By Brian Westover
Publication Date: 2026-06-07 12:37:00
Performance coaching has always intrigued me, but traditional coaches are prohibitively expensive—hundreds of dollars for a one-hour session. Frankly, that kind of thing is way out of my budget. On top of the cost, finding a coach who is available in my area (Idaho) and familiar with my industry (tech journalism) adds another layer of complexity.
When AI tools emerged, I began hearing about people using them for all sorts of personal applications, including therapy. I wouldn’t use an AI as a shrink, but it seemed viable for performance coaching, which often doesn’t require licensing. So for two months, I employed Gemini as my own AI performance coach.
Below, I’ll show you how I did it, from the files and prompts I provided the AI, to how I used the feature known as Gemini Gems.
Meet My Coach: Google Gemini Pro
For this experiment, I used Google Gemini. I was about 10 months into a 12-month trial of the subscription Gemini plan, which was recently rebranded as…