01Why this is the most important lesson.
Secret from everyone who's built one of these: the quality of a digital twin is decided before you touch any AI tool. It's decided by how well you describe yourself.
Onboarding a human assistant again: "just… handle my emails?" gets guesses. A page saying "here's how I open emails, here's how I close them, here are three real examples, never promise a delivery date without checking with me" gets near-perfect work in week one.
02Worksheet A — Your voice.
AI learns your writing style from examples, not adjectives. "Casually but professionally" means nothing; three real emails mean everything.
Do this now:
- Open your sent mail (or texts, or posts).
- Find 3–5 messages you're proud of.
- Copy them under the heading "VOICE SAMPLES." Swap real names for "Client A" if needed.
- How do I greet people? ("Hi Marta —", "Hey!", "Dear Dr. Chen")
- How do I sign off?
- Emoji, exclamation points, humor? How much?
- Short and punchy or warm and detailed?
- Words I use constantly? Words I'd never use?
03Worksheet B — Your preferences.
- › Household: who's in it, ages, dietary needs
- › Weekly rhythm: busy nights, shopping day, rest day
- › Budget comfort zones (meals, gifts, travel)
- › Travel style, food loves/hates, weekend flavor
- › Key dates: birthdays, anniversaries, school terms
- › What you do, for whom, in one paragraph
- › Services / products and price ranges
- › Top 5 clients or client types + formality level
- › Calendar rules ("no meetings before 10")
- › Formats you always use for proposals, reports, follow-ups
04Worksheet C — Your rules.
Rules are the difference between a twin you trust and one you babysit.
Always-rules
- "Always show me drafts before anything is final" — the golden rule
- "Always ask a clarifying question if my request is vague"
- "Always use metric / my time zone / spell my name Alyona"
Never-rules
- "Never commit me to a meeting, deadline, or purchase"
- "Never share personal details in drafts for outsiders"
- "Never make up facts — say 'I don't know' and ask me"
- Business: "Never quote a discount," "Never bad-mouth a competitor"
Write at least three of each. Stuck? Ask: "What would a well-meaning intern get wrong in week one?"
05Worksheet D — Your recurring tasks.
List the 3–5 tasks from your Lesson 1 homework and write a "here's how I do it" mini-recipe:
TASK: Weekly client status update WHEN: Every Friday morning INPUT: My messy bullet notes from the week OUTPUT: Email with three sections — Done, In Progress, Needs Your Input TONE: Confident, brief, no fluff EXAMPLE: (paste one real past status update here)
06What to leave OUT.
Your twin needs to know about your life, not hold the keys to it. Keep these out:
- Passwords, PINs, security answers
- Full financial details (card numbers, account numbers)
- Government ID numbers
- Other people's private information
- Anything under NDA or employer confidentiality
Test: "Would I be comfortable if this document were accidentally emailed to a stranger?"
- Complete all four worksheets — real samples for Voice.
- Run it through the stranger test; remove anything that fails.
- Save it as one document titled "My Twin — Source Material."
- ›Twin quality is decided by your self-description — this lesson is the product.
- ›Four worksheets: Voice, Preferences, Rules, Tasks.
- ›Privacy line: no passwords, no numbers, no other people's secrets.
- ›Stuck? Have the AI interview you, then summarize.