Ep. 58: Ditch the AI Hype and Start Here Instead
AI, FOMO, and the Smarter Question Nobody Is Asking
You've seen the posts. "Use AI or get left behind." "Download this skill, change your life." And somewhere between eye-rolling and low-key panicking, you're wondering if you're already behind. Here's the thing: you're asking the wrong question entirely.
This is a Pivot Tool episode, which means Laura gets a little nerdy and a lot practical. She is not here to give you another AI overview or a list of tools to download. She is here to flip the whole conversation around, because the real starting point is not "what can AI do?" It is "where in my life do I need actual support right now?" Laura walks through how she approaches AI integration with herself and her clients, starting with identifying the pain points that already exist before ever touching a tool.
She breaks down the difference between threads, projects, skills, and agents in plain, human language, then shows exactly how she uses each one in her own business. Her daily orientation skill called Aligned AF saves her fifteen to twenty minutes every single morning. Her Inbox Glow Up skill handles the email chaos she refused to manually manage forever. Her Masterclass to Course skill does in minutes what used to take her hours. None of it started with "what is AI capable of?" All of it started with "what is making my life harder than it needs to be?"
The real takeaway here is a mindset shift, not a to-do list. Laura would rather teach you to fish than hand you one. But if you truly want someone to just handle it with you, she has a call for that too.
What You'll Hear
✔️Laura's daily AI skill called Aligned AF literally replaces the fifteen to twenty minutes she used to spend reorienting herself every single morning.
✔️The difference between a thread, a project, a skill, and an agent, explained without a single moment of tech-bro energy.
✔️Why starting with "what can AI do" is the exact wrong question, and what to ask instead.
✔️ The four questions Laura uses with herself and her clients to figure out where AI actually belongs in a workflow.
"Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for the day. Teach a man to fish and he'll learn to feed himself throughout his life."
- an old Proverb
Ready to figure out what AI support actually looks like for you and your work?
Book a free 20-minute clarity call: https://www.leadintact.com/freeclaritycall
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Links and Resources
Pivot Point Podcast: https://www.leadintact.com/the-pivot-point-podcast
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@leadintact
Freebies: https://www.leadintact.com/freebies
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You made the move, or maybe you're about to, or maybe you're still in it, showing up, performing, delivering, while something quiet in the background keeps saying, "This is not it." Either way, something has shifted, and you can't unknow it. Here's what nobody tells you. The landing strip is a little rocky once you come down from the high of accomplishment.
There are moments of real excitement, real clarity, like, "Yes, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be." And then night comes, and the anxiety rolls in, the what ifs, the what am I actually doing? Not because you made the wrong choice, by the way, but because you're standing in the space between who you were and who you're becoming.
Done pretending this is enough, done pushing through, done ignoring the thing that keeps pulling at you. That's exactly where this podcast lives. I'm Laura [00:01:00] Dionisio, founder of Lead Intact, and I've been exactly where you are. The corporate success that stopped feeling like success, the leap that was equal parts terrifying and necessary, the messy, non-linear process of building something that actually fits, and learning to trust yourself through all of it.
This is the pivot point. Real conversations about what's actually happening beneath the surface and what it takes to build a life that feels as good as it looks. Not just the wins, the attempts, too. Because I'm not here to romanticize the journey. I'm here to show you what it's really like. Let's get into it.
Have you been hearing AI everything these days? And on the one hand, you're just like, "Ugh, AI again," and on the other hand, you're kinda like, "But am I behind though?" [00:02:00] Let's talk about it. Hi, I'm Laura Dionisio, host of The Pivot Point with Laura Dionisio podcast, and today is a departure from the usual podcast solo episode.
This is the Pivot Tool episode where I get a little bit more technical for those of you, like me, who just wanna nerd out. And today, I wanted to talk about AI. Not necessarily what is it and how can I use it, but how do I use it and how do I work with my clients so that they can think about the best way AI can support them without being all like, "Oh, but I'm behind..."
Without, like, FOMOing about it, if so why does this matter? It matters because it's, it is so easy to get caught up in AI, right? Like, how many of you have gone through Instagram, you're scrolling, or Facebook, or really anywhere, and it's just like, "Optimize your workflow, AI. Help with your dating, AI.
Download this AI skill, you must need it"? And you're just like, "I don't even know what a [00:03:00] skill is," right?
And I think that's the wrong question to ask. It's not... The question isn't, what is AI capable of? It's, how can it support me in my life right now? You know, because sometimes I call it, like, the squirrel syndrome you know the movie Up,
it's so easy to have a squirrel moment with AI, right? Some social media influencer or someone who's really good in sales, like, sells you this idea that this one AI skill's gonna change your life. And then it's like, "Wow, I think it would change my life." I don't like that approach. I believe in the approach of, let me take a look at my life already, and where do I already feel unsupported, or where do I feel really irritated 'cause I'm doing the same shit over and over again?
To me, that's where we should start. We should start with, how can I be supported right now? And then from there, you can ask yourself, "Is it because I don't actually need to do the thing? Is it because I can [00:04:00] ask somebody else to do it for me? Can I hire somebody else to do it? Or can AI help me?" Does that make sense?
