A Make It Ryne Playbook

Make ChatGPT Remember Who You Are, Permanently

Set up Custom Instructions, Memory, and Projects in one sitting so every chat opens already knowing your business, your standards, and how you want answers.

What you'll build

ChatGPT wipes its brain every time you close a chat. Come back tomorrow and you're a stranger again, re-explaining your company, your role, and how you want answers. This playbook fixes that in one sitting.

Total time: one focused sitting. You do this once and every future conversation pays you back.

Step 1

Open the buried setting

This screen has been sitting in your account the whole time. Here's the path:

  1. Open ChatGPT and tap your profile icon (bottom left on desktop, top of the menu on mobile)
  2. Tap Settings
  3. Go to Personalization
  4. Open Custom Instructions

You'll see two boxes. The top one asks what ChatGPT should know about you. The bottom one asks how you want it to respond. Each gives you around 1,500 characters. If yours are empty, that's why ChatGPT treats you like a stranger.

Step 2

Fill the top box: who you are

This is not a bio. It's a briefing. Write it like you're onboarding a sharp new hire who starts in five minutes. Cover four things: what you do, who you serve, what you're working toward, and what it should assume about you.

Copy and customize this templateI run [business type] in [location/market]. We serve [who your customers are] and make money by [how revenue actually works]. My role: [what you own and decide]. Assume I know my industry. Don't explain basics back to me. Current priorities: [top 2-3 things you're pushing on right now]. Constraints that matter: [budget reality, team size, tools you already use, anything it should never suggest around].

Real example of the shape you're going for: "I run a freight brokerage in Chicago. I make the decisions. Assume I know my industry." Short, factual, loaded with context. Swap in your world.

Keep it current, not complete. You don't need your life story. You need the facts that change what a good answer looks like. If a detail wouldn't change the answer, cut it.
Step 3

Fill the bottom box: how it talks to you

This box is where you kill the fluff. By default ChatGPT warms up, hedges, and pads. Tell it exactly what a useful answer looks like for you.

Copy and customize this templateSkip the warm-up and the recap. Get straight to the answer. Give me numbers, specifics, and next steps. When you estimate, say it's an estimate. Default to under 200 words unless I ask for depth. Use short paragraphs or tight bullet lists. If my question is vague, ask one clarifying question instead of guessing. If you don't know, say so. Never pad an answer to sound complete.

Adjust to taste. If you like longer breakdowns, raise the word cap. If you want it to challenge your thinking, add a line like "Push back when my plan has a hole in it." The point is that you decide the voice once instead of correcting it every chat.

Step 4

Save, then run the before-and-after test

Hit save, open a brand new chat, and ask a question you'd actually ask on a normal workday. Something like:

Test promptGive me three ways to get more out of my current customers this quarter. Be specific to my business.

Watch what comes back. It should answer in your world, using your industry, your constraints, and your format. No "As a large language model" energy, no generic essay. If the answer still feels off, go back and sharpen the boxes. Vague instructions get vague results. Specific instructions get an assistant that sounds like it's been on your payroll.

Step 5

Turn on Memory while you're in there

Custom Instructions are the foundation you write once. Memory is the layer that grows on its own. It lives on the same Personalization screen.

  1. Go back to Settings, then Personalization
  2. Find the Memory section and toggle it on

With Memory on, ChatGPT carries useful details between chats. Mention a client, a pricing change, or a preference once and it can reference it next week without you repeating yourself. Two commands worth knowing:

Sensitive info rule: keep client confidential data, financials you wouldn't email, and anything under NDA out of Memory and Custom Instructions. Context, not secrets.
Step 6

Spin up a Project for your big thing

Custom Instructions cover everything. Projects cover one thing deeply. If you've got a long-running initiative, a product launch, a hiring push, a content engine, give it its own home.

  1. In the sidebar, create a New Project and name it after the initiative
  2. Add project instructions that only apply inside it
  3. Upload the files that matter: briefs, pricing sheets, past examples
  4. Start every chat about that initiative inside the Project
Example project instructionsThis project is for [initiative name]. Goal: [the specific outcome and deadline]. Reference the uploaded files before answering. Flag anything in my plan that conflicts with them. Every answer ends with the single next action I should take.

Now your global setup handles the day-to-day and each Project holds the deep context for the work that actually moves the needle.

The checklist

Do this once today and every chat from here on starts warm. The tool didn't get smarter. You finally told it who it's working for.

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