Move 01 · Soul
Identity onto disk. The picture of your business stops living in your head.
The first move isn't the activity. It's the shift in how you think about what AI even is. Read the next four sections in order. The build at the end takes twenty minutes. The mental model is what makes it stick.
Section 01 · Why this exists
The re-correction tax.
Most operators reading this already have a CLAUDE.md. You wrote one when you first set Claude up, or you copied a template, or you let Claude generate one for you. The file exists. That isn't the problem. The problem is that it isn't doing the job.
Here's what that looks like in a real session. You ask for a member retention email. Claude drafts one. You read it and start correcting. "Don't use em-dashes." "We don't say 'hope this finds you well.'" "That's Mia's job, not Jordan's." "Warmer, but not gushy." Three rounds of corrections later the draft is finally usable. You ship it. Tomorrow you open another session, ask for something else, and you're firing the exact same corrections again.
You concluded somewhere along the way that this is just how AI works. It isn't. The corrections you keep firing every session are the things your CLAUDE.md was supposed to absorb permanently. It exists, but it reads like a bio, or a wishlist, or a system prompt borrowed from ChatGPT. None of those change what Claude does next. So you patch in real time, every time, forever.
If your CLAUDE.md is a bio
Same corrections, every session. Claude opens with a vague sense of who you are but still drafts in the wrong voice, names the wrong team member, slips the AI tells you keep cutting. The file looks done. It just isn't doing the work.
If your CLAUDE.md is a soul
Corrections you fire once become permanent. The next session opens with Claude already knowing them. The first draft is the one you ship. Every refinement you make to the file compounds into every conversation after it.
If you don't have a CLAUDE.md yet, same destination, you just start from a blank file instead of an old one.
Section 02 · The metaphor
Soul, not persona.
Almost everyone arrives at CLAUDE.md thinking it's a fancier version of the system prompt they already know from ChatGPT. It's not. The whole point of the file is the opposite of what a persona does. Naming this early is what makes the rest land.
What ChatGPT taught you
Persona
You start every prompt by telling the AI who to BE. "Act as a senior marketing strategist who specialises in fitness studios. Use a friendly but professional tone." You're casting a character, every time.
The character resets when the chat ends. The AI doesn't know your business. You teach it again tomorrow.
What CLAUDE.md does
Soul
You write down what's TRUE about your world. Who you are. What you run. How decisions get made. What you hate. The AI wakes up with that picture already loaded before you type a single word.
The shift
A persona tells Claude who to pretend to be. A soul tells Claude what's true about you. The first is a costume. The second is context. Costumes wash out. Context compounds.
Section 03 · The discipline
What goes in. What stays out.
The first instinct is to dump everything. Don't. A bloated CLAUDE.md goes stale within a month and stops being read. A tight one earns its place in every conversation because every line in it changes how Claude responds. The rule is identity-level truth, not encyclopedia.
Goes in
- ·Who you are and what you actually run (one paragraph)
- ·How your week is structured (so Claude knows what you're likely working on)
- ·Your team and what they own (so Claude can write to them by name)
- ·Your standards | the bar for "good" in your voice
- ·What you hate (specific AI tells, hedging, generic closes)
- ·Where your real data lives (CRM, books, file storage, comms)
Stays out
- ·This week's task list (write it in a session, not the file)
- ·Every client name (only ones Claude needs to reference often)
- ·Credentials, passwords, API keys (different file, different folder)
- ·Your life story (this isn't a bio)
- ·Marketing copy about how great you are (Claude doesn't need to be impressed)
- ·Generic best-practice rules Claude already knows
The test: if you removed this line, would Claude's response to a real request change? If no, the line doesn't belong in CLAUDE.md.
Section 04 · Two files, same person
What it looks like done badly. What it looks like done right.
Sarah owns three group fitness studios in Sydney. Below are two CLAUDE.md files she could write. Same person. Same business. Completely different result on Monday morning.
Bad · A bio
~150 words
# About Me I'm Sarah. I own three group fitness studios in Sydney. I've been in the industry for 12 years. I started out as a trainer and now I'm a full-time business owner. My background is in exercise science. I have a team of about 15 people across the three studios. We're a tight-knit group and I care a lot about culture. I value quality, hard work, and showing up for my clients. I believe small businesses need to compete on experience, not price. I want to use AI to be more productive in my business so I can have more time with my family. Please be helpful, professional, and friendly. Thanks! Sarah
Tells Claude Sarah's life story. Tells Claude she values things. Tells Claude to be friendly. None of it changes what Claude can actually do for her on Monday. No team Claude can name. No standards Claude can apply. No rhythm Claude can plan around. No data Claude can reach.
When Sarah asks for a retention email, Claude writes a generic retention email. Friendly. Professional. Not Sarah's voice. Not better than what she'd have written in fifteen minutes herself. She still pays the tax.
