// your first project
Five steps. One real business problem. Walk into camp with something to show.
Think about your last week. What task made you think "there has to be a better way"? That's your project.
"I spend 3 hours every Monday compiling sales reports from four different spreadsheets."
"I rewrite the same customer follow-up email 20 times a week with slight variations."
"I manually research every new vendor before our first meeting."
Need to write, analyze, or think deeply?
Claude
Need something quick, visual, or general?
ChatGPT
Already in Google Workspace all day?
Gemini
Need current facts with sources?
Perplexity
Want to build an actual app?
Cursor or Replit
Don't overthink this. Pick one. You can always switch.
Copy this template into your tool of choice. Fill in the blanks. The more context you give, the better the output.
I'm a [your role] at a [your company type]. I need to [the task from Step 1]. Here's what I currently do: [describe your current process] What I want instead: [describe the ideal outcome] Constraints: - [time limit, tools available, audience, etc.]
Tip: The more context you give, the better the output. Don't be vague.
Open your tool from Step 2. Paste your prompt from Step 3. See what happens.
It nailed it
Great. Save the prompt. Refine the output. You just saved hours.
It was close but not quite
Push-pull. Tell it what was wrong. Ask it to fix the specific issue. This is how you learn.
It was way off
Your prompt needs more context. Go back to Step 3 and add details. This is normal.
Your first result won't be perfect. The magic is in the iteration.
Bring your project to a session. Show what you built, what worked, and what didn't. That's how the whole camp learns.
Your sharing framework
The problem I was solving
One sentence.
The tool I used
One word.
The prompt that worked
Paste it.
The result
Show the output.
What I'd do differently
One sentence.
Join The Lodge and start building with fellow campers.