The AI Consultancy · Paul Cowen

Pip Decks for Brain Health

A curated guide to which decks best support Tracey's four pillars — Fuel, Focus, Protect and Train

Pip Decks are physical and digital card-based toolkits, each containing 50–60 structured exercises for workshops, strategy, creativity and productivity. The library you have access to spans 11 decks covering facilitation, storytelling, innovation, productivity, team dynamics, branding and more.

Below is a breakdown of which decks are most relevant to your four brain health themes, which specific cards stand out, and why — so you can pick what to bring into your client work, events or content.

Fuel — energy & nutrition inputs
Focus — attention & cognitive performance
Protect — resilience & stress defence
Train — habits, learning & brain development

The Decks — Ranked by Relevance

From most to least applicable. The top four are the ones worth diving into first.

⭐⭐⭐ Highest Relevance
Productivity Tactics
Personal performance & energy management

This deck maps almost perfectly onto all four of Tracey's themes. It deals directly with energy cycles, attention, burnout prevention and habit building — the everyday lived experience of brain health. Probably the most immediately usable deck for client workshops.

Fuel Focus Protect Train
Standout Cards
Energy Audit — maps when and how energy rises/falls. Direct Fuel & Focus application.
Burnout Buster — identifies depletion signals early. Strong Protect tool.
Focus Fortress — designing conditions for deep cognitive work. Focus pillar.
Power Hours — aligning demanding work to peak brain states. Fuel + Focus.
Seinfeld System — habit chain tracking. Perfect Train tool.
Ritual Recalibration — reviewing and resetting routines. Train + Protect.
Ikigai — purpose-finding exercise. Underpins motivation for all four themes.
Mindful Mojo — mindfulness as a performance tool. Protect + Focus.
Deep Work Day — structuring a day around cognitive performance. Focus.
⭐⭐⭐ Highest Relevance
Workshop Tactics
Structured facilitation & group exercises

The workhorse deck for running sessions. Rather than being theme-specific, this gives Tracey the facilitation architecture to structure any of her four-pillar workshops — from problem framing through ideation to action planning. The GROW card alone is worth the price.

Focus Train Protect
Standout Cards
G R O W — Goal / Reality / Options / Will. Ideal for 1-to-1 brain health coaching conversations.
Five Whys — root cause analysis for why a client can't maintain a habit or focus.
Journey Map — charting a client's brain health journey over time. Train.
Hopes and Fears — opening exercise to surface client beliefs about brain health.
How Might We — reframing problems into possibilities. Great for workshops.
Premortem — imagining failure to protect against it. Strong Protect exercise.
OKRs — setting measurable brain health outcomes. Focus + Train.
⭐⭐ Strong Relevance
Storyteller Tactics
Narrative frameworks for communication & motivation

Two uses here: (1) helping Tracey's clients tell their own transformation story, which is powerful for Train and motivation; (2) helping Tracey communicate her four themes more compellingly in presentations, content and sales conversations.

Train Protect
Standout Cards
Man in a Hole — the universal "before & after" arc. Maps directly to client transformation journeys.
Hero & Guide — positioning Tracey as the guide, not the hero. Client becomes the protagonist.
Stories that Motivate — frameworks for getting clients to stay the course. Train.
Drive Stories — uncovering the real motivation behind a client's interest in brain health.
Emotional Dashboard — checking emotional state as part of a session opening. Protect.
Thoughtful Failures — turning setbacks into learning. Strong Train exercise.
⭐⭐ Strong Relevance
Team Tactics
Group wellbeing, trust & sustainable performance

If Tracey works with organisations or teams (rather than just individuals), this deck is gold. It covers psychological safety, health monitoring, ritual design and sustainable performance — all of which map to Protect and Train in a team context.

