🌱My favorite article + ai prompt (copy it & thank me later)

Best article + prompt. Focus. Internal drive.

Author

Mitchell Cohen
June 01, 2025

Here’s your 3 insights in 3 minutes.

đź’ˇFavorite Article + Prompt

In 2023 I wrote about how The best article I read was “How To Be Successful” by Sam Altman. 

Today I revisited it, but with a twist. 

I pasted it into ChatGPT along with this prompt (wow, surprisingly accurate).  

Based on everything you know about me, rate me (scale 1-10) in each of these categories. Then come up with one area you believe would be the highest impact area to focus more on. Explain your reasoning for all the above.

The output was wild.

It scored me across 13 traits (like self-belief, focus, hard work) and surface one KEY trait that’d give me the biggest ROI if improved…

Plus a nice summary. 

Which leads to…

🔍 Focus

This quote hit harder the second time around. 

"Focus is a force multiplier on work. Almost everyone I’ve ever met would be well-served by spending more time thinking about what to focus on. It is much more important to work on the right thing than it is to work many hours. Most people waste most of their time on stuff that doesn’t matter.

Once you have figured out what to do, be unstoppable about getting your small handful of priorities accomplished quickly. I have yet to meet a slow-moving person who is very successful."

I often default to doing (checking boxes, chasing momentum), without pausing to ask: what’s truly aligned and worth my full attention?

When I do pause, I’m more selective.
But I still get pulled in many directions.

Focus isn’t intensity, it’s intention.

The most underrated productivity habit? Knowing what NOT to start.

There’s also a difference between alignment and excitement.

Sometimes what’s aligned isn’t exciting in the moment.
And sometimes what’s exciting isn’t aligned long-term.

Focus is sticking with the boring-but-right reps that actually move the needle.

🧭 Internal Drive

I scored 9/10 here which surprised me at first, maybe because I rarely stop to acknowledge it.

But reading the reflection made it clear:

Almost everything I work on starts from curiosity. 

Curiosity is a compass. Follow it. 

Salud,
Mitchell

Ps. Hit reply and tell me what this prompt reveals for you!