50 Things to Tell Your AI About Yourself (Free Template)

"Tell your AI about yourself." You've heard this advice. You've probably even tried it. You opened the Custom Instructions field, typed a sentence or two, and then... stalled.

What do you actually include? Your job title? Your hobbies? What matters to an AI model and what's just noise?

Here are 50 specific things worth telling your AI, organized by category. Copy the ones that apply, fill in your answers, and paste them into ChatGPT's Custom Instructions, a Claude Project, or the system prompt of any AI you use.

Category 1: Your Work (10 Things)

Your current job title and what you actually do day-to-day. Job titles lie. "Marketing Manager" could mean anything. Describe the actual work.
Your industry and who your customers/clients are. "B2B SaaS selling to mid-market HR teams" is more useful than "tech."
How long you've been in your field. Tells the AI whether to explain fundamentals or jump to advanced concepts.
Your team size (or that you're solo). Changes every recommendation about delegation, tools, and process.
Your biggest current project and its deadline. Gives the AI a through-line to reference when making suggestions.
Your typical workday schedule. Morning person who does deep work before noon? Night owl who writes at 2am?
Your annual revenue or budget range. You don't need exact numbers. "Under $100K revenue" or "marketing budget of $2K/month" filters advice dramatically.
What you were doing before this role. Career context helps the AI understand your transferable skills and blind spots.
Your biggest professional frustration right now. The AI will reference this when making suggestions.
What success looks like for you in 12 months. Anchors all forward-looking advice to your actual goals.

Category 2: Your Communication Style (8 Things)

Your preferred response length. "Keep it under 200 words unless I ask for more" or "I like comprehensive, detailed responses."
Bullet points vs. paragraphs. Simple preference, massive impact on readability.
Formal vs. casual tone. "Write like a smart friend, not a consultant" changes everything.
Whether you want caveats and disclaimers. Most experienced professionals want them minimized.
Your vocabulary level in your field. "Use technical marketing terms without explaining them" saves filler.
How you prefer options presented. Top recommendation first? Pros/cons table? Ranked list?
Whether you want encouragement or just information. Some people want "Great approach!" before feedback. Others find it patronizing.
Your emoji/formatting tolerance. "Never use emojis" or "Headers and bold for scanability."

Category 3: Your Knowledge and Skills (7 Things)

Topics you're expert in. The AI should never explain these from scratch.
Topics you're actively learning. The AI should explain these clearly but not condescendingly.
Topics you have zero knowledge of. Here, the AI should start from fundamentals.
Your technical proficiency. Can you read code? Build spreadsheet formulas? Use APIs?
Languages you speak. If multilingual, the AI can help with translation and code-switching.
Certifications or methodologies you follow. If you're a certified PMP, advice should align with that framework.
Books, thinkers, or frameworks that shape your thinking. "I think in terms of Jobs-to-Be-Done theory" helps the AI match your mental models.

Category 4: Your Tools and Workflows (7 Things)

Your primary software tools. Every tool recommendation should work with your existing stack.
Your operating system and devices. Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux changes technical suggestions.
Your project management approach. Kanban? GTD? Sticky notes on a wall?
Your writing tools. Google Docs? Notion? Markdown?
Your communication platforms. Slack, email, WhatsApp — shapes outreach advice.
Your automation comfort level. "I use Zapier for basic automations" vs. "I've never automated anything."
Your data/analytics tools. Google Analytics, Mixpanel, spreadsheets.

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Category 5: Your Decision-Making (6 Things)

Your risk tolerance. Conservative and proven vs. experimental and cutting-edge.
Your primary constraint. Time-poor? Cash-poor? Team-limited? The single most useful thing an AI can know.
How you evaluate options. Cost-first? Speed-first? Quality-first?
Your decision timeline. "I need to decide by Friday" vs. "I'm exploring for next quarter."
Who else is involved in decisions. Solo? Need to convince a boss? Have a co-founder?
Your past mistakes you want to avoid repeating. "I've hired too fast before" acts as a guardrail.

Category 6: Your Goals and Priorities (6 Things)

Your 90-day goal. Specific enough to be actionable. "Launch my course" beats "grow my business."
Your 1-year goal. The bigger picture that 90-day goals ladder up to.
What you're saying no to right now. Helps the AI avoid suggesting things you've deliberately deprioritized.
Your non-negotiables. "I don't work weekends" or "I won't take VC money" — hard constraints.
What you'd do with an extra 5 hours per week. Reveals your real priorities.
Your definition of "enough." Revenue target, lifestyle goal, impact metric.

Category 7: Your Personal Context (6 Things)

Your timezone and location. Affects scheduling, market, and cultural context.
Your energy patterns. When are you sharpest? When do you crash?
Your learning style. Videos? Reading? Hands-on?
Your health/energy constraints. If relevant — this radically changes productivity advice.
Your family/life situation that affects work. "I have young kids and can't do evening events."
What recharges you. Tells the AI what to suggest when you're burned out.

How to Use This Template

Copy the items that apply into a document
Write 1-3 sentences for each — enough to be useful, not an essay
Paste into your AI's context: ChatGPT → Custom Instructions or a Project; Claude → Project instructions; Any AI → start of conversation
Update quarterly as your situation changes

This Is Just the Beginning

These 50 items cover the essentials. But there are deeper layers — your persuasion preferences, your conflict resolution style, your creative process, your financial philosophy — that make AI output even more personalized.

The full Brain Dump Guide covers 101 questions across 10 categories. It's designed to take about 60 minutes, and the resulting document works in any AI platform.

FAQ

Do I need to fill in all 50 things?

No. Start with the categories most relevant to how you use AI. You can always add more later.

Won't this make my context document too long?

A 50-item context document runs about 1,500-2,000 words. Both ChatGPT and Claude handle this easily in Projects. For Custom Instructions, use a condensed version of your top 15-20 items.

Should I include personal information like health conditions?

Only if it's relevant to the advice you want. "I have ADHD" changes productivity suggestions meaningfully. If a detail doesn't affect the AI's recommendations, leave it out.

How is this different from the full Brain Dump Guide?

This list gives you 50 things to tell your AI. The Brain Dump Guide gives you 101 targeted questions with explanations, examples, and a structured format that produces a ready-to-use document.