7 Power User ChatGPT Prompts
SAM ALTMAN WAS ASKED FOR HIS MOST USEFUL CHATGPT PROMPT. His answer came first. Then senior engineers and AI founders on the same panel shared the prompts they actually use to think, write, plan, and make better decisions.
Here are 7 power user prompts to save:
1. The Altman Prompt
Paste to ChatGPT after any situation, decision, or problem:
“Here’s what I’m dealing with: [paste situation]. What is the most important thing I’m missing about this situation? Not what’s most obvious, not what I’ve already considered. Identify the variable I’m not seeing because I’m too close to it.”
The exact question Sam Altman said he asks ChatGPT.
2. The Self-Verify
Paste to ChatGPT when asking for code or analysis:
“Build [the thing]. Then test it yourself. Run the code. Prove to me with logs and output that it actually works the way I asked. Don’t stop iterating until you’ve verified the output matches my specifications. Show your work, including any failures along the way.”
How senior engineers stop AI from lying about its output.
3. The Amplifier
Paste to ChatGPT before any task:
“[Action] the shit out of [thing]. Review the shit out of this doc. Code the shit out of this app. Edit the shit out of this draft. Don’t half-ass it. Don’t give me the polite version. Treat this like your output is being judged at a 10x higher quality bar than usual.”
Outperforms every fancy prompt framework.
4. Highest Leverage
Paste to ChatGPT after sharing your goals:
“Here’s everything I want to accomplish in the next 12 months: [paste your goals]. Based on this, tell me the single highest-leverage thing I can do RIGHT NOW that gets me closer to all of them. Not the safest thing. The thing that moves the most variables at once.”
Cuts a year of indecision into one move.
5. Reverse Prompt
Paste to ChatGPT after a long conversation or Project setup:
“Based on everything you know about me from this conversation, what should you be doing for me that I haven’t asked for yet? List the 3 things that would help me most that I’m too distracted, busy, or unaware to request. Then offer to do them.”
Flips the chat so ChatGPT works for you, not the other way around.
6. Career Pivot
Paste to ChatGPT after a work history dump:
“Here’s my career so far: [paste roles, skills, what energized you, what drained you]. Tell me the one career direction that fits my actual strengths, the version of me I’m scared to admit I want to be, and the lowest-risk path to test it in the next 90 days.”
The prompt one ex-Apple engineer used to pivot 13 years at Apple into a live AI streaming career.
7. Prototype Builder
Paste to ChatGPT when an idea hits you:
“Here’s an idea I’ve been carrying in my notes: [paste the idea, even if rough]. Build me a working prototype right now, in whatever format makes it real fastest (HTML page, Python script, mockup, decision tree, simulator). Don’t tell me how to build it. Build it.”
Replaces your notepad with working prototypes.