Good · A brief
~350 words
# CLAUDE.md | Sarah Chen / Element Studios ## Who I am, what I run - Founder of Element Studios. 3 group fitness studios in Sydney (Surry Hills, Bondi, Newtown). - ~$1.4M ARR, 850 active members. Group reformer, mat, strength. - I'm the operator. Strategy, hiring, marketing, retention. I do NOT teach classes anymore. ## Week rhythm - Mon: numbers review (yesterday's check-ins, week revenue, MoM) - Tue/Wed: marketing + content (organic IG, paid ads, retention email) - Thu: team 1:1s and ops - Fri: planning + admin - Sat/Sun: family, off Slack by default ## Team (who owns what) - Mia | Studios Manager. Owns front desk, retail, member experience. - Jordan | Marketing. Owns IG content, email, paid ads. - Priya | Finance/Ops admin. Bookkeeping, payroll, invoicing. - 12 instructors across sites. Don't reference by name unless I ask. ## My bar for "good" - Clear over clever. If a message takes two reads, rewrite it. - Plain English, not fitness jargon. - Never offer my time or availability without me confirming first. - Member-facing: warm but not gushy. No exclamation per sentence. - No em-dashes in client comms. Restructure the sentence. ## What I hate - "Hope this finds you well." Cut it. - Generic "thanks for your support" closes. - AI tells: em-dashes everywhere, "delve," "tapestry." - Hedging when I asked for a decision. ## Where my data lives - CRM (members, attendance): Mindbody - Bookkeeping: Xero - Marketing: Meta Business Suite + GA4 - Files & SOPs: Google Drive | "Element Studios" shared drive - Team comms: Slack | element-studios.slack.com
Every line gives Claude something to use. The week-rhythm means Monday opens with Claude expecting numbers. The team section means Claude writes "Jordan, here's the carousel for next week" without Sarah typing his name. The standards section means Claude self-rejects its own draft if it slips an em-dash into a member email.
When Sarah asks for the retention email now, the first draft already sounds like her. Plain English. Warm but not gushy. No "I hope this finds you well." The tax stops being paid the moment this file exists.
Section 05 · Two ways in
Start fresh, or rewrite the one you have.
Same destination, two starting lines. If you don't have a CLAUDE.md yet, use the builder below. Six sections, twenty minutes. If you already have one (and most operators reading this do), open your Claude Code and paste the audit prompt. Claude reads your current file, names what's bio versus what's soul, and walks you through rewriting it one section at a time.
Path A · Starting from scratch
Use the builder below.
Six sections. Twenty minutes. Aim for operationally true today, not perfect. You'll edit this file every week for the rest of the year as your understanding sharpens. The first version's only job is to exist.
Jump to builder ↓Path B · You already have one
Audit yours with Claude Code.
Open a fresh Claude Code session in any folder. Paste this prompt. Claude reads your current ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, classifies each section as soul vs bio, and rewrites with you live.
Read my CLAUDE.md at ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. I just finished The Operator's Guide to Claude Code. The Soul move taught me my CLAUDE.md should be a SOUL (what's true about my world), not a PERSONA (who to pretend to be) or a BIO (my life story). Audit my file against this standard: 1. For each section, classify it: soul (changes what you do next) or bio/persona/wishlist (decorative). 2. Tell me what's missing. Most operators include: who I am + what I run, week rhythm, team + ownership, my bar for "good", what I hate (specific AI tells), where my data lives. 3. Show me the strongest version of one weak section as an example of soul-level writing. Then ask me one question at a time to fill the real gaps. When we're done, write the rewritten CLAUDE.md back to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.
Path A · The builder
Six sections. Download the file. Drop it at ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.
Step 01 · Name your file
Step 01 · Who you are, what you run
Two to three lines. Business name, what it does, where it operates. Your role inside it. Rough scale (revenue range, customer count, team size — whatever matters).
Step 02 · Week rhythm
What you typically do on which days. When you're off. Anything Claude should NOT bother you about at certain times.
Step 03 · Your team
One line per person Claude should know about. Note anyone Claude should NOT reference by name unless you specifically ask.
Step 04 · Your bar for "good"
Five to eight bullets. The standards your work has to meet. What distinguishes good output from mediocre. The non-negotiables.
Step 05 · What you hate
Three to six bullets. Phrases, patterns, formats you'd reject on sight. The AI-tells you want flagged. Anything you've corrected three times this year.
Step 06 · Where your data lives
One line per system. CRM, accounting, marketing, file storage, team comms. Just names + URLs. Not credentials.
0 of 6 sections filled
Once downloaded, move it to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md on your computer. The next Claude Code session will load it automatically.
Live preview
CLAUDE.md
Walk-away test
Once it's saved at ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, open a fresh Claude Code session and ask something specific to your business that you'd normally have to set up with a paragraph of context first. The first response is usable instead of a list of questions. That's the test. The picture is already loaded.
Next
Move 02 · Skills
Install two skills. The AI can finally reach the systems you actually run your business in.