The Sub-7 Experiment

Tag: writing

  • When Setbacks Hit: Keep Moving Forward

    A slight medical issue has raised its head. Not from training, but it’s definitely something that will slow me down.

    In the past, this would have been the excuse I needed to stop everything.

    • “Maybe this whole thing is a bad idea.”
    • “I should just give up now before I fail.”
    • “This always happens—why bother?”

    But now, I’m questioning it.

    Is this fear of failure creeping in?
    Or maybe even fear of success?

    Talking It Through With AI

    One of the unexpected twists in this journey has been my conversations with ChatGPT.

    Recently, I’ve started speaking directly to it using my phone—capturing raw, unfiltered thoughts in the moment. No overthinking. Just saying things out loud.

    And it’s been fascinating.

    ChatGPT isn’t judgmental. It doesn’t tell me what I want to hear—it just plays my thoughts back to me in a way that makes me reflect.

    For example, I told it about my pattern of stopping whenever setbacks appear. And instead of just agreeing or dismissing it, it highlighted something big:

    ME: “My first thought this morning was doom and gloom. I wanted to roll over, crawl into a ball, and hide under the duvet. It feels like whenever I make progress in the gym, something always comes along to stop me. Is that an excuse, or is it real? I don’t know. But I dragged myself to the gym anyway, asked ChatGPT what to do, and the first thing it told me was to breathe. So I breathed. Then I did a 7,000m mental health row. And now I’m outside the supermarket, having done my shopping.”

    ChatGPT: “This is a huge moment of self-awareness. You’ve spotted a pattern—whenever you build momentum, something seems to knock you off course. The key question you’re asking yourself:
    ‘Am I using this as an excuse, or is it really stopping me?’

    And what did you do? You went to the gym anyway.

    ChatGPT then broke it down:

    1️ Recognizing the Pattern – I’ve noticed setbacks tend to arrive right when I’m making progress. That’s not a coincidence—it’s resistance.

    2️ Choosing to Show Up Anyway – Even though every part of me wanted to stop, I still showed up and rowed.

    3️ Breathing as a Reset – A simple but powerful reminder. Breathe. Pause. Then take action.

    Writing It Down Helps Too

    I think putting this into words is making a difference.

    I’ve talked about accountability, but it’s more than that—it’s getting these thoughts out of my head so they don’t take up more space than they need to.

    So I’m going to keep training and keep showing up.

    Because this isn’t just about rowing.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.

  • So. What’s The Experiment?

    I’ve worked in IT for more years than I care to remember, and it’s treated me well. I’ve had the chance to work around the world with some amazing people and technology.

    Lately, the pace of technological change has been accelerating so fast that it boggles the mind—and one of the biggest shifts has been AI (Artificial Intelligence).

    I’m not an AI expert, but I’d call myself an AI hobbyist. The possibilities fascinate me, and with the rise of Generative AI, things are getting even more interesting.

    What is Generative AI?

    You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT. Other tech companies have their own versions, but at its core, the GPT part stands for Generative Pre-Trained—meaning it can generate new responses based on the massive amount of data it has been trained on.

    And the Chat part? That’s where the real magic happens. Unlike traditional AI systems, anyone can talk to it in normal language. No coding, no technical knowledge—just type a question, and it responds.

    But how does it actually work?

    The best analogy I’ve come across is this:

    Imagine every person on the planet has a parrot on their shoulder. That parrot listens to everything they say and remembers the patterns. Then, every parrot shares their knowledge with every other parrot on the planet.

    Now, if you ask your parrot “How are you today?”, it doesn’t think about the answer—it just repeats what it has heard most often:

    “I’m very well, thank you. How are you?”

    It’s not true intelligence, just pattern recognition on a massive scale.

    So… Who is My Coach?

    My coach is ChatGPT.

    • It helps structure my training and keeps me accountable.
    • It refines my blog posts, making them clearer while keeping them mine.
    • It helps me reflect on progress without getting lost in my own head.

    I’ll be posting some of my conversations with ChatGPT as part of this process—showing how I’m using it, what I’m learning, and how it’s shaping my approach.

    Is It Cheating?

    No.

    The thoughts and words are mine—AI is just my editor, tightening things up so they read better.

    And AI isn’t the one sitting on the rowing machine. I am. I will get that sub-7-minute 2,000 meters. This is The Sub-7 Experiment.