Protect Train Focus
Standout Cards
Health Monitor — a structured team wellbeing check-in. Direct Protect tool.
Build Psychological Safety — creating the environment where learning thrives. Train + Protect.
Ritual Reset — redesigning daily/weekly routines for sustainable performance. Train.
Maker Time — protecting uninterrupted thinking time. Focus + Protect.
Circle of Influence — identifying what's within vs outside your control. Strong Protect exercise.
My User Manual — understanding individual needs for peak performance. Focus.
⭐ Moderate Relevance
Strategy Tactics
Decision-making & long-term planning frameworks

More useful for Tracey's business strategy than direct client work. However, a handful of cards translate well — especially for helping clients build a personalised long-term brain health plan rather than just reacting to the immediate problem.

Train Protect
Standout Cards
Fast-Forward Futures — imagining the ideal brain health outcome in 3–5 years. Train.
Challenge Statement — framing the core brain health challenge clearly before starting a programme.
Eat An Elephant — breaking a long-term goal into manageable steps. Train.
Tripwires — setting early-warning signals for when protective habits are slipping. Protect.
Decision Diary — logging decisions to track cognitive performance over time. Focus.
⭐ Moderate Relevance
Idea Tactics
Creative thinking & ideation techniques

Useful for creative facilitation and for exercises that bridge the mind-body connection — which has obvious resonance with brain health. Also great if Tracey runs group sessions where generating ideas is part of the programme.

Train Fuel
Standout Cards
Mind-Body Dissonance — directly addresses the brain-body connection. Fuel + Train.
Zen Spiral — meditative ideation exercise. Protect + Focus.
Human Truths — surfacing deep motivations behind behaviours. Train.
Mood Check-in — simple emotional state opener for any session. Protect.
Thunks — provocative questions that open up new ways of thinking. Train.
◎ Niche Use
Retro Pack
Reflection & retrospective exercises

Retrospectives — structured reflection on what's working and what isn't — are a powerful habit-building tool. Use this at the end of a programme or workshop block to help clients consolidate learning and plan the next cycle.

Train Protect
Standout Cards
Starfish — what to start, stop, keep, more of, less of. Classic habit review.
What. So What. Now What. — three-step reflection framework. Train.
Rose, Thorn, Bud — positives, challenges and emerging opportunities. Balanced review tool.
◎ Brand Use Only
Archetype Pack
12 brand personality archetypes

Not directly useful for client brain health work, but highly relevant if Tracey is building or refining her brand. Each of the 12 archetypes (Caregiver, Sage, Magician, etc.) comes with a full recipe for applying it to positioning, language and visual identity.

Brand
Standout Cards
The Caregiver — empathy, nurturing, protecting others from harm. Likely a strong fit for Tracey.
The Sage — expertise-led, truth-seeking, evidence-based. Also a strong fit for brain health.
The Magician — transformation and breakthrough. Works if Tracey's positioning is around possibility.
◎ Niche Use
Innovation Tactics
Product & service innovation methodologies

Primarily designed for product teams and startups. Some cards are transferable — especially for helping Tracey design or iterate her programme offering — but not a frontline tool for client-facing brain health work.

Programme Design
Standout Cards
Pain X-Ray — deeply mapping client pain points. Useful for programme design.
10-Star Experience — imagining the ideal client experience. Design tool.
Four Forces — understanding push/pull factors in behaviour change. Train.
◎ Business Use
Brand Tactics
Brand strategy & positioning

50+ cards focused purely on brand strategy — positioning, differentiation, messaging, visual identity. Very strong if Tracey is developing or sharpening her brand, but not relevant to delivering client sessions around brain health.

Brand
Standout Cards
Find The Fear — what's your audience really afraid of? Audience insight tool.
Only Is Better Than Best — carving out a unique position. Differentiation.
The Real Product — what are people actually buying emotionally? Useful insight.
○ Not Relevant
Laws of UX
User experience design principles

A collection of 100+ UX and cognitive psychology laws (Hick's Law, Fitts's Law, Gestalt principles etc). Fascinating reference material, but designed for digital product designers. No meaningful application to Tracey's brain health work unless she's building a digital product.

Not applicable

By Theme — Quick Reference

The best card picks from across the whole library, mapped to each of Tracey's four pillars.

