How to Use Prompt Engineering On Your Own Brain
Jun 09, 2026Here is how to get some amazing results by using prompt engineering on your own brain.
Now, I know that sounds a bit odd, but stay with me, because it works.
Over many years I have been fascinated by how my own mind works, and by the sheer power of the questions we ask ourselves.
What I want to share with you today is exactly that. The power of questions, and how you and I can put those questions to work inside our own heads.
Because here is the thing. You are already carrying the most powerful computer you will ever own. It sits right on top of your shoulders.
In This Article
The Enter Key on Your Necktop Computer
Two Small Words That Change Everything
Expanding Your Thinking With Better Questions
Asking Your Brain for 10 More Ways
The Earl Nightingale 60-Answer Method
The Yesterday's Road Method in Action
Using This to Write Books and Content
The Quality of Your Questions
I remember watching Tony Robbins say something that has stayed with me ever since.
He said that the quality of our life is based on the quality of the questions we ask ourselves.
Now, far be it from me to add to what Tony says, but I am going to.
Yes, the quality of our life is based on the quality of the questions we ask ourselves. And, just as importantly, the questions we are prepared to answer honestly, and then take action on.
"Ask yourself the easy questions and you'll have a hard life. Ask yourself the hard questions and you'll have an easy life."
That is one of my own little sayings, and I have found it to be true for over thirty years.
When you and I use the power of questions on our own minds, an amazing thing happens. The answers start to arrive.
The Enter Key on Your Necktop Computer
I once heard somebody say that when we do this in writing, the question mark is the enter key.
Write the question down, add the question mark, and that little symbol is, in effect, the enter key on your necktop computer.
I love that expression.
I am very procedurally minded, so I run much of my life by asking myself powerful questions, writing down the answers, sorting them into the right order, and then taking action.
That simple habit has made an enormous difference to me, and I am certain it can do the same for you.
Two Small Words That Change Everything
There are a couple of ideas I now think of as prompt engineering, simply because of the growth of AI.
The first comes from a thinking scientist friend of mine, Andy Gilbert, who told me to add two words into my questions.
The first word is "possible". The second is "possibly".
So rather than asking, "How can I double my business in the next twelve months?", you and I would ask, "How can I possibly double my business in the next twelve months?"
And rather than, "What are the ways in which I can...", we would ask, "What are the possible ways in which I can..."
Why this tiny tweak works
Adding "possible" or "possibly" tells your mind that an answer exists, and simply asks it to go and find one.
It opens you up to options you would otherwise walk straight past. It is a gentle hack on how your brain responds to the questions you set it.
In my own goal setting I use this all the time. When I am planning how to reach a goal, my opening question is always, "What do I possibly need to do to achieve this goal?"
Then I simply write down whatever my mind tells me. After all, it knows me better than anybody else does.
Expanding Your Thinking With Better Questions
Another version I use brings in the words "might" and "may be possible".
So I will ask, "What might I do to be able to..."
Or, "What may be possible in this particular situation?"
Each of those phrasings does the same quiet job. It softens the question, removes the pressure, and lets your mind wander towards answers rather than defending why something cannot be done.
"Resistance is created through a lack of clarity."
I read that line in the book Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath, and it is so true. The right question removes the resistance because it gives your mind a clear target to aim at.
Asking Your Brain for 10 More Ways
Here is where it gets fun, because this is exactly how you and I would use a tool like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
I ask myself a question, my mind offers a few ideas, and then I add, "Can you give me ten more ways?"
Now notice something. That is not a statement, it is a question.
Rather than the command, "Give me ten more ways," I ask, "Can you give me ten more ways?", with the question mark firmly on the end.
And by doing that, I find my mind quietly says yes, and the answers come.
As I have always believed, our minds are brilliant at finding answers to focused questions. Ask well, and they deliver.
The Earl Nightingale 60-Answer Method
Here is a fantastic idea from Earl Nightingale on his wonderful programme Lead The Field.
He suggested you ask yourself a very focused question, such as, "How can I increase my turnover by sixty per cent in the next ninety days?"
Then write down twenty answers that your mind offers you. Question mark on, of course.
Set that paper aside. The following morning, do it again for another twenty answers.
Be as wild and as crazy in your thinking as you like. You and I are not editing at this stage.
On the third day, do it once more, and come up with another twenty.
The three-day question routine
Day one: write twenty answers to your focused question.
Day two: write another twenty, without rereading the first list.
Day three: write a final twenty. You now hold sixty answers your own mind has handed you.
Will some of those answers be similar, or even the same? Yes, absolutely. That is not the problem.
All you and I are doing is looking at sixty answers, because that is your mind telling you, "These are the possible ways of doing this."
I think that is just so powerful.
The Yesterday's Road Method in Action
Let me show you how seriously this works, with a story that earned my fellow shareholders and me a great deal of money.
Years ago, during the earn-out period after I sold my leasing business, we lost a major client halfway through the year. Suddenly it looked as though we would miss our turnover target and lose the second payment.
So I gathered the directors and asked each of them to answer two written questions, on their own.
First, I asked them to go forward in their minds to March, imagine we had missed the target, feel that emotion, and then complete this line: "If only I'd... we would have reached the target."
Then, after a break, I asked them to imagine we had smashed the target, feel the elation, and complete a fresh line: "I reached the target because I..."
Those two sets of answers gave us a complete list of the precise actions each person needed to take.
We built a daily action plan from those answers, stuck to it, and soared through the target. I now call it the Yesterday's Road Method, and you can read the full version in my book.
Using This to Write Books and Content
Let me tell you one more way I use this idea every single week.
When I am writing books, and I write a great many books and a great deal of content, I lean on this exact method.
I write focused questions, with a question mark, and I ask my head to come up with the answers. It always does.
A whole chapter can begin with a single question such as, "What are the ten or more tips I want to possibly include in this chapter?"
Try it for yourself on your next article, talk or proposal. Ask your brain the question, then sit quietly with your pen and let it answer.
Your Next Step
So here is my simple invitation to you.
Pick one focused question about your business or your life right now. Add the word "possibly". Put the question mark on the end. Then write down twenty answers.
You may surprise yourself with what your own mind has been waiting to tell you.
"Your mind is brilliant at finding answers to focused questions. Ask well, and it will deliver."
If you would like the full set of question-led methods I use for goals, fees and growth, including the Yesterday's Road Method, you will find them in my book PAID! over at peterthomson.com/paid-book
You and I both know the helping industry needs more of your authentic message out in the world. The right questions are how you get it there.
In the meantime, I wish you every success in all your adventures in life.
Peter
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