My Letter To The Past: 16 Things I'd Tell My 2023 Self About AI (And What To Do Next)

Hey. it’s Brad. I decided to share a “private journal entry” with you publicly. Maybe you'll learn something from my inner voice.

But this isn't a "normal" journal entry.

Those of you who own my "Future You AI Coach" system know that I'm no stranger to mental "time travel."

So last night I sat down and wrote a letter to the my past self from 3 years ago.

…the one who had just discovered AI and couldn't stop playing with it but had no idea what to actually do with it.

What came out surprised me. Because the stuff I needed to hear back then is the same stuff a lot of you are telling me you're dealing with right now.

So here it is. Hope you find some value in it regardless of where you’re at in this crazy world…

April 7, 2026

Hey Brad,

You haven't met me "yet"... but I know you. After all, I've been you.

It's April 2026 and this email should get to your inbox on January 1, 2023.

Just one month after ChatGPT was released to the world.

It's a new year (actually a new era) for you and there's a lot you need to know. I have a critical message I want you to carry into the new year and beyond.

It'll help you. And helping you helps me.

So read on, I'm depending on you.

I know you're staying up too late with this new "toy."

You're prompting ChatGPT like a kid who just discovered cheat codes.

But you already know it's more than a toy. You saw that on day one.

You know it's not perfect but you see where it's going and it's making your brain light up in a way it hasn't in years.

You sensed the shift earlier than most people around you.

But you're also quietly terrified…

Because if this thing can do what you think it can do, a lot of what you've built your career on just got commoditized.

And you're not sure yet if that makes you more valuable... or less.

Both. It makes you both.

I've got some hard-won advice I need to give you to help you succeed AND keep your sanity. (This might be the hardest part.)

Side note: this stuff still drives us... er, "me" crazy in 2026 and it hasn't slowed down. Not even a little.

But here's what I'd tell you if I could actually go back in time…

1. You're not actually behind, even though you'll perpetually feel like you are.

95% of business owners are sleeping on AI.

You're earlier than you think but you have less runway than you think too.

Use that tension. But don't let it paralyze you.

Force it to make you "Lock In."

This is bigger than any innovation you've seen in your 52 years on this planet.

2. Your business experience combined with your curiosity and tendency to tinker is your unique advantage.

You've always hated the fact that you're a creative generalist because being a specialist is easier to market.

Forget that. Your time just arrived.

Specialists will get commoditized. "Creative generalists" with insatiable curiosity will thrive.

3. Focus on the outcomes. They're the same as they ever were.

Getting good with AI isn't the goal you OR your clients are seeking.

People still want more clients, more revenue, more freedom, more impact. That hasn't changed. It won't change.

The tools are new. The goals are ancient.

Don't get so seduced by the technology that you forget why anyone pays for anything.

4. Audit where you spend your time and find the repeatable tasks.

Email replies, meeting prep, first drafts, research, data cleanup, copywriting, website and landing page creation, etc.

Anything you do more than twice a week that follows a pattern is a candidate for AI. Start with the one that annoys you most.

5. Run a "what would I build if I had a team of 10 geniuses?" exercise.

Sit down for an hour. Write down every project, product, and idea you'd pursue if resources weren't the bottleneck.

Then pick the one that excites you most and map out how AI closes the gap between your current team and the team you'd need.

You'll be surprised how much of that gap is already closable.

6. Learn It, Do It, Teach It!

This is how you master anything because "when one person teaches, two people learn."

You'll understand AI deeper by explaining it to a client or even sharing on YouTube than by watching another tutorial.

You're going to get carried away learning and doing, but you need to share your wins, your losses, and your lessons more publicly, more often.

7. Use AI to amplify your creativity because all your crazy (and sometimes genius) ideas can finally come to life.

You've had a notebook full of ideas for years that you couldn't execute because you didn't have the team, the budget, or the technical chops to build them.

But the gap between "I have an idea" and "here it is" just collapsed.

Your imagination is the bottleneck. Not your resources.

8. But finish something and ship it before you get distracted and move on.

This is going to be your biggest struggle.

AI makes starting easy. Finishing is still hard. Maybe harder now because there's always a shinier next thing calling your name.

Ship it. Even if it's imperfect. Especially if it's imperfect.

A finished thing that's out in the world beats a perfect thing that lives in your head.

9. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

You're going to want to start cranking output immediately.

But you'll unlock better results if you build the frameworks, create the context, and organize how you think before you start producing.

The people who skip this step spend months producing mediocre output at high speed.

10. Team up with people who are better than you.

Your instinct is to figure everything out yourself. That instinct will cost you here.

The best things that happen in your AI journey will come from other people, not other tools.

11. Don't neglect your health (physical and mental).

This one is going to sneak up on you.

You'll wake up early because your mind is racing with ideas. You'll skip the gym because you're in the middle of something. You'll work late because you're in flow and it feels productive.

Then you'll do it again the next day. And the next.

A month later you'll realize you haven't exercised in 3 weeks and you're running on caffeine and adrenaline.

The ideas aren't going anywhere. Your body is the machine that runs the machine. Take care of it.

12. It will never slow down. Touch grass.

Three years from now the pace of change will make today look quaint.

If you wait for things to settle before you enjoy your life, you'll be waiting forever.

Build the habit now of stepping away. Even when it feels like you can't afford to.

Especially when it feels like you can't afford to.

13. Help others embrace the possibility instead of running or hiding in fear.

A lot of people around you are going to be scared.

Some will pretend AI doesn't matter. Some will panic. Some will freeze and do nothing.

You can help them. Not by pushing. By showing.

Do the work, share what you learn, and let them see what's possible through your example.

That's how you build trust and an audience at the same time.

14. And remember, you can't save everyone.

Some people will refuse to adapt. Some will try and give up. Some will wait too long. That's not your burden.

You're here to help high-agency people with drive and creative spirit use these tools as leverage. Find those people. Serve them deeply.

Let the rest figure it out on their own timeline.

15. Name your company AcceleratedIntelligence.ai

You're going to be in demand. You don't even realize that AI is about to be your business.

Go register this domain name. Not just because it sounds cool...

Because it's the mission.

Accelerating human intelligence by leveraging technology. Not being replaced by it.

There are many types of intelligence beyond artificial. Business intelligence. Social intelligence. Emotional intelligence. Financial intelligence. Creative intelligence.

The goal isn't to hand your thinking over to a machine. It's to use the machine to evolve your thinking faster than you could alone.

16. Did I mention "Lock In?"

You're going to have the same excitement you did in your 20s and 30s building your first business.

Late nights, learning by doing, failing forward and just figuring it all out.

Netflix is going to get boring compared to what you can create.

OK...

I could write a lot more, but this will get you started.

Just do me a favor and take my advice. I'm counting on you.

See you in a few years…
Future Brad

P.S. I know you want to know a lot more about how your future turns out…

Just know you're going to be happy with the progress we've made. But if you follow this advice now you'll even surpass where I'm at.

Now I'm going to go ask my Future Self what I can do between now and 2030.

All I can promise is it's going to be a wild ride.

Enjoy it!

If you made it through that whole letter, thanks. Hope you found it valuable.

Here's what's funny about this.

Every piece of advice I gave to younger me is advice I've either taken on my own or wish I would have.

I don't have it all figured out right now.

I never will.

But that's half the fun... FAFIO: F'ing Around and Figuring It Out.

If the version of you who already went through what you're going through right now could send you one honest message... what would they say?

Thanks,

P.S. Hit reply and tell me which piece of advice landed. I'm curious.