Tier 1 · The Path
Prompting
Same AI, same question, wildly different results. The difference is never luck — it’s how you ask. This tier turns “meh, it’s okay I guess” into “how did it just do that?”
Who this tier is for
You use AI, but the answers are often generic, wrong-ish, or just… flat. You suspect it can do better. You’re right — and the fix takes about a week. (New to AI entirely? Start at Tier 0.)
You use AI, but the answers are often generic, wrong-ish, or just… flat. You suspect it can do better. You’re right — and the fix takes about a week. (New to AI entirely? Start at Tier 0.)
By the end of this tier
You’ll write prompts that get usable results on the first or second try, know how to steer a long conversation instead of restarting it, and own a personal prompt library — ten prompts you’ve tested, refined, and actually reuse every week. That library is your Tier 1 artifact, and it’ll serve you in every tier above this one.
The lessons
Anatomy of a Prompt That Works
Context, task, format, example — the four-part skeleton behind almost every great result, and why order matters.
Lesson drops soon
Context, task, format, example — the four-part skeleton behind almost every great result, and why order matters.
Lesson drops soon
Your First Prompt Is a Draft, Not a Verdict
Why the first answer is almost always mediocre, and the iteration moves — narrow, redirect, ask for critique — that fix it fast.
Lesson drops soon
Why the first answer is almost always mediocre, and the iteration moves — narrow, redirect, ask for critique — that fix it fast.
Lesson drops soon
Personas: Editor, Coach, Devil’s Advocate
Giving AI a role changes everything about its answers. When to use which persona — and when personas backfire.
Lesson drops soon
Giving AI a role changes everything about its answers. When to use which persona — and when personas backfire.
Lesson drops soon
The Long Game: Multi-Turn Conversations
Working with AI across a long session — building context, correcting course, and knowing when to start fresh instead.
Lesson drops soon
Working with AI across a long session — building context, correcting course, and knowing when to start fresh instead.
Lesson drops soon
Thinking Prompts vs. Producing Prompts
Brainstorming and executing are different jobs that need different prompts. Mixing them up is why your ideas feel generic.
Lesson drops soon
Brainstorming and executing are different jobs that need different prompts. Mixing them up is why your ideas feel generic.
Lesson drops soon
Beyond Text: A Field Guide to Modalities
Images, voice, music, video — what AI can make today, what it still fumbles, and which doors this opens for Tier 2.
Lesson drops soon
Images, voice, music, video — what AI can make today, what it still fumbles, and which doors this opens for Tier 2.
Lesson drops soon
✶ Your Tier 1 Quest
Build your prompt library: ten prompts you’ve personally tested and refined — ones you’ll genuinely reuse. Rewriting emails in your voice, summarizing long documents, planning your week, whatever your life needs. Quality bar: each prompt has survived at least three real uses.
When your library hits ten, you’ve graduated. Most people finish this tier in about a week.
Build your prompt library: ten prompts you’ve personally tested and refined — ones you’ll genuinely reuse. Rewriting emails in your voice, summarizing long documents, planning your week, whatever your life needs. Quality bar: each prompt has survived at least three real uses.
When your library hits ten, you’ve graduated. Most people finish this tier in about a week.