The Personal Constitution
Five Questions That Change Everything
In my last edition, I promised to walk you through the full Personal Constitution process. Here we go.
Before we get into the questions, one thing to know:
Claude didn’t send me a form to fill in. It had a conversation with me. Each question came one at a time, based on what I’d just said. It felt less like an intake form and more like talking to a very patient, very perceptive friend who kept asking: “But what do you actually mean by that?”
That’s the experience you’re signing up for. And it’s worth it.
Q1. WHEN YOU’RE AT YOUR BEST
When you’re at your best, doing work that feels meaningful, energizing, and fully you, what are you actually doing? What does that work look like?
This question sounds simple. It isn’t.
Most of us describe our best work in terms of outcomes: I finished the project, I hit the deadline, they loved it. This question isn’t asking for that. It’s asking what the experience feels like from the inside.
My answer: I’m in deep focus, usually in the morning. I’m learning something new and figuring out how to teach it to someone else. I lose track of time. The work feels meaningful specifically because I know it will eventually be useful to someone else, not just to me.
That last part surprised me when I typed it. I didn’t know that was a requirement until I said it out loud.
Q2. YOUR CORE VALUES
If you had to name 3 to 5 core values that guide how you live and make decisions, not aspirational ones you wish you had, but the ones that are genuinely already true about you, what would they be?
The key phrase here is “genuinely already true about you.” Not the values you aspire to. The ones you already live by, whether you named them or not.
Mine came out fast: independence, curiosity, fairness, directness, and a deep need for beauty and aesthetics in everything I touch. Not preferences. Requirements.
My take: This is where the document starts to feel real. Because once you name your actual values, you stop describing who you want to be and start describing who you already are. Those are two very different documents.
Q3. HOW YOU HANDLE DIFFICULTY
When something goes wrong, a project derails, a relationship gets complicated, a plan falls apart, what is your instinctive first response? And then what do you do next?
This is the question nobody asks on a resume. And it might be the one that tells Claude the most about you.
My answer: I let it sink in first. I need to understand what happened before I can do anything about it. Once I have my bearings, I get to work: methodical, item by item. In relationships, I’m vocal. I’ll argue to be heard, but I always come back to talk it out.
My take: I described myself as quiet on the surface, very opinionated underneath. Claude reflected that back to me in the document and I thought: yes, exactly. That’s accurate in a way that most people who know me professionally would probably miss.
Q4. WHAT DRAINS YOU
What are the conditions, types of people, or situations that make you feel depleted, frustrated, or like you’re operating at your worst?
Every productivity tool ever built focuses on what you can do more of. This question focuses on what you should do less of, or protect yourself from entirely.
My answer: Too many meetings with no clear outcome. Back-to-back scheduling with no breathing room. Getting buried in Slack threads where updates pile up faster than anyone can keep track. High-maintenance people who make everything about themselves. Being pushed to produce when my energy is already gone.
My take: Once Claude had this, it stopped suggesting I batch tasks in back-to-back blocks. It learned that I need space between things. That one change alone made every conversation more useful.
Q5. WHERE YOU’RE GROWING
What is the one area of your life or work where you most want to grow in the next 1 to 2 years? And what does success look like to you in that area?
This is the forward-looking question. The one that connects the Personal Constitution to everything that comes next. It plants a flag.
My answer: I’m becoming a pioneer in how creative professionals can use AI as a genuine thought partner, not just a productivity shortcut. In two years, I want to look back at the foundation I built and feel the compounding effect of every workflow I created.
My take: Writing that felt bold. It also felt like the truest thing I’d said in the whole conversation.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Once you’ve answered all five questions, Claude builds the document for you. It synthesizes everything you said into a structured, readable profile of who you actually are.
Then you read it back.
That moment, reading a document that reflects your own words back to you in a way you never would have organized yourself, is when this stops feeling like an AI exercise and starts feeling like something else entirely.
YOUR SMALL MOVE THIS WEEK
Start with Question 1 only. Open your AI tool of choice and type:
“I want to start building my Personal Constitution. Begin with this question and wait for my answer before moving on: When I’m at my best — doing work that feels meaningful, energizing, and fully me — what am I actually doing? What does that work look like?”
Answer honestly. Don’t overthink it. Don’t polish it.
Then keep going if you want. Or save the rest for next time.
Until next week —
Nela
Next up: Edition 05 — The Goals Document. What you actually want, written down for the first time.