🔥 Fuel

Energy inputs, nutrition and the physical conditions for brain performance

Productivity TacticsEnergy Audit — maps energy highs and lows across the day
Productivity TacticsPower Hours — aligning work demands to peak brain states
Productivity TacticsIkigai — the fuel of purpose and meaning
Idea TacticsMind-Body Dissonance — connecting body signals to brain output

🎯 Focus

Attention, concentration and sustained cognitive performance

Productivity TacticsFocus Fortress — designing conditions for deep work
Productivity TacticsDeep Work Day — a full-day structure for cognitive output
Productivity TacticsEisenhower Matrix — prioritising by importance not urgency
Productivity TacticsTime Blocking — protecting time for focused brain work
Team TacticsMaker Time — protecting uninterrupted thinking blocks
Team TacticsMy User Manual — understanding individual focus needs
Workshop TacticsG R O W — setting a focused goal and pathway
Strategy TacticsDecision Diary — tracking cognitive load and decisions over time

🛡️ Protect

Stress resilience, cognitive protection and sustainable performance

Productivity TacticsBurnout Buster — identifying depletion before it hits
Productivity TacticsMindful Mojo — mindfulness as performance protection
Productivity TacticsOpen Loops — clearing mental load to protect cognitive capacity
Team TacticsHealth Monitor — structured wellbeing check-in
Team TacticsBuild Psychological Safety — creating a safe environment to fail and learn
Team TacticsCircle of Influence — focusing only on what you can control
Workshop TacticsPremortem — imagining failure to design against it
Strategy TacticsTripwires — early warning signals for habit slippage

🧠 Train

Habit formation, cognitive development and sustained learning

Productivity TacticsSeinfeld System — daily habit chain tracking
Productivity TacticsRitual Recalibration — reviewing and resetting routines
Productivity TacticsTiny Rewards — reinforcing new behaviours
Productivity TacticsProgress Check — measuring movement against goals
Storyteller TacticsMan in a Hole — mapping the before/after transformation arc
Storyteller TacticsThoughtful Failures — turning setbacks into brain training data
Workshop TacticsJourney Map — charting the full brain health learning journey
Workshop TacticsFive Whys — diagnosing root causes of habit failure
Team TacticsRitual Reset — rebuilding daily routines for performance
Retro PackStarfish — periodic habit review across all four pillars
Strategy TacticsEat An Elephant — breaking the long-term train goal into steps

Running It Live — A 60-Minute No-Tech Session

No laptop needed. Just print the session plan (or keep it on your phone), bring some post-its and pens, and you have a fully structured interactive hour across all four themes. Each block is 12–15 minutes — one theme, one exercise, one clear outcome.

Pairs work is the person next to them. No need for fancy grouping. Keep the energy up by giving people a firm time call at the start of each exercise.

