# The Bearing File

## What it does
One file that carries who you are, what you're building, and how you decide - so your AI stops filling those gaps with statistical defaults. This is the single biggest payoff on the whole ladder: it upgrades every future conversation at once.

## Why it works
Your AI never leaves a blank space blank. Anything you haven't told it, it fills with the average of everyone who ever asked something similar - and the average is right for no one in particular. The fix is not a cleverer prompt. It is context that is actually yours, written once, loaded everywhere.

## How to write it
Answer in plain sentences. Real past situations beat self-descriptions: "the last decision I put off was..." tells the machine more than "I value decisiveness." The guided version of this worksheet lives at wildx.ai/setup.

## The template

Save as `CLAUDE.md` for a coding agent, or paste the finished sections into ChatGPT memory / a Claude Project's instructions.

```
# Bearing File

## Who I am
[One paragraph. The situation you're actually in - not your bio, your position.]

## What I'm building
[The real goal this season, not the task list.]

## What I value when two goods conflict
[The tradeoffs you actually face, and which way you lean. "Speed vs. certainty:
I'd rather ship and correct." "Family vs. work when they collide: family, and
don't make me say it twice."]

## What this season is about
[2-3 things that matter now. What you're deliberately not doing.]

## How to work with me
- Challenge me. Don't agree by default.
- Tell me what you're inferring versus what you know.
- Ask before you assume; don't fill gaps with a guess.
- Optimize for what's actually right, not for what looks fast.
- When I correct you, the correction is permanent. Update this file.
```

## How to verify it worked
Ask your AI for advice on something you'd actually ask a friend who knows you. If the answer could have been written for anyone, the file isn't loaded or isn't specific enough. If it references your actual situation and pushes back where you'd expect a friend to push back, it's working.

## Keep it current
Your context drifts like the tools do. Reread this file quarterly; a stale Bearing File is worse than none, because the machine trusts it.

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From the WILD×AI Library · wildx.ai/setup · Free to use, share, and adapt with attribution.