Step 01 of 10 — Introduction
Your Brain starts here.
This intake captures the architecture of your methodology — not just the content. It takes 60–90 minutes. Complete it in one sitting or save progress and return. Your answers auto-save in this browser.
01
Distinctions
Concepts you refuse to merge.
02
Evolution
Position changes tracked over time.
03
Domains
Cross-links between every area you teach.
04
Voice
Verbatim language, anchored to source.
05
Confidence
How certain you are, page by page.
06
Conflict
Where you diverge from mainstream, explicit.
07
Corrections
A dated registry of what you've changed your mind on.
Before you start, confirm these two things:
Obsidian is installed on your computer
Your Brain is delivered as an Obsidian vault. Install it free at obsidian.md before delivery day — not after.
I have received and read the project agreement
Payment terms, revision scope, data handling, and deliverable definition are in the project agreement. If you haven't received it, stop here and reply to that email.
Step 02 of 10 — Identity
Who you are.
Basics first. These answers shape how the vault is titled, what domains get scaffolded, and what downstream product architecture I prioritize.
Q1 Name & Brand
Your full name and coaching brand name (if different).
Q2 Niche
Your niche in one sentence. Who do you coach and on what specific outcome?
Q3 Experience
How long have you been coaching professionally, and roughly how many clients total?
Q4 Delivery format
What's your primary delivery format?
Q5 Tech stack
What platforms host your content and calls? For each, note what lives there.
This matters — some platforms lock content in ways that affect access. Be specific.
Q6 Downstream vision
What product do you most want to build once your Brain exists?
Be specific. "A client intake bot that qualifies before discovery calls" is more useful than "an AI."
Step 03 of 10 — Archive
What you have.
Go count your files before answering. Pull up Google Drive, Zoom, Dropbox, and your hard drive. Rough numbers are fine — just get them now, not later.
Q7 Archive inventory
Walk me through what you have. Fill in every type that applies.
Q8 Organization state
What is the state of your archive organization?
A — Well-organized. Files are named descriptively and sorted into folders by date or topic.
B — Partially organized. Some folders exist but naming is inconsistent.
C — Dumped. Most files are in one big folder with default platform names (Zoom_Recording.mp4).
D — Scattered. Content is spread across 3+ platforms with no central organization.
Q9 Format & transcripts
What format are your recordings, and do you have existing transcripts?
Video files .mp4, .mov, .mkv, .webm
Audio-only files .mp3, .m4a, .wav
Transcripts already generated .txt, .docx, .vtt, .srt
Transcripts in a platform Otter.ai, Descript, Fathom, Zoom auto-transcripts — note service below
Q10 Session length
What is the average length of your coaching sessions?
Needed to scope transcription time accurately. This affects build timeline.
Q11 Authorship
What percentage of the content did YOU personally teach or record? Is any co-created with a partner or team?
Q12 Old-era content
Is there content from a period you've publicly moved away from? An old era, prior brand, or methodology you've since pivoted from?
If yes: describe it and the approximate date range. It will be processed differently — flagged as historical rather than current teaching.
Q13 Crown jewel
What is the single richest, most complete piece of content you've ever created?
Q14 Exclusions
Is there anything you explicitly do NOT want included in the Brain?
Think: client calls without consent, old-era content, co-created IP, anything you'd be uncomfortable having in an AI's knowledge base.
Step 04 of 10 — Legal & Consent
Legal & consent.
Non-negotiable. This section determines what can and can't be processed. There's no wrong answer — only surprises I need to know about before I start.
This doesn't kill the project. Many coaches have partial or no releases. We scope around it together on the kickoff call. Answer honestly — surprises after the build starts are the problem, not the facts themselves.
Q15 Client call consent
For coaching call recordings that include clients: do you have signed releases or program agreements covering recording and use?
Yes — all clients signed a program agreement or recording consent that covers this.
Yes for some, not all. I can identify which calls are covered.
No. I don't have specific releases for recorded calls.
Not applicable. No client calls in my archive — only courses, trainings, or solo content.
Q16 International clients (GDPR / privacy law)
Do any of your recordings include clients from the EU, UK, Canada, or California?
GDPR and similar laws apply to residents of those jurisdictions regardless of where you're based.
Yes — I have clients from EU, UK, Canada, or California.
No — my clients are primarily US-based (outside California).
I don't know.
