Chatgpt, Ai, and becoming a sovereign individual | John Obidi

    Nov 14, 2025

    19031 таңба

    12 мин оқу

    SUMMARY

    John Obidi, a creative entrepreneur and coach, discusses philosophical worldviews of life as games like chess, personal sovereignty, mental emancipation from slavery mindsets, and leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT for business innovation and creativity in a post-pandemic era.

    STATEMENTS

    • 2023 marks the first genuine post-pandemic year, with minimal travel restrictions and businesses rebounding, offering a fresh start for delayed opportunities.
    • The pandemic disrupted lives emotionally, relationally, psychologically, and health-wise, prompting recalibration in 2021 and 2022.
    • AI tools like ChatGPT eliminate excuses for creatives, enabling rapid book creation and sales on Amazon within 24 hours.
    • New business models emerge from ChatGPT, revolutionizing content generation and monetization for entrepreneurs.
    • Life can be viewed philosophically as games: snakes and ladders, where ladders advance progress and snakes cause setbacks.
    • Childhood board games like Ludo taught improvisation and resourcefulness in resource-scarce environments.
    • In Ludo, starting life is by chance, like birth circumstances and family, but success depends on strategic moves with limited resources.
    • Some start life's game early, others late, mirroring the need for a six to exit the enclosure in Ludo.
    • Chess symbolizes societal roles: king, queen, bishop, knight, rook, and pawn, with pawns being expendable and limited.
    • Most people live as pawns, while personal sovereignty requires choosing a powerful role on the chessboard.
    • Personal sovereignty begins with mastery over one's mind, controlling inputs through eye and ear gates.
    • Media literacy is essential to discern agendas in news and social media, preventing manipulation.
    • Parents must teach children media literacy before exposing them to television, radio, internet, or social media.
    • Geopolitical awareness, including passport differences, is crucial for navigating global opportunities as a Nigerian.
    • Curiosity drives learning; average Nigerians cannot afford complacency due to systemic disadvantages.
    • Nigerians, even abroad, must embody extraordinary excellence to counter stereotypes and represent positively.
    • Poverty is not just financial but a systemic philosophy, culture, and institution passed generationally.
    • Mental slavery persists through inherited mindsets, requiring books like As a Man Thinketh and Outwitting the Devil for liberation.
    • The Slave Bible was edited to remove empowering passages, promoting obedience and afterlife focus among enslaved Africans.
    • Colonial Christianity in Africa emphasized heavenly rewards over earthly prosperity, creating subservient mindsets.
    • Asking basic questions like "What is AI?" reveals a slavish mentality; sovereign individuals research independently.
    • AI like ChatGPT acts as an executive assistant for kings, aiding creativity without replacing critical thinking.
    • Effective AI use requires precise, contextual prompting to generate tailored, high-quality outputs.
    • Amazon KDP with AI allows rapid book creation by summarizing and remixing existing content into unique works.
    • AI image tools like Midjourney enable custom visuals, overcoming limitations of stock photo sites.
    • Educators must guide children in AI use to preserve critical thinking, drawing from historical drills without calculators.
    • Life principles mirror science: diffusion explains business expansion from high to low concentration areas.
    • Identity as a king demands daily reminders through environments, affirmations, and selective media consumption.
    • Reticular activating system filters information based on one's identity, revealing relevant opportunities.
    • Coding barriers have lowered; ChatGPT generates code, democratizing software creation.
    • Permissionless apprenticeships allow learning from public content without formal permission.
    • Power law in business favors deep focus on one area before expansion, maximizing impact.
    • Factors of production now include code and media, accessible via AI for wealth creation.

