I used ChatGPT to apply Warren Buffett’s ‘two-list’ rule — and it changed how I set goals

I’ve thought a lot about goals recently, especially after applying Charlie Munger's "inversion strategy" to help me boost productivity. That’s why Warren Buffett’s famous “two-list” rule caught my attention as well. Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is known for disciplined thinking. The strategy often attributed to him is simple: write down your top 25 goals, circle the five most important and move the other 20 to a second list.

Here’s the twist: that second list is not a “later” list. It’s an “avoid at all costs” list.

That sounded brutal, because the hardest goals to ignore are usually the ones you still care about. So I tried the two-list rule with ChatGPT, giving it a messy brain dump of everything I wanted to do and asking it to separate what truly mattered from what was draining my focus.

What happened next completely changed how I think about setting goals.

Prompting with the 'two-list' rule

Here’s the prompt I gave ChatGPT: I want to apply Warren Buffett’s “two-list” rule to my current goals. Help me organize my goals into a clear list of 25. Then identify the five that seem most important based on impact, urgency, long-term value and alignment with my priorities. Put the remaining 20 on an “avoid at all costs” list and explain why each one might be distracting me from what matters most right now.

What's interesting, is that because I have Memory mode enabled and journal with ChatGPT, the AI actually knows a lot of my goals. I only had to add a few from this week that I had handwritten on my calendar.

On my list were big goals, "crazy out-of-the-box" ideas, half-formed goals and things I kept telling myself I would eventually get to. ChatGPT’s first helpful move was putting my list of goals into individual categories. Instead of treating every goal as equal, it grouped them into themes: career growth, health, family, creative projects, financial planning and home/life maintenance. That alone was enough to take off a lot of the pressure.

ChatGPT helped me see my goals in a new light

The biggest surprise was how quickly ChatGPT separated my “real” goals from what I’d call emotionally noisy goals. For me, those emotionally noisy goals are the ones that keep tapping me on the shoulder. And, when I don't get to them, they make me feel a little guilty.

For example, there are always projects I want to start, systems I want to embrace and personal improvements I want to make. None of them are bad. In fact, that’s kind of the problem. They’re all reasonable and I'd love to get around to them, but when everything feels reasonable, nothing competes specifically for attention. That's where Warren Buffett's rule comes in.

ChatGPT pushed me to look at each goal through a more useful lens: Does this goal support the life I’m actively trying to build, or does it just make me feel productive when I think about it? That's the question that changed things for me.

The top-five list was useful, but the avoid list was the breakthrough

The breakthrough was the second list. Seeing those 20 goals labeled as “avoid at all costs” (seriously!?) felt strange at first. These were not bad goals. Some were things I genuinely wanted to do. But that was exactly the point.

The second list showed me that focus is not just about choosing what matters. It’s about deciding what matters less right now. And that immediate emotional relief felt amazing.

There is something oddly freeing about having an AI look at your messy list and say, in effect: You’re allowed to ignore this. And, that's the part that threw me for a loop. By AI helping me use this strategy, it made me set goals with less pressure on myself.

ChatGPT made the 'two list' rule more personal

Warren Buffett's two-list rule helped me see that a goal can be meaningful and still not belong in this season. The reason this worked better with ChatGPT than it would have in a notebook is that ChatGPT didn’t just sort the list. It explained the tradeoffs. For instance, for each goal it moved to the avoid list, I asked why. That part was important and fascinating.

Once I had my two lists, I used this follow-up prompt: For each item on my avoid-at-all-costs list, explain what kind of distraction it represents. Is it a guilt goal, a vanity goal, a someday goal, a low-impact task or a goal that belongs in a later season? Then tell me what I should do if I feel tempted to work on it this week.

Using this prompt, ChatGPT helped me understand why those goals were so tempting in the first place.

The takeaway

One thing that I should probably note is that I wouldn’t use this prompt every day. That would defeat the purpose. But I will start using it at the same time each month or when I need more motivation with fewer priorities.

I like that I can be honest with ChatGPT and it doesn't judge me for my big dreams or half-baked ideas. If you try this, I encourage you to truly share as much of your aspirations with ChatGPT as you feel comfortable with. Th power of this exercise comes from dumping in the messy, contradictory, slightly embarrassing goals too.

Overall, ChatGPT made this strategy easier to practice. For once, my goal list didn’t make me feel like I was falling behind. If you give this prompt a try let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear how it worked for you.

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