How to Use AI as a Life Coach (With Prompts to Get Started)
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Each week, I share real talk about building a life you actually enjoy—the wins, the fails, and everything I'm learning along the way.
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I know you're probably sick of hearing about AI. Trust me, I get it.
Another platform you love suddenly pushes an AI feature you didn't ask for and definitely didn't need. Another company meeting where leadership breathlessly discusses AI initiatives that feel like smoke and mirrors designed to keep stakeholders happy. Another headline about how AI is coming for your job.
I've been in those meetings. I've rolled my eyes at those features. And honestly? I’m pretty burnt out on the whole thing.
But, I’ve recently stumbled into an AI sweet spot that's that's actually making a big difference in how I work through problems...
The AI hack nobody's talking about (but everyone's secretly doing)
Beyond the obvious stuff like speeding up writing and brainstorming (which, as someone who's built an entire business around time management, obviously I'm all about), I've been using ChatGPT as my personal life coach.
Like, an actual thinking buddy that helps me work through whatever challenges or mental sludge is muddying up my brain.
Career advice. Planning for tough conversations. Where I should prioritize my time. You know, the kind of stuff you'd pay someone $200 an hour to help you sort through.
With this “life coaching” approach,ChatGPT isn't doing the work for you. It's not solving your problems or making your decisions. It's asking you questions you didn't know you needed to ask yourself. Questions that help you find the answers and clarity that were already sitting in your brain, just waiting for the right prompt to come out.
I’ve been surprised to hear I'm not alone in this. So many of my friends and colleagues have been talking about their ChatGPT "therapist" as they figure out what's next for their lives. One friend used it to understand why she felt so stuck in her career when everything looked great on paper. Another worked through whether to leave a toxic job before having another one lined up.
(Is this a millennial thing? Maybe. We're the generation that started blogging about our feelings to strangers on the internet, turned Facebook into a public journal where we overshared every thought and relationship status update, and normalized therapy and personal development like it was our second job. Of course we'd figure out how to turn an AI chatbot into a pocket life coach. It's honestly the most on-brand thing we could do.)
Why AI Makes a Good Life Coach
A few months ago, I was spiraling about my career direction. I had all these ideas for She Boss Life, but I kept freezing up about where it fit in and where to focus my time. I was stuck in classic decision paralysis, worried about choosing the "wrong" path and wasting months of effort.
So I opened ChatGPT and just... brain dumped. Told it everything swirling around in my head. Then I asked it to act as my career coach and ask me follow-up questions that might help me identify where I was blocked.
Within twenty minutes, it had asked me questions that forced me to confront things I'd been avoiding. Like, "What would you pursue if you knew you couldn't fail?", "Which of these paths energizes you versus which ones just sound impressive?", “Have you thought about X?”. Suddenly I could see that I wasn't actually stuck on what to do next. I was stuck on permission to pursue what I actually wanted instead of what I thought I "should" want.
It was one of those lightbulb moments where everything suddenly clicks into focus. After a few of these monumental shifts, I realized this wasn't just a neat trick. This was genuinely changing how I approach problems.
How to actually use AI as a Life Coach
Okay, so how do you actually do this without it feeling forced or awkward?
First, I tend to lean toward ChatGPT for this kind of “AI assisted life coaching” work. It's really good at asking follow-up questions and keeping the conversation flowing naturally.
The format is pretty simple. Here's how I do it:
Step 1: Tell ChatGPT what role you want it to play. "Act as my career coach" or "Be my relationship counselor" or "Help me think through this like a mentor would."
Step 2: Brain dump everything swirling around in your head at the moment. Don't hold back. Ramble. Repeat yourself. Get messy. This isn't a professional email, it's you working through your thoughts.
Step 3: Ask it to identify where you might be blocked and what questions could help you see things differently.
Sometimes I do this alongside my morning journal routine. I'll write out my thoughts longhand first (there's something about the physical act of writing that unlocks things), then I'll take the core of what came up and drop it into ChatGPT for deeper exploration.
Here are a couple of my go-to prompts, but you can adapt them for literally any situation where you're stuck.
For career clarity: "Act as my career coach. I'm feeling stuck about [describe your situation]. Ask me questions that will help me identify what's really holding me back and what I actually want, not just what sounds good on paper."
For general life overwhelm: "Be my life coach. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by everything on my plate. Here's what's going on: [brain dump everything]. Help me identify patterns in what's draining me and ask questions that might reveal what needs to change."
Don't stop there, though. The magic happens in the follow-up. When ChatGPT asks you a question that makes you uncomfortable? That's probably the one you need to sit with. When an answer surprises you as you type it? Screenshot that. This isn't about getting the 'correct' answer. It's about thinking out loud and catching yourself being really honest.
The truth? You already have the answers.
Look, I'm not saying ChatGPT is going to solve all your problems or replace actual therapy (please keep your therapist if you have one). But what I am saying is this: most of us already know what we need to do. We're just stuck under layers of "shoulds" and fear and other people's expectations.
AI coaching doesn't tell you what to do. It helps you cut through the noise so you can hear yourself think.
And in a world that's constantly demanding more of your time, your attention, your energy? That clarity is everything.
So if you've been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or like you're just going through the motions... try this. Open up ChatGPT, pick a prompt, and see what happens. You might be surprised by what you already knew but needed permission to acknowledge.
- Kara
P.S. Speaking of AI features nobody asked for... I became one of those businesses and added AI coaching prompts to my Never Work Overtime Again course. Here's why it’s different… After years of teaching these strategies, I've learned they really work. But what stops people from fixing their stress and overwhelm is the stories they tell themselves about why they can't make it work. So each module now has AI prompts to help you work through your specific blocks and resistance. Not generic advice. Your situation, your roadblocks, your breakthrough. Check it out here.
About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