    IDEAS

    • Viewing life as snakes and ladders encourages choosing advancement paths over setbacks.
    • Improvising games like drawing Ludo boards fosters creativity in scarcity.
    • Birth circumstances in Ludo highlight unchosen starts but emphasize strategic play.
    • Chess roles reveal how refusing to choose defaults to pawn status in society.
    • Media literacy uncovers hidden agendas in unbiased-claiming news sources.
    • Nigerian passports confer disadvantages, demanding extraordinary effort globally.
    • Othello's rise from slave to general inspires black excellence against odds.
    • Slave Bible edits suppressed liberation narratives, perpetuating mental chains.
    • Poverty as an institution passes mindsets like slavery through generations.
    • AI prompting mirrors prayer: specific asks yield profound results.
    • ChatGPT generates mythology stories to illustrate honoring one's path.
    • Midjourney creates bespoke images, eliminating stock photo compromises.
    • Prometheus effect warns that democratized tools like AI carry elite agendas.
    • First seven years program subconscious beliefs, shaping lifelong engagement.
    • Castles' artwork indoctrinates royalty with heritage, suggesting personal identity reinforcement.
    • Grant Cardone's aggression inspires sales mindset through repeated viewing.
    • Eric Thomas equates desire to breathing for motivational intensity.
    • Naval Ravikant's code and media as production factors shift wealth paradigms.
    • No-code tools like Notion enable $300,000 businesses via templating.
    • Stack Overflow's decline shows AI disrupting traditional coding support.
    • Permissionless apprenticeships compile public wisdom into books without consent.
    • Abacus drills built mental math, paralleling AI's potential to erode fundamentals.
    • Reticular activating system acts as subconscious filter, aligning inputs to identity.
    • Diffusion principle governs business scaling from strong home bases.
    • Outwitting the Devil dramatizes ideological prisons via devil dialogues.
    • As a Man Thinketh affirms thoughts shape reality, countering victimhood.

    INSIGHTS

    • Sovereign individuals transcend chance beginnings by mastering strategic mindsets, turning life's dice rolls into empowered moves.
    • Media's veiled ideologies demand vigilant literacy to preserve mental autonomy amid information floods.
    • Inherited poverty mindsets mimic slavery's chains, breakable only through philosophical rewiring and foundational reading.
    • AI amplifies creativity for those with cultivated thinking, but risks atrophying skills in unguided youth.
    • Global disadvantages for Africans necessitate exceptionalism, redefining stereotypes through deliberate excellence.
    • Prompting AI effectively requires pre-existing clarity, revealing that tools enhance, not supplant, human ingenuity.
    • Identity as royalty demands environmental cues to resist societal demotion to pawn status.
    • Democratized wisdom like AI hides elite controls, urging caution in its "benevolent" access.
    • Early rigorous education builds subconscious resilience, enabling effortless tool mastery later.
    • Scientific principles like diffusion underpin scalable success, from personal growth to global expansion.
    • Power laws favor concentrated efforts, yielding exponential returns over scattered attempts.
    • Coding's democratization via AI lowers barriers, empowering non-experts in digital production.
    • Permissionless learning from public figures accelerates apprenticeships without gatekeepers.
    • Motivational immersion reprograms reticular filters, aligning reality to aspirational identities.
    • Historical indoctrinations, from Slave Bibles to modern media, perpetuate divides; awareness liberates.

    QUOTES

    • "2023 is like the first actual post-pandemic year."
    • "You have no excuse anymore as a creative."
    • "Life is a game of snakes and ladders."
    • "If you refuse to choose your role, by default you will be a pawn."
    • "Personal sovereignty means that you are lord and master over yourself."
    • "Media literacy is being able to educate yourself on how media operates."
    • "You cannot afford to be an average Nigerian."
    • "Be the extraordinary Nigerian."
    • "Ignorance should make you ashamed."
    • "Poverty is a system. Poverty is a philosophy. Poverty is an institution."
    • "Slaves, obey your masters... that was the slave Bible."
    • "Ask and it shall be given unto you."
    • "AI is just Jarvis, man."
    • "The Prometheus effect: gods don't give fire to peasants without punishment."
    • "The world will try to throw you into the 80%."
    • "Code and media are the new factors of production."
    • "Kings act. They have a bias for action."
    • "This is the best time to learn coding."
    • "When you layer ChatGPT on top of the fundamentals, she's going to be a superstar."

    HABITS

    • Daily rewriting and aloud reading of personal goals to reinforce identity and direction.
    • Curating environments with images, sculptures, and books evoking royal heritage.
    • Independent research on unfamiliar terms before seeking expert advice.
    • Precise, contextual prompting when using AI tools for optimal outputs.
    • Immersing in motivational videos from figures like Grant Cardone for sales drive.
    • Watching Eric Thomas speeches to equate ambition with survival instinct.
    • Studying Jordan Peterson for structured personal growth and responsibility.
    • Daily identity affirmations to counter societal demotion pressures.
    • Selecting YouTube content from admired thinkers to align reticular activating system.
    • Building mental math through drills, avoiding early calculator reliance.
    • Reading foundational books like As a Man Thinketh repeatedly for mindset shifts.
    • Observing geopolitical news with critical analysis for informed decisions.
    • Improvising resources in scarcity, like drawing board games on paper.
    • Teaching children media literacy before digital exposure.
    • Focusing on one business area per power law before expansion.