Q17 Co-created content
Did you create all of this content independently, or is any of it co-created with a business partner, co-host, or another coach?
If co-created: who, what content, and do you have rights to include it without their consent?
Q18 NDAs & third-party IP
Are you bound by any NDAs, certification program IP clauses, or licensing agreements that might restrict commercializing content from your archive?
Common: IIN, Life Coach School, FMCA, or employer/partner NDAs. Many certification programs have IP clauses coaches don't notice.
Step 05 of 10 — Elements 1 & 2
Distinctions & Evolution.
Two of the seven structural elements. Your answers here determine which concept pairs get their own pages and how your position history gets timestamped.
01 — Distinctions.
Every concept in your Brain gets its own page. First I need to know which distinctions matter to you — the conflations that drive you crazy when other coaches make them.
Q19 Distinction pairs
What are the concepts most coaches conflate that you treat as completely separate?
Format: "[Concept A] is NOT the same as [Concept B]. They require different protocols because ___." List 5–10 pairs.
Q20 The non-obvious distinction
What's the distinction in your methodology that surprises clients most when you first make it? The "wait — those are different things?" moment.
02 — Evolution.
Your Brain holds every era of your work, timestamped. This prevents the AI from confidently quoting an older position to a current client.
Q21 What you've stopped teaching
What did you teach 3–5 years ago that you no longer endorse? Be specific: the teaching, what replaced it, and approximately when it changed.
Q22 Biggest reversal
What's the single biggest position reversal in your career — and when did it happen?
Q23 Before/after eras
Is there a "before era" and "after era" in your methodology — a point where the whole approach shifted?
Step 06 of 10 — Elements 3 & 4
Domains & Voice.
How your teaching areas interconnect, and the specific language that makes you sound like you rather than a generic AI.
03 — Domains.
The vault cross-links your domains so the AI doesn't silo metabolic answers from identity answers. These become the index files and navigation structure.
Q24 All your domains
List every subject area you teach. Don't filter for overlap.
Examples: nutrition, metabolic health, fitness, identity, psychology, nervous system, hormones, relationships, masculinity, business, sales, content, leadership, spirituality, parenting.
Q25 Domain percentages
Roughly what percentage of your content falls in each domain?
Q26 Cross-domain connection
Pick any two of your domains and give a concrete example of how they connect in your work.
The more surprising the connection, the better — these become key cross-domain callouts throughout the vault.
Q27 The missed connection
Which domain connection do most coaches in your niche miss or deliberately ignore?
Q28 Private domains
Are there any domains you teach privately that you don't want included in a client-facing AI?
04 — Voice.
The vault stores your exact language anchored to its source moment. This is what makes the bot sound like you — not a tone prompt, but actual phrasing retrieved at speech time.
Q29 Your phrases
What are 5–10 phrases that only you would say? The stuff clients quote back to you. Write them raw, exactly as you'd say them.
Q30 Client language before you
What words do your clients use when they describe their problem BEFORE working with you? What would they search, post, or DM?
This is different from your language — it's the raw, uncoached language the AI will hear in queries.
Q31 Terms you avoid
What words or phrases from your niche do you actively avoid using? Competitor terms, rejected frameworks, language you oppose?
Q32 Signature analogy
What's your signature analogy or metaphor — the one you use constantly to explain your core concept?
Q33 Rhetorical move
What do you say right before you drop the key insight? Your rhetorical signature.
Q34 Proper nouns
Your program names, methodology names, framework names, and coined terms — listed so they're capitalized correctly throughout the vault.
Do not include client names. Client-identifying information is always anonymized.
Step 07 of 10 — Elements 5, 6 & 7
Confidence, Conflict & Corrections.
The three elements that make the AI reason about your positions rather than just repeat them — and prevent it from over-claiming, misrepresenting, or citing reversed teachings.
05 — Confidence.
Every page in your vault is tagged with how certain you are. The AI modulates accordingly — "this is established" vs "this is something I hold against the mainstream."
Q35 What you'd stake your reputation on
What do you teach as completely settled — the claims you'd stake your reputation on?
Q36 What you're still refining
What are you still refining or testing? Something you believe but know is still developing?
Q37 Your original synthesis
What have you developed yourself — frameworks or protocols that are genuinely your original synthesis, not pulled from any one source?
