Write A High-Impact Story (Even When Life Is Boring)

Why Your Dirty Dishes Could Be Your Next Breakthrough Post

Most people think AI’s job is to write for them.

But AI works best when you write with it.

And one easy way to start practicing this is by mining your daily life for content.

Think about your day so far.

• The dirty dishes you left sitting in the sink? That's a post.

• The instagram reel you shared (while sitting on the toilet)? That's 3 posts.

• The time you lost your words, spilled your coffee, and still closed the deal? That's 10 posts.

Each of these moments contains multiple stories, lessons, and insights.

You're literally living content. Even boring, mundane experiences can be turned into something worth writing. But most people never pause to reflect because they think “nobody cares.” This is a mistake. The most relatable content comes from the moments we think are too ordinary to share.

For example, one of my most viral posts on Substack started with a tiny mental “ping.”

Finding the story in your daily moments takes practice. The trick is connecting them to your audience. But you don't have to figure it out alone.

AI can help.

Here's a simple framework to “unboring” your life and turn it into content using AI:

The Record-Reflect-Reframe Framework

Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I see are yesterday's dirty dishes in the sink.

Most people would just see a chore. But I see a story about trade-offs, priorities, and the myth of perfect productivity. That's what this framework is about—finding relevant, relatable ideas in life's ordinary moments.

Here's how it works:

Record: Notable Moments During Your Day, Then Distill Them Into 3-Bullets At Night

Every morning fire up a note-taking app open on your phone.

The moment you encounter something that sparks your interest—whether it’s an observation, an idea, or even a small moment that stands out—jot it down in one sentence.

For example, when I was home at home recently, I noticed a book on the bookshelf in my family’s living room: Mental Toughness Training For Sports: Achieving Athletic Excellence. It reminded me of a lesson my dad taught me about success. So, I added it to my notes.

At the end of the day take 5 minutes to read through all your notes.

Write 3 bullet points:

• "Today I learned..."

• "Today I struggled with..."

• "Today I wondered about..."

These are your content seeds.

Bonus: Tag each note with an emotion (🤔 curious, 😤 frustrated, 💡 insight)

Relate: Your Personal Experiences Back To The Reader To Make Them Relevant

Readers care about their own experiences, not yours.

This prompt helps you to “universalize” your notes and make your story relevant by linking it directly to your reader’s pain, frustrations, or goals.

Copy/paste the below prompt into a new chat. Insert the 1-3 events from your day and describe who would benefit most from your experience (i.e. your target audience).

For example:

Claude will analyze each experience and generate a list of potential angles for you to write about.

Here are a few examples from my barista note:

One interaction, four different angles, and 8 different post ideas.

Still think your everyday is boring?

Here’s the prompt: