The message you've been avoiding
There's a message you've written forty times in your head and sent zero times. Five minutes. Let's go.
The lesson
Describe it in one honest sentence and ask for a draft. The first draft will probably sound like a lawyer wrote it — fine. The first draft isn't the product; the edit is. 'Too formal, make it sound like me, shorter' is a complete instruction. Two or three rounds of talking and it's something you'd actually send.
Try it — 60 seconds
I need to write a message I've been putting off: [one honest sentence about it]. Write me a draft. Then I'll tell you what to change until it sounds like me.
Copy it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — whichever you already use. Fill in the brackets with your real life.
Watch out
It writes the words. It's never met the person. Read the draft out loud once — if it doesn't sound like you, say so and go again.