I don't use AI to do my job. I use it to think more clearly
I was recently hiring for a position. I'd interviewed everyone and narrowed it down to two final candidates. Both were impressive, and I was stuck.
I could have sat with it for days, running scenarios in my head, asking friends for opinions, losing sleep over it. Instead, I opened Claude and started a conversation. Not to get the answer — to organize my thinking so I could find it myself.
How I actually use it
I know a lot of you have complicated feelings about AI. I did too. For a while, I used it the way most people do — proofreading, research, answering questions. It made things better, but it didn't make a drastic impact. I was already doing that work on my own. AI just made it faster.
The change happened when I started using AI to help me make decisions and challenge my own thinking. Let me explain what I mean.
When I'm working through a decision — something with multiple options and real stakes — I used to run everything through my head. I'd search for podcasts or videos to get other perspectives. I'd sit with it for days. And here's the problem: all of that information had to live in my brain while I was also running client meetings, cooking dinner, and exercising. Thoughts got lost. I have a good filing system, but it gets busy in there.
Now I use AI to track ideas, add references I find, and ask it to research resources and provide backup. I keep it all organized in a project so I can start a conversation on Monday and pick it up on Wednesday without losing a thing. I use Claude because I like how the projects keep everything separate — I can have three different conversations running at the same time without them overlapping.
Let me walk you through it
Here's how the hiring decision actually went.
I started with a brain dump. I told AI everything — what I was hoping to experience with a new person, what didn't work with the last person, my fears about hiring this time, what skills I thought I needed, and what problems I was trying to solve. Then I asked AI to rank those issues based on how I talked about them — to help me see what I was actually prioritizing versus what I thought I was prioritizing. When I think about these things in my head, they all feel heavy and equally important. But when AI reflected my own words back to me in order of emphasis, I could see what really mattered.
AI didn't always get it right, so I'd push back — "I don't agree with this ranking, and here's why." We'd go back and forth until the list felt accurate. Then I asked AI to separate my emotions from the facts — which concerns were based on real data and which ones were based on fear. I asked it to look for blind spots, both inside my niche and outside of it. I asked it to challenge my direction when I started leaning one way.
At the end, I had a one-to-two page document with everything in one place. My thoughts organized, my emotions separated from the facts, and perspectives I wouldn't have found on my own. I made my decision.
AI didn't make it for me — it just made sure I wasn't making it in a fog.
Now try it yourself
This works for any decision in your business. If you're a coach trying to figure out what to put in a new course, don't ask AI to create the course. Ask it to help you research what's out there — what types of courses exist in your space, what helps people actually learn, what's been tried and didn't work, what gaps exist in the market. Tell AI about your customers — what they're looking for, the questions they keep asking you. Let it pull together the details you need so you can decide what belongs in your course and what doesn't.
Then write your own structure. Add what's unique to you — your experience, your perspective, what you believe. You want to stand behind what you build, not outsource your point of view. And before you build the whole thing, outline it and ask your community what they think. You're using all these inputs so you're not making decisions in a vacuum. But the decision is still yours.
One thing I want you to hear before you try this: you don't have to share your deepest business secrets with AI to get value from it. You don't need to disclose proprietary information, client names, or every detail about your finances.
Think about it the way you'd talk to a trusted friend or colleague — they don't need to know everything about your business to help you think through a problem. They just need enough context to give you a useful perspective. AI works the same way. Give it the situation, the options, and what you're weighing. That's enough. You control what you share.
YOUR ONE THING
Pick one decision you've been sitting on in your business. Here's how to use AI to actually work through it — not by asking "what should I do?" but by having a real conversation:
1. Brain dump, then ask AI to organize it.
Tell AI everything — what you're deciding, your options, your concerns, what you're hoping for. Don't filter it. Then say:
"Look at my word choices and what seems to be driving my decision. Rank these issues by what matters most to me — and for each one, explain what you heard me say that made you rank it there, so I can see your perspective."
2. Push back where it's wrong.
AI won't get it right the first time. When you disagree, say so:
"I disagree with that ranking. Here's why — [your reason]. Adjust based on what I'm telling you. And if you think my perspective might be off, let me know why."
This back-and-forth is where the real clarity comes from. Don't skip it.
3. Separate the emotions from the facts.
Once your priorities feel right, ask:
"Which of my concerns are based on actual data and which ones are based on fear? Be honest. Are there things I've included that should be removed from this decision entirely?"
4. Find your blind spots.
Now ask AI to step outside your thinking:
"Step back from everything I've said. Based on research, what am I not considering? Look inside my niche and outside of it — I'm not looking for general ideas. I want things that would actually matter to my specific audience."
5. Stress test your direction.
When you're leaning toward a decision, don't just go with it. Say:
"I'm leaning toward [option]. Challenge that choice — what could go wrong that I'm not seeing?"
6. Get it all in one place.
Ask AI to summarize everything into one document — your priorities, the options, the research, the pros and cons. You'll be amazed how much easier a decision feels when it's organized on a page instead of bouncing around your head.
How are you using AI in your business right now?
If today’s issue made you want to think through a decision you’ve been sitting on — a direction, an offer, a hire, something that keeps coming back — that’s exactly what the 90-Minute Strategy Fix is for. One focused session to get out of your head and into a clear plan.
🎬 HIT PLAY
If you learn better by listening than reading, Spark is where I think out loud about building a vegan business — the decisions, the lessons, the stuff I wish someone had told me earlier. Worth a listen.
AI isn't here to think for you. It's here to help you think better. Start with one decision this week and see what happens.
— Stephanie
P.S. If you try using AI to work through a decision this week, reply and tell me what you asked it. I'm always curious how people are using these tools differently.
Thank you for reading Ready to Run. If an issue helped your business, a one-time tip helps me keep creating free resources for vegan entrepreneurs. Any amount means a lot.