📌 Post-its (two colours ideally)
🖊️ Pens for everyone
📋 This session plan printed or on phone
⏱️ Timer visible to the room
🧠 No tech required
0–5 min
Open
Energy check-in
5–18 min
🔥 Fuel
Energy Audit — pairs
18–31 min
🎯 Focus
Circle of Control — solo + share
31–44 min
🛡️ Protect
Premortem — pairs
44–57 min
🧠 Train
Starfish — group post-its
57–60 min
Close
One thing to do tomorrow
0 – 5 min
Opening Check-In
Idea Tactics — Mood Check-in (adapted)
Solo → whole room
How to run it
  1. Hand everyone a post-it and pen as they arrive.
  2. Ask: "On a scale of 1–10, what's your brain energy right now? Write the number and one word that describes it."
  3. Ask two or three people to call theirs out. Don't go round the whole room — just spark the conversation.
  4. Briefly explain the four themes they'll explore today.
1 post-it per person Pen
Why it works
Gets people out of their heads immediately and talking about brain state — which is exactly what the session is about. Sets a personal baseline they can revisit at the close. Low stakes, so even quieter attendees can engage.
5 – 18 min
🔥 Fuel — Energy Audit
Productivity Tactics
Pairs
How to run it
  1. Ask everyone to draw a quick timeline of their typical day across a post-it — just rough blocks: morning / mid-morning / lunch / afternoon / evening.
  2. Mark with a high, medium or low on each block for energy. Two minutes, solo.
  3. Turn to the person next to them. Spend 4 minutes each sharing: "When am I sharpest? When do I crash? What am I eating or not eating around those times?"
  4. Bring it back. Ask: who found a pattern they hadn't noticed before? Take 2–3 hands.
1 post-it per person Pen
Why it works
Most people have never drawn their own energy curve. The act of mapping it — even crudely — creates an instant "aha". Pairs makes it safe to share without feeling put on the spot. The Fuel theme lands because they've just experienced it in their own data, not been lectured at.
💡 Facilitator tip: draw your own example on a flipchart or whiteboard before they start — it gives them permission to keep it messy and quick.
18 – 31 min
🎯 Focus — Circle of Influence
Team Tactics
Solo → pairs → share
How to run it
  1. Ask everyone to draw two concentric circles on a fresh post-it or piece of paper. Label the inner circle "I control" and the outer ring "I can't control."
  2. Give them 3 minutes to write the things that drain their focus — one thing per note if you have two post-it colours, or just list them inside/outside the circles.
  3. Pairs: "What's one thing in your outer ring that you keep spending brain energy on — and what would it feel like to let it go?" 3 minutes each.
  4. Bring back: one or two examples from the room. Then land the message — protecting focus starts with stopping, not adding.
Paper or post-its Two colours of post-it ideal Pen
Why it works
The physical act of sorting concerns into two circles is simple and satisfying — and the conversation it opens up is often surprisingly deep. Focus isn't just about doing more; it's about ruthlessly protecting attention. This exercise makes that visceral rather than theoretical.
💡 Facilitator tip: the outer circle items often generate the most energy in the debrief. Let people vent briefly — it validates the exercise.
31 – 44 min
🛡️ Protect — Premortem
Workshop Tactics
Pairs
How to run it
  1. Set up: "Imagine it's six months from today. You had every intention of protecting your brain health — but it completely fell apart. What happened?"
  2. Give everyone 2 minutes to write their top 3 reasons it went wrong on post-its, one reason per note.
  3. Pairs: share your list and talk about which one is most likely to be real. 3 minutes each.
  4. Optional: if there's a wall or table, stick all the post-its up and cluster them — you'll almost always see 3–4 common themes emerge in under a minute. Call them out.
3 post-its per person Pen Wall space (optional)
Why it works
A premortem is counterintuitive — imagining failure before you start — but neuroscience backs it: we're better at identifying risks when we're in "failure mode" than when we're optimistic. For Protect, it's powerful because it makes the threats to brain health feel personal and specific, not abstract. The wall cluster at the end creates a shared "we're all dealing with the same stuff" moment.
💡 Facilitator tip: start with a smile — "I'm going to ask you to imagine you failed" gets a laugh and drops defences before a surprisingly honest exercise.
44 – 57 min
🧠 Train — Starfish
Retro Pack
Solo post-its → whole room
How to run it
  1. Draw (or describe) five zones: Start / Stop / Keep / More of / Less of — for brain training habits specifically.
  2. Give everyone 3 minutes to write one post-it per zone, thinking only about habits that affect brain health — sleep, movement, learning, stress management, nutrition.
  3. No need to collect them — ask people to share one "Stop" and one "Start" with the room. Go round quickly — 20 seconds each.
  4. Point out patterns as they emerge ("I'm hearing a lot about phones before bed in the Stop pile...").
5 post-its per person Pen
Why it works
Starfish is a classic because the five zones cover all directions — it's not just a to-do list. For Train, it gives people a concrete personal action set rather than a vague intention to "do better." The quick round-robin share at the end creates momentum and accountability — people are more likely to follow through on something they've said out loud in a room.
💡 Facilitator tip: if time is tight, just do Start and Stop. Those two zones give you most of the value and keep energy high.
57 – 60 min
One Thing Tomorrow
Adapted close — no specific card needed
Solo → call out
How to run it
  1. Ask everyone to write one specific action on their final post-it: "What is the ONE thing you'll do differently tomorrow for your brain health?"
  2. Give 60 seconds to write it.
  3. Ask 4–5