Steve Schlafman is using a $20 ChatGPT subscription to expand his consciousness.
He’s doing this through:
Advanced dream work—Steve records himself talking about his dreams every morning, uploads the transcript to ChatGPT, and prompts the LLM to analyze it like a Jungian dream analyst would. The model pulls out archetypes and hidden emotions that he would’ve been oblivious to.
Creating living records of meaningful experiences—Instead of losing key insights from therapy or coaching, Steve uses the LLM to highlight emotional patterns, pick out recurring symbols, and build a personal growth timeline.
Leaning into voice interfaces—Diagnosed with ADD as a child, Steve often lost track of ideas because his brain processed information faster than he could type or write it out. AI voice interfaces free him to process information in a way that’s more natural to him.
Steve is a former VC-turned-executive coach and the founder of @downshift, the “decelerator” for founders and executives. If you think this episode is too “woo” for your liking, Steve argues that you might be over-indexing on just one way of experiencing the world.
We see the world through four windows: thinking, sensing, feeling, and imagining—and according to him, the last two are often ignored. So if your rational mind has always run the show, Steve invites you to let your feelings and imagination take the lead.
This is a must watch for anyone interested in using AI to understand themselves better—and grow.
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Episode start
00:01:07 - Introduction
00:03:00 - The power of treating your startup as an evolving entity
00:05:27 - Building a business as a means of self-expression
00:17:45 - Prompting ChatGPT to do Jungian dream work
00:21:44 - Why you should listen to this episode, especially if it feels too "woo'" for you
00:36:31 - Visualizing Steve's dream with ChatGPT
00:47:38 - Creating living records of meaning experiences with AI
00:49:37 - If you tend to think faster than you can type, lean into voice interfaces
00:52:13 - How Steve writes with AI
00:54:03 - How AI will disrupt traditional coaching and therapy
Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
Steve Schlafman: https://www.schlaf.co/
Downshift, the “deaccelerator” that Steve founded: https://www.downshift.me/
The book by Bill Plotkin that Steve talks about: https://www.amazon.com/Soulcraft-Cros...
A piece Steve wrote for Every, a couple of years ago: https://every.to/p/why-is-it-so-hard-...
