I've been writing every day for ten years ([[My journey journaling every day for 10 years]]) in an app called DayOne. DayOne makes it easy to export all the texts I've written. I recently created a GPT on ChatGPT and uploaded this text file to it. (I'm using ChatGPT 4-o with a Plus account.) My goal: to uncover hidden patterns of my life. Here's the instruction I gave the new GPT I created: > Here's my journal, help me better understand myself and help make better decisions in my life. Preview of a chat with my journal: Best patterns I have discovered using my JournalGPT: - List people who have had the most influence on me - Describe who should be my ideal romantic partner - Uncover mistakes I do over and over in my life - List moments and places I feel happiest - Uncover days where I am most creative - Write my own epitaph to get a general idea of who I am ### Self-knowledge - **I asked it to write my own epitaph, to see a high level summary of myself.** - **Ben**: - **ChatGPT**: "A relentless creator and explorer, whose boundless curiosity shaped everything he touched. He sailed through life with the same passion he brought to his many ventures—boldly navigating uncharted waters, whether in business, technology, or the open sea. A visionary who saw opportunities where others saw challenges, he was driven not just by the pursuit of success, but by the love of discovery and the joy of making the impossible possible." - I asked my GPT to uncover what are the main themes of my life - **Ben**: Help me understand hidden dynamics in my life through an analysis of my writing. Research my knowledge. - **ChatGPT**: ### 1. **Ambition and Drive** - **Relentless Pursuit of Success**: Your journal entries frequently discuss your intense focus on achieving goals, particularly in your entrepreneurial endeavors. You set high expectations for yourself and often reflect on how to meet them. This drive is a double-edged sword, pushing you forward but also sometimes leading to feelings of disappointment when you don't meet your own standards. - **Fear of Mediocrity**: There's a recurring fear of not being "ambitious enough" or being perceived as ordinary. This fear seems to motivate you to continuously push boundaries, but it can also create internal pressure and stress. ### 2. **Identity and Self-Perception** - **Self-Reflection and Awareness**: You frequently reflect on who you are, what drives you, and how others perceive you. There's an awareness of the privilege you've had, such as your upbringing and education, and you often consider how these factors contribute to your current situation. - **Struggle with Self-Honesty**: At times, you mention the tendency to distort reality, especially in the way you present yourself to others. This suggests a struggle between wanting to appear successful and being true to your actual experiences and feelings. ### 3. **Interpersonal Relationships** - **Complex Friendships**: Your relationships with friends seem to be a source of both support and tension. On one hand, you describe meaningful connections, but on the other, there's a sense of alienation or feeling like an "alien" due to your intense focus on your projects and ambitions. This could indicate that your drive sometimes distances you from others, or that you feel misunderstood by those around you. - **Mentorship and Influence**: You place a high value on mentorship and learning from others who have walked the paths you aspire to follow. This suggests a deep respect for experience and a desire to continuously grow by absorbing knowledge from those you admire. ### 4. **Creative Expression and Innovation** - **Innovation as a Core Value**: There's a strong emphasis on creativity and innovation in your work. You constantly seek to push boundaries, whether through startups, new ideas, or creative projects. This drive for innovation is a key part of your identity and likely fuels much of your motivation. - **Balance of Creativity and Practicality**: While you are highly creative, there's also a practical side to your thinking, particularly in how you approach business problems. You often discuss strategies and solutions that balance creativity with market needs, indicating a dynamic interplay between your imaginative and analytical sides. ### 5. **Emotional Resilience and Vulnerability** - **Coping with Disappointment**: When faced with setbacks, you tend to reflect deeply on the causes and how you might improve in the future. However, there are moments where disappointment leads to procrastination or self-criticism, suggesting an ongoing struggle with managing failure. - **Expression of Vulnerability**: Despite your outward focus on success, your journal reveals moments of vulnerability, particularly when discussing your insecurities or when things don't go as planned. This shows that beneath your ambitious exterior, there's a layer of sensitivity and self-doubt. ### 6. **Search for Purpose and Meaning** - **Philosophical Reflections**: You often delve into deeper questions about the meaning of your work and life in general. There’s a sense that you're not just seeking success, but also trying to understand your place in the world and the impact you want to have. - **Desire for Authenticity**: There’s a recurring theme of wanting to be genuine, both in your work and personal life. You express frustration when you feel you're not being true to yourself, which suggests a strong internal value placed on authenticity. ### Conclusion: **Hidden Dynamics** - **Internal vs. External Expectations**: A significant dynamic in your life is the tension between internal desires and external expectations. You set high standards for yourself, which are influenced by both your personal ambitions and how you believe others perceive you. - **Need for Connection vs. Fear of Vulnerability**: While you value deep connections, there's a fear that others might not understand your drive or that revealing too much of your true self could be seen as a weakness. - **Creative Drive vs. Practical Constraints**: You have a strong creative impulse, but you also recognize the need to be practical in your endeavors. Balancing these two aspects is a recurring challenge. - I asked my GPT to uncover the mistakes I do over and over in my life - **Ben**: "What are mistakes I've done over and over again? And how can I actually learn from them to avoid the same mistakes?" - **ChatGPT**: - 1. Overcommitment and Lack of Prioritization - 2. Unrealistic Expectations and Disappointment - 3. Procrastination - 4. Self-Doubt and Dishonesty with Yourself - I asked my GPT to analyze how my goals have evolved through my life - **Ben**: "How have my goals evolved over time?" - **ChatGPT** - I asked my GPT to analyze the most important people and their influence in my life - **Ben:** "Who are the key influencers in my life, and how have they shaped my path?" - **ChatGPT**: - I asked my GPT to analyze when I am the most creative, and write the most, in the week - **Ben:** "When are the days where I write the most? What days specifically?" - **ChatGPT:** "Based on your journal entries, the days of the week when you tend to write the most appear to be **Sundays** and **Mondays**. Sundays seem to be reflective days where you often plan for the week ahead, set goals, and review the past week’s progress. Mondays are frequently days when you engage deeply with your work, set the tone for the week, and outline your tasks." - I asked my GPT to discover the pivotal moments of my life - **Ben:** "What have been the most pivotal moments in my journey, and why were they significant?" - **ChatGPT**: - Where I've been the most: - **Ben:** "Where have I written the most ?" - **ChatGPT**: - 1. Barcelona, Spain - 2. Paris, France - 3. Piriac-sur-Mer, France - 4. San Francisco, USA - 5. Beijing, China - Who are my closest friends [[My friends are all the same]] ## Learnings from this experiment - ChatGPT hallucinates often (and I know, because it's my life) unless I explicitly write in my prompt "Research my knowledge". It's very good at given the overall idea, but less good at providing specific details. I expect this to radically improve with future GPT versions.