TJ Walker shows how to use AI as a thinking partner, not just a question-answerer. He walks through refining a resume bullet and an email with follow-up prompts, then gives you an exercise: take something you wrote, run it through AI, and ask at least three follow-up questions to improve it.
Chapters
Ultimize. Most people use artificial intelligence like a lazy Google search. They type one question, get one answer, and copy-paste, move on. That is like hiring a world-class consultant and asking them just one question. The real advantage comes when you start thinking with AI. Let me show you exactly what that looks like. Imagine you're applying for a marketing job. You write a resume bullet point that says, "Manage social media accounts for a small business." That's what most people do. Now, watch how a professional uses AI. You paste that line into AI and say, "Rewrite this to sound more results-driven." It gives you a stronger version, like increased engagement across social platforms. That's better, but you're not done. Then you ask what metrics would make this Even stronger. AI suggests follower growth, engagement rates, or conversions. Now you think back and realize you increased followers by about 20%. You update that line again. Then you ask for 3 versions tailored for a marketing manager role. Then you ask which version is strongest and why. Then you ask, how would a hiring manager react to this line? Now you're no longer just using AI, you're thinking with it. Let me give you another example. You're writing an email to your boss explaining a delay on a project. Most people just write something quickly and send it. Instead, you paste your draft into AI and say, make this clearer and more professional. Then you ask, make it more concise. Then you ask, does this sound defensive? Or confident. Then you ask it to rewrite it to sound more accountable. In 5 minutes, your communication improves dramatically. This is what separates people who stay average from people who accelerate their careers. They're using AI to refine their thinking, not replace it. Your exercise is simple and concrete. Take one thing you wrote recently, It could be a resume line, an email, or even a LinkedIn post. Paste it into an AI, ask for improvements, then ask at least 3 follow-up questions. Don't stop after the first answer. Keep refining until it's clearly better, because that habit alone will make you better than most people using AI today. Again, let's not get overwhelmed here. You do not have to become an expert on Python or the ins and outs of coding for AI. But what you do need to do is learn two things. How are people in your industry currently using AI to be more effective? And two, how can you get ahead of that? How can you be at the cutting edge of how people in your field, in your industry, even your job, are using AI and doing it a little bit better. You do that and you'll really have the soft skills that will help you throughout your career. If you would like a free pass to one of my online communication skills courses, just go to ultimize.com and sign up for a free course today to take this to the next level.