    FACTS

    • Snakes and Ladders originated as a board game popular in childhood before video games.
    • Ludo requires a six to start, symbolizing delayed life entries.
    • Chess features six piece types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, pawn.
    • Nigerian passports rank low in global mobility compared to American or Canadian ones.
    • Othello was Shakespeare's only black lead character, rising from slavery.
    • Slave Bible removed passages like Galatians' equality and Moses' liberation story.
    • MSNBC reported on the edited Slave Bible in a U.S. slave museum.
    • As a Man Thinketh by James Allen uses archaic English but is short and profound.
    • Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill dramatizes philosophies through devil dialogues.
    • ChatGPT launched publicly, enabling book outlines and full books in hours.
    • Amazon KDP allows self-publishing with AI-generated content.
    • Midjourney generates images in 30 seconds via text prompts.
    • Elon Musk founded Ad Astra school for his children due to curriculum dissatisfaction.
    • Rwanda genocide documentary sparked career shifts in peace resolution for students.
    • Notion templating business earned $300,000 annually for a creator.
    • Stack Overflow banned ChatGPT submissions as it threatens their model.
    • Pareto principle (80/20) governs wealth distribution eternally.
    • Diffusion moves particles from high to low concentration, mirroring business scaling.
    • First seven years form 95% of subconscious programming per Bruce Lipton.

    REFERENCES

    • Instagram video by Ryan Daniel Moran on 2023 post-pandemic year.
    • Webinar and paid course on AI for creatives by John Obidi.
    • Snakes and Ladders board game.
    • Ludo board game.
    • Drafts (checkers) board game.
    • Shakespeare's Othello and Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare summaries.
    • As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.
    • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
    • Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill.
    • MSNBC report on Slave Bible.
    • ChatGPT AI tool.
    • Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
    • PLR (Private Label Rights) books.
    • Midjourney AI image generator.
    • Pixabay and Unsplash stock photo sites.
    • VidIQ for YouTube thumbnails.
    • PixArt AI tool.
    • The Biology of Belief implications by Bruce Lipton (interview on London Real).
    • Peace and Conflict Resolution course at Benson Idahosa University.
    • Rwanda genocide documentary.
    • Ad Astra school by Elon Musk.
    • Abacus for mental math.
    • Grant Cardone videos and Sell or Be Sold.
    • Eric Thomas motivational speeches.
    • Jordan Peterson lectures.
    • Naval Ravikant: The Almanac of Naval Ravikant, "How to Get Rich" podcast.
    • Peter Thiel: Zero to One (notes by Blake Masters).
    • Stack Overflow programming site.
    • App Canvas software company by John Obidi.
    • Notion no-code tool.
    • AI Profits course by John Obidi.
    • hsa.co/aiworkshop webinar.

    HOW TO APPLY

    • Assess your life role on the chessboard and consciously choose a powerful position like queen or knight.
    • Audit media consumption daily, questioning agendas in news sources for sovereignty.
    • Research passport benefits immediately if Nigerian, planning global mobility steps.
    • Read As a Man Thinketh cover-to-cover in one sitting to rewire poverty mindsets.
    • Prompt ChatGPT with "Summarize this chapter in one paragraph" for PLR book remixing.
    • Generate book covers via Midjourney by describing exact visuals needed.
    • Teach children media literacy basics before any screen time exposure.
    • Write and read goals aloud each morning, rewriting from scratch daily.
    • Watch a Grant Cardone video daily during sales slumps for aggressive mindset.
    • Focus on one business niche per power law, mastering it before diversifying.
    • Use ChatGPT to write Python code snippets for simple apps, plugging into projects.
    • Compile public tweets into a book via permissionless apprenticeship method.
    • Build home library with 1,000+ books for constant foundational access.
    • Drill mental math without calculators for children to strengthen fundamentals.
    • Curate room with identity-affirming images and books for daily reminders.
    • Prompt AI for mythology stories illustrating key life lessons in newsletters.
    • Expand business from high-concentration home market per diffusion principle.
    • Layer AI on coding fundamentals for children after basics mastery.

    ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

    Embrace personal sovereignty through AI mastery and kingly mindsets to thrive as an extraordinary creator in life's chessboard.

    RECOMMENDATIONS

    • Prioritize media literacy education for yourself and children to decode manipulative narratives.
    • Read Outwitting the Devil to dismantle inherited ideological prisons.
    • Use ChatGPT for precise business name generation, providing cultural context.
    • Create Amazon books by AI-remixing trending topics for quick monetization.
    • Generate custom images with Midjourney for social media posts to boost engagement.
    • Daily affirm identity as royalty to resist pawn-like complacency.
    • Study Naval Ravikant's "How to Get Rich" for modern wealth factors.
    • Teach kids coding fundamentals before AI integration to build management skills.
    • Focus efforts on one power-law niche for exponential business growth.
    • Watch Eric Thomas videos to fuel ambition equaling breath necessity.
    • Curate YouTube feeds with Peterson and Cardone for renewed purpose.
    • Improvise resources creatively, drawing from childhood game lessons.
    • Question AI's free access critically, suspecting underlying elite agendas.
    • Expand internationally from strong home bases via diffusion strategy.
    • Use AI for animation software recommendations to visualize ideas simply.
    • Reinforce subconscious via first-seven-years style rigorous learning routines.
    • Avoid basic queries; research independently before expert consultations.
    • Build no-code apps with ChatGPT to enter digital production affordably.
    • Surround spaces with heritage symbols like castle-inspired art.
    • Monetize AI images online as a creative side business model.

    MEMO

    In the wake of a pandemic that reshaped global realities, 2023 emerges as a pivotal year of resurgence, declares John Obidi, a Nigerian entrepreneur and thought leader whose philosophical lens frames life as strategic games. Drawing from childhood improvisations with Ludo and snakes and ladders—board games sketched on paper amid scarcity—Obidi argues that existence begins by chance but demands calculated mastery. As the first unrestricted post-pandemic era unfolds, tools like ChatGPT shatter barriers for creatives, enabling book outlines and Amazon sales in mere hours, birthing novel business models that demand no excuses from aspiring sovereigns.

    Obidi's worldview pivots on chess, where unchosen pawnhood dooms most to expendability, while sovereignty—lordship over mind and inputs—elevates one to king or queen. He warns of mental slavery's persistence, inherited like generational poverty, a philosophy not of broke wallets but systemic cultures. Colonial distortions, epitomized by the Slave Bible's excised liberation tales reported by MSNBC, fostered afterlife obsessions that echo in modern Nigerian religiosity, prioritizing heavenly escapes over earthly dominion. For Africans, especially Nigerians, geopolitical ruts demand extraordinary excellence abroad, countering stereotypes as Othello did—from slave to general—in Shakespeare's tragic archetype.

    Yet, AI arrives not as threat but king's aide, an "oracle" or Jarvis from Iron Man, amplifying critical thinking when prompted precisely. Obidi recounts remixing PLR books via ChatGPT summaries into unique chapters, pairing them with Midjourney visuals for Amazon KDP dominance, far surpassing rote stock photos from Unsplash. This democratized wisdom, however, evokes the Prometheus myth: gods withhold fire from mortals, punishing sharers eternally. Elites, he posits, agenda-laced AI to masses while shielding heirs from its crutches, preserving divides where 80% serve the 20% per eternal Pareto laws.

    Educationally, Obidi urges caution for youth; his own abacus-drilled childhood, Shakespeare devoured by age nine, forged subconscious resilience absent in calculator-spoiled peers. Schools must enforce fundamentals—mental math, ethical prompting—before AI layering, lest tools erode reasoning as they did in Rwanda genocide seminars that sparked careers. Coding, once gated, now flows freely: ChatGPT scripts Python amid Stack Overflow's decline, empowering no-code ventures like Notion templating that netted $300,000 yearly.

    Life's science, Obidi illuminates, mirrors diffusion—scaling from high-concentration Nigerian bases like Davido's stateside ascent post-local fame. Identity reigns supreme: daily goal recitals, castle-like environs of affirming art, and motivational dives into Grant Cardone's aggression or Eric Thomas's fervor recalibrate the reticular activating system, filtering reality to kingly opportunities. In this chessboard arena, Obidi's clarion call is action bias—research independently, act permissionlessly on public wisdom like Naval Ravikant's almanac—transforming pawns into producers amid AI's golden flux.