Q38 Beginner vs advanced
What do you teach differently to beginners vs advanced clients? The AI needs to know so it doesn't give beginner advice to advanced clients.
06 — Conflict.
Where you diverge from mainstream consensus — explicitly stored so the AI can reason about your positions, not just repeat them.
Q39 What you argue against
What mainstream advice in your niche do you actively argue against? The stuff you can't stand to hear other coaches say.
Q40 Where you diverge most
Where do you most explicitly diverge from the mainstream consensus? What would a credentialed mainstream expert say about your approach, and why are they wrong?
Q41 Concerning products or practices
Are there specific platforms, programs, or practices widely respected in your niche that you have genuine concerns about?
Q42 Claims needing careful framing
Are there claims you make that require careful framing to avoid being misrepresented? Medical-adjacent claims, financial projections, or advice that could be taken out of context?
Critical for health, finance, and relationship coaches — AI responses without context can create liability.
07 — Corrections.
A dated registry of position shifts. When a client asks about something you've publicly reversed, the AI cites the current position — not the archived one.
Q43 Public reversals
What have you publicly changed your mind on, and approximately when?
Q44 Framing shifts
What have you been coaching on for years that you now frame completely differently? Not necessarily wrong — just better language or a cleaner model.
Q45 Concerning archive content
Is there anything in your archive that contradicts your current teaching that you're worried about?
Step 08 of 10 — Build Focus
Priorities & guardrails.
What matters most, what should never happen, and what the Brain should be able to do from day one.
Q46 Day-one capability
What is the single most important question your Brain should be able to answer on day one?
Not what it should eventually do — what's the one response that, if it nailed it, would make you say "yes, that's me"?
Q47 Three distinguishing things
What three things most distinguish your methodology from every other coach in your niche?
Q48 What the Brain must never say
What should the Brain never say or recommend? Be explicit.
Think: outdated positions from your archive, dangerous medical advice without context, competitor methods, anything that would harm a client or embarrass you.
Q49 Common misunderstanding
What's the thing clients most commonly get wrong about your approach before they work with you? The Brain should actively correct this when it comes up.
Q50 Anchor transformation story
What's the one client transformation story that best illustrates what your methodology actually does?
Full arc: where they started, what shifted, where they ended up. This becomes an anchor story throughout the Brain. Anonymize the client — describe only the transformation pattern.
Step 09 of 10 — Commitments
Your commitments.
The build timeline depends on your availability as much as mine. These aren't onerous — they're the logistics that determine whether we hit the timeline or miss it.
Q51 Clarifying email SLA
During the build I'll send 3–5 clarifying questions that need your input before I can continue. What turnaround time can you commit to?
24 hours on business days.
48 hours on business days.
5–7 business days. I check email weekly.
Other — I'll explain in the text field below.
The review pass is defined. You read 15–20 representative pages from the vault, flag anything factually wrong or that doesn't sound like you. Approval of the review pass = acceptance of the deliverable. It is not a line-by-line review of every page.
Q52 Review pass availability
The review pass takes 2–3 hours on your end. How much lead time do you need to schedule that block once I notify you the vault is ready?
Q53 Blackout dates
Are there upcoming travel, launches, or blackout periods in the next 90 days where you'd be unavailable for more than 10 days?
File delivery instructions
Read this before sharing anything. Files shared incorrectly cause day-one delays.
After the kickoff call — not before:
- Wait for a shared folder link from me. Do not share files before kickoff — they won't be organized correctly.
- Rename files descriptively. Format:
YYYY-MM-DD – [topic] – [context].mp4 - If you can't rename: sort into folders by year (Coaching Calls 2022, Coaching Calls 2023, etc.).
- Flag old-era content. Put it in a folder named
HISTORICAL – [date range]. - Set sharing permissions to "Anyone with the link can view AND download." View-only blocks processing.
- If content is locked inside a platform (Kajabi, Skool, Circle): tell me on the kickoff call. Do not screen-record hundreds of videos yourself.
Q54 Known file access issues
After reading the above: do you foresee any specific issue with sharing your files?
Platform lock-in, lost recordings, files on old devices, password-protected folders — tell me now.
Q55 Anything else
Is there anything about your methodology, archive, clients, or business situation that didn't fit anywhere above?
Complete
Intake complete.
Your answers have been submitted. Justin will receive them and reach out within 24 hours to schedule your kickoff call. Downloads below are your copies for reference.