We don't go straight for AI. We go straight for, okay, what is the actual pain point I'm trying to resolve, or where in my life can I feel some ease and flow? And then we can ask if AI is the right solution.
So just to be a little bit more on the technical side, I'm just gonna define some terminology, AI terminology, as of this recording, right?
Because AI is moving so fast that by tomorrow it could be different. But this might be useful so that when somebody says these terms, you know what it is, and also as we talk through some of the ways I use AI, you'll know what I'm talking about. So the first thing is a chat or a thread. I think this is the most common one that people know.
This is basically like when you go into Claude, into Gemini, into ChatGPT, and you just start up a new conversation That's a thread, also known as a chat, also known as a chat thread. [00:05:00] And you can do a lot of things by starting a new thread or even staying in the same one. But one of my rule of thumbs that I talk to my clients about, and even that I use, is if you find yourself using that one chat thread because you don't wanna lose context, you know, like you just keep using it over and over again, but then you have a hard time, like, trying to find previous answers or sometimes, like, the, the output that it gives you is not so great because you've been asking too many questions and you've been changing your mind.
Okay, so this is when something like a project might be helpful. And a project is basically... Mm, think of it as like a permanent home base that has specific instructions, context, files, so that you can start different chat threads within the project, and it'll have the same context each time. This way, you won't have, like, an infinity long chat thread.
You can have multiple ones and with Claude and ChatGPT, [00:06:00] probably all the other ones as well, there's capability for the AI to look through different chats within the project, so it always has the same context. Now why would you wanna do this? For organization purposes. So for example, if I have a project called Hot Bod Strong Quads, where it's all my fitness and nutrition, maybe I have a thread specifically on helping, um, AI calculate my macros to make sure I hit my protein goals.
Maybe I have one that's specifically on my exercise routine. Maybe I have one that specifically looks through my calendar and basically helps me figure out, like, when to best go to the gym based on what I have going on. But that way, there's like three distinct threads so that I won't have to keep scrolling to find, like, whatever answer it gives me.
So a skill, I love skills. A skill is basically you can train AI, and I use Claude for this. I'm not sure if ChatGPT at this point has the ability to create skills. But a skill is [00:07:00] basically, Think of it this way. If you're doing the same shit over and over again and you're tired of it, you're like, "Huh, I wonder how I can feel supported.
AI can probably do this." And you don't have to know the answer if AI can do it or not. This is the magic of AI. You can ask AI Can you help me with my task? So I'll give you an example. One of my favorite skills to use on the daily is the skill I have called Aligned AF. What it does for me is it basically looks at both my personal and my work calendar, and then it looks at...
I have specific themed days for myself as an entrepreneur. It just helps me stay focused. So it looks at that, and then it looks at my Asana board. This is my project management tool that I use with my team. And then based on all that, it does some fun stuff. And then it tells me, "Hey, since today CEO day, this is time for you to do your planning for your podcast schedule, your strategy for your social media, et cetera."
And then it'll take the specific task in Asana and show me in [00:08:00] there. And it's super helpful. So why did I decide to do this? Because the thing I was doing over and over again every day is I was taking fifteen to twenty minutes trying to reorient myself. Like, "Oh, today is a podcast recording day. Like, what do I need to do?
Let me look at my inbox. Let me do this. Let me do that." So I'm like, you know what? I don't wanna take the time, fifteen to twenty minutes every day to do this. I'm gonna create a skill. So that's a skill. A skill is basically a way for AI, based on your instructions and parameters, to use logic to perform specific set of tasks.
That's the more technical definition. So that's why I wanted to give an example because I feel like if I just explain the technical definition, it's like, I don't know what that means. Okay.
So an agent, this is what got me confused. So with a skill... So let me back up a bit. With a skill, you have to call it manually every time.
So I'll have to be like, "Run Aligned AF." Or I have this other skill called Inbox Glow Up because inbox [00:09:00] management was something that I just did not enjoy, and I would have to say, "Run Inbox Glow Up." Now, if I wanted that particular skill to run without me having to manually indicate that I wanted it run, for example, I wanted it to be run, I don't know, every Monday through Friday at eight thirty in the morning, that's when I create an agent.
So an agent basically allows me to instruct AI to run a skill or maybe multiple skills at a specific time, like, without my input. So do you need to know these terms in order to have AI work for you? No, because I certainly did not. I was creating skills and agents without realizing what the difference was between the two.
So the only reason I'm giving you the definition is so that you're aware. But then again, maybe by the time this podcast airs, the definitions may be completely different. That's something to keep in mind with AI as well. I think it's really important not to feel like you [00:10:00] have to be an expert before you start using it because AI is changing so much, and the thing that's important is can you learn quickly?
Can you let go of the idea that you need to basically have all your ducks in a row before you start trying? That's really the name of the game. Okay.
Here are some core questions that I tend to ask myself because I have gotten a lot of questions of, like, " How do I integrate AI into my daily workflow?" Or, "What is the best use of AI as a business owner?"
