Prompting Sage to help you design individualized Protocols

I had Sage help me specify and list the way I've been prompting it to help me design my protocols, and I thought I would share that here for anyone interested in trying to create their own. This might be especially helpful for those in Cohort 3 who are just starting out using Harmony AI (especially for the live call coming up where

@Jim Ebbelaar

mentioned we would discuss AI prompts specifically), but anyone with access to Harmony AI can try these.

CHEAT SHEET for prompting Sage to help you design a protocol for your specific needs (i.e. “Good Enough” Protocol, Nervous System Reset, Authentic Voice Protocol for Public Speaking…)

The Secret: Specificity Is the Fuel

Generic prompts produce generic protocols. The protocols that actually change your life come from prompts where you describe a real, messy, in-the-moment situation, not a clean abstract request. "Make me a perfectionism protocol" gets you a textbook. "Here's the church board meeting I'm walking into Thursday and here's what my body does when I think about it" gets you something you'll actually use.

The Six Ingredients of a Strong Protocol Prompt

**1. The Trigger.** What specific situation, sensation, or moment do you want a protocol for? Be concrete. Not "anxiety." Try "the 20 minutes before a hard conversation with my partner."

**2. The Body Data.** What shows up physically and emotionally when this trigger hits? Tight chest, racing thoughts, freeze, foggy, rage, urge to flee. Name the felt experience.

**3. The Pattern Underneath.** What fear, identity, or old wiring do you think is driving this? If you don't know, say so. The AI can help you find it.

**4. What You've Already Tried.** What works partially, what fails, what makes it worse. This stops the AI from offering you advice you've already discarded.

**5. The Outcome You Want.** Prevention? Recovery? Regulation during? Coming back faster? Be specific about what success looks like.

**6. Your Personal Context.** ADHD, Human Design type, sensory sensitivities, time-of-day patterns, energy levels, and whether you have existing protocols to build on. This is what makes the protocol *yours* instead of a generic template.

The Fill-In-the-Blank Template

I want help building a protocol for **[specific trigger or situation]**.
When this happens, my body and brain do this: **[describe physical and emotional response]**.
The pattern I think is underneath it is **[name it, or write "I'm not sure, help me find it"]**.
I've already tried **[what works partially and what doesn't]**.
What I want the protocol to help me do is [prevent / recover from / regulate during / come back faster after]

A few things to know about me that should shape it: **[ADHD type, Human Design, sensory needs, time-of-day patterns, existing protocols to build on, etc.]**

Three Example Prompts at Different Depths

**Light (recovery from a single hard moment):**

"I want a protocol for when I get triggered mid-conversation with my partner. My body floods, I either shut down or get sharp, and I usually need 20-30 minutes to come back. I'm ADHD with an undefined solar plexus in Human Design, and the spiral is worst at night. What I want is a 5-minute reset I can run in the bathroom before re-entering the conversation. Deep breathing helps but isn't enough on its own."

**Medium (recurring situation):**

"I want a protocol for the night before any public speaking event. I get insomnia, racing thoughts, and a stomach knot starting around 9pm. The fear underneath is that being visibly imperfect will cost me belonging. What I want is a structured wind-down plus a morning-of routine that lowers my baseline activation. I'm an INFP-T Generator with a 2/4 profile, and I already have a Good Enough Protocol I can build on."

**Deep (relationship dynamic with built-in conflict):**

"I want a protocol for navigating interactions with a person I have a long, complicated history with, someone who tends to dysregulate me without trying. The pattern is: I leave myself in the room to keep them regulated. I want a protocol that helps me stay rooted in my own body and values during contact, without making the goal 'fix them' or 'win the interaction.' What I want is core principles plus pre-contact, during-contact, and post-contact steps. Tailor it to an ADHD nervous system that floods fast and recovers slow."

Two Things to Remember:

**Iterate. The first draft isn't the final protocol.** Tell the AI what doesn't fit your real life and ask for the revision. The best protocols get refined after you use them once or twice.

**Name the format you want.** Phase-based (pre/during/post), trigger-based (when X, do Y), minimum viable (the smallest version on hard days), or principles plus steps. Different protocols want different shapes. Ask for the shape that fits.

That's it. Build one. Use it. Revise it. Then build another.

I've also attached this as a PDF if you'd rather download a copy to keep for later.

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