Clone Yourself · Part 1 — your brain
Free · Printable

The Second Brain Starter Card

An assistant is only as smart about you as what it has read. This card is the first feeding: five sources, in order, that turn an empty notebook into something that actually knows your work. Under an hour, most of it copy-paste.

How to use it: open a notebook-style AI tool — we teach with Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM), and any tool that lets you load your own sources works the same way. Add these five, in this order, checking them off as you go.

✏️ Type directly on any dotted line or tap a box to check it — or print it and use a pen. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere; copy or print when you're done.

The first five sources
Notebook name:  ·  one job per notebook, named plainly
1
How you describe what you doYour bio, your about page, the two-sentence answer you give at dinner. This anchors everything else.
2
Your best finished workTwo or three pieces you're proud of — published posts, a guide, a talk. Finished beats recent.
3
The questions people actually ask youYour real FAQ, with your real answers — from emails, calls, comments. This is where an assistant earns its keep first.
4
Your Voice Card + a few writing samplesThe one-page voice profile (there's a free card for it) plus 3–5 samples. Without this, drafts sound like everyone; with it, they sound like you.
5
What you're working on right nowA one-page note: current projects, priorities, what "good" looks like this quarter. The only source with an expiry date — refresh it when it goes stale.
Three rules that keep it useful
  • One notebook, one job. "My business brain" beats a junk drawer of everything.
  • Start small. Five great sources beat fifty mediocre ones — add more only when the notebook asks for it.
  • Refresh on purpose. Source #5 quarterly; the rest when they stop being true.
    • Feed it what you know. It hands back what you'd say.
    The fence, before the feedingEverything on this card should be public-by-default: things you'd happily show a stranger. No client files, no other people's details, nothing private — scrub before you feed. That's the red line, and it never moves.
    This is where the whole arc starts — your voice, your fence, and your reach all build on this notebook. More free companions: My Voice Card, The Fence Card, the Shape Map Card, and the Weekly Ritual checklist. The full workshops live in the Library.
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    A person always makes the final call.
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