And for me, it's... That question differs person to person, so I wouldn't ask specifically: How can I use AI in my daily workflow? I would start with: What problem am I trying to solve? What in my daily workflow do I just hate so much to do? So as an example, I am working on a project right now for a friend of mine where the part of her workflow, it's not necessarily daily, that she really dreads is doing cost [00:11:00] estimation and proposal workup or proposal draft.
And so if there's something like that in your workflow, maybe it's not the proposal draft. Maybe it's actual outreach. Maybe it's crafting email messages. Maybe it's coming up with social media content. Whatever it is that feels like such a pain in the ass to you, that's when you might ask yourself I wonder if AI can help me?"
The answer is probably yes The second question I ask myself, it's, it's kind of like the cousin of like what problem am I, am I trying to solve is, what would make my life easier?
So here's an example. I do a lot of live master classes, and then because it's recorded, I always see it as an opportunity of, oh, how else can I reuse this content?
Maybe I can make it into an evergreen course. So I was taking, I'm not even kidding, like hours where I would copy the whole transcript, I would put it into chat or, or Claude, and I would [00:12:00] say "Act as a master course creator. How would you break down this, this, uh, live master class as an evergreen with the intended audience of this, and maybe with just clips no longer than ten minutes?"
I would just have like a hefty prompt, but I would do it every time and it would take me a couple hours, probably longer, just to figure out if it was viable for me to turn that live master class into a course. So what would make my life easier here? I created a skill called Master Class to Course, and within this skill, I basically taught it the way my mind worked, which is who's the intended audience?
The role that this AI is playing is master course creator. What is the call to action? What is the intended length per video? Uh, like that kind of thing. So [00:13:00] that's an example of how can I make my life easier. So I was just like, yeah, AI can make my life easier. I mean, the other way I could make it easier myself is basically assign my VA to it perhaps, or like hire someone to do it.
So those are other options, but I didn't want to do that. I was like, I think AI can do it, because I already knew the process. Like I, I had the process in my head, I just needed it to be repeatable. So AI is great for that The other question that's worth asking instead of what is the best AI skill for business owners, period, is what are the manual tasks I dread doing over and over again?
For me, it was checking my inbox. This was such a pain. I had inadvertently signed up for like, I don't know, what feels like a million newsletters, and it... And I didn't necessarily want to unsubscribe, but at the same time, even when I started to unsubscribe, it just felt really overwhelming. So then I was like, "Hmm, I wonder if AI can help."
Again, AI isn't the only way I can manage [00:14:00] this. I could put in my, I don't know, like a w- uh, a daily task for myself to spend an hour doing it, but I did not wanna do that. I could ask my team to do it, but I would prefer they do something else. So then I was just like, "You know what? AI would be good for this."
And then the other question I like to ask myself, because here's the thing, sometimes creating skills in AI or even asking if it's possible feels like a pain in the ass in and of itself, right? When I feel this way, I ask myself, "How do I feel about doing this task manually forever? How would I feel if that were the case?
And how would I rather feel? What would it be like if I could create an AI skill, or maybe it's creating an AI project that would just help me out, and I don't have to do this task manually anymore?" So once I feel like, "Oh my God, that would be amazing," then I'm like, "All right." Then I can take the time to figure out how to do this [00:15:00] or to find someone who can help me
Okay, so what I walked you through maybe is not what you were thinking. Maybe you were like, "I just want you to give me the answer." But I want to basically bring to mind this old proverb that I'm sure you've heard before, which is, " Give a man a, a fish and you'll feed him for the day. Teach a man to fish," and what is it?
He'll learn to feed himself throughout his life. I don't remember the exact proverb, but you get the point. I think it's more important to teach the mindset of how AI might support you rather than getting into the technical nitty-gritty of, "Here's how you create a skill." Because the... you will learn more coming up with a real-life application for yourself of how your life can be made easier and then creating the skill on your own than if I were to just walk you through the technical details of how to create something.
However, having said that, if you are like, "No, but really, Laura, I would [00:16:00] rather that you just do the, the thing for me," then book a free 20-minute clarity call, and I'm happy to help you in how to have an AI-enabled business that makes sense for you. You can book the call at www.leadintact.com/freeclaritycall.
And with that, I trust that this has been useful. Go listen to this over and over again. Listen to this when you have an aha moment of like, "Oh, this is how AI can help me." And with that, I will talk to you next time. Bye for now.
If this episode hit something in you, good. That's not an accident. The discomfort you're feeling isn't a sign that something's wrong with you. It's a sign that you're done. Done living in the eh, done waiting for it to magically feel better, done being really good at a life that doesn't actually fit you anymore.
And if good enough stopped being [00:17:00] good enough a long time ago, that's exactly who I work with. I'm Laura DiNisio. I'm a coach for high achievers who are done pretending that checking the boxes is enough, and are ready to do something about it. If that's you, let's talk. Book a free clarity call at leadandtact.com/booking.
We'll figure out together what's actually going on and what your next aligned step looks like. And if you're not quite there yet, that's okay too. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. You probably already know exactly who that is. And with that, I'll see you next time