I have probably not asked myself. Then say what would make the plan stronger.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Break a big task into steps

I have to [THE BIG TASK] by [DATE]. I can give it [HOURS A WEEK]. I feel stuck and do not know where to begin.

Break it into small steps of at most an hour each, in order. Tell me the very first step I can do today in fifteen minutes. Mark the steps that depend on other people.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Prepare for a hard conversation

I need to talk to [WHO, AND MY RELATIONSHIP TO THEM] about [THE ISSUE]. What I want from the conversation: [OUTCOME]. What I am worried about: [FEAR].

Help me prepare: an opening sentence that is honest and not accusing, the two or three points I must make, how they might reply and how I could respond calmly. Keep it natural. I will use my own words.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

See it from the other side

I disagree with [PERSON OR POSITION] about [ISSUE]. My view: [YOUR VIEW]. Explain, as fairly and strongly as you can, why a reasonable person might hold the other view. Do not tell me who is right.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

How to adapt these prompts

Give your real limits. Ideas for earning from home differ for someone with a laptop and fast internet and someone with a phone and two free hours.
Ask for more, then narrow. Twenty rough ideas, then "develop numbers 4 and 11".
Tell it to disagree. Assistants lean towards agreeing with you. Lines such as "do not be polite" and "do not tell me which to choose" correct for that.
Rank what matters. A comparison is only useful when it uses your priorities and not general ones.
Change the role. "Answer as a cautious accountant would" and "answer as an encouraging teacher would" bring out different points.

The decision stays with you

An assistant gives general reasoning, not knowledge of your circumstances. For decisions about money, loans, investments, property, health, legal matters or a career move with large consequences, treat what it says as a list of questions to take to a qualified person, and not as advice.

It may also state "facts" about markets, earnings or laws that are out of date or invented. Verify anything your decision rests on.

Keep private matters private. You can describe a family or workplace problem without real names and identifying details, and the help will be just as good.

If you are in distress, or a decision involves someone's safety, talk to a person you trust or a professional. A chat assistant is not the right support for that.

Related tasks

This is an independent site. It is not connected with any company that makes AI assistants. The prompts are plain text and can be used in any AI chat assistant. An AI assistant can give wrong or made-up answers: check anything important before you rely on it, and do not paste private details into a prompt.