Recently I blew up a good connection (friendship) — not because of what the other person did, but because my brain was in survival mode and started filling in the blanks. High stress does that: - family illness - relationship pressure - time pressure - old trauma quietly humming in the background Put them all together and your mind starts trying to protect you by: - re-reading old messages - “finding” hidden meanings - stitching together half-truths and guesses - turning silence into rejection - turning kindness into “secret feelings” None of that is reality. It’s your nervous system trying to make sense of chaos. In my case, I: - misread signals - built a whole narrative on top of incomplete data - acted from the story in my head instead of what was actually in front of me Result? A connection that could have stayed clean and professional… got damaged by my own interpretation. I share this for one reason: YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT FACTS! Especially when you’re exhausted, grieving, or under pressure. If you recognize yourself in this — overthinking, rereading chats, filling in gaps, assuming what others “really mean” — here’s a tiny framework I wish I had used before acting. 1. The 5-Min “Don’t Blow Up Your Relationships” Check Before you send that message / wall of text / accusation, pause and ask: 1️⃣ Facts vs Story - What did they actually say or do? - What am I adding on top (assumptions, mind-reading, fear)? 2️⃣ State Check - Am I tired, triggered, grieving, or overloaded right now? - Would I still see this the same way after sleep + food? 3️⃣ Missing Data - What do I not know? - Have I asked a simple clarifying question yet, or am I filling in the gaps myself? 4️⃣ Reversibility - If I send this and I’m wrong, can it damage the relationship? - Is there a calmer version that asks, instead of accuses? 5️⃣ Third-Time Rule - Once is confusion. - Twice is a pattern. - A third time is a choice. That you don’t want to repeat.

I'm still trying to figure out how to implement AI in my life. It's a little overwhelming still, I'm a Realtor managing our Short term and long term rentals. I like the idea of using AI to post to Social Media and promote my STR's, but got figure out how to do that. So so far, i'm learning, which is great, but it hasn't saved me any time on tasks.

Quick version: People complain AI models "degrade after a week." They're not setting up context, preferences, or custom skills. They're treating AI like a stranger and wondering why it gives generic answers. The longer story: Saw a post on n8n consultants being obsolete. AI can build automation workflows in under a minute. Stuff consultants charge $10-15K for. I keep seeing a common thread from builders hopping between platforms, chasing the 'best' model, complaining nothing works for long. The difference? People getting real results have set up AI as a thought partner. It knows their style, their skills, what actually helps them. They've trained it to skip the fluff. That's what I built with Jon-OS. Custom skills, clear context, specific expectations. Learned it from builders who are shipping and scaling, not just complaining. You don't need to be an expert. You just need to set things up with intention. What's your setup like? Stranger or collaborator?

Here's why. There are 3 levels of AI users: Level 1: You don't know the topic AI gives you answers, but you can't tell what's good and what's garbage. It sounds right even when it's wrong. Level 2: You know the topic, but you're skeptical You're smart. You spot every mistake AI makes. But you're so focused on what's wrong that you miss what's useful. Level 3: You know the topic and you stay curious You work with AI, not against it. You find workarounds for the weak spots. You get way more done. Here's the twist: Beginners often jump straight to Level 3. Why? No ego. No "that's not how I do things." They just try stuff and see what works. Experts get stuck at Level 2. They're too busy proving AI is dumb to actually use it. The secret isn't fancy prompts. It's your mindset. Stop fighting the tool. Start working with it. Which level are you at right now?

Everyone starts from zero. Zero posts. Zero projects. Zero followers. Zero revenue. We all know this. But here's what most people miss: If you're a beginner in AI and prompting right now, you're already ahead of 95% of people who haven't even started. The bar is still on the ground, pick it up. You don't need a grand plan. You don't need the perfect project idea. You just need to: - Start - Learn - Start over - Repeat Every bad prompt teaches you something. Every failed project is a lesson someone else hasn't learned yet because they're still "researching" or "waiting for the right time." The people who will be AI experts in 1 year are the ones fumbling through it right now. Zero is the best place to start. What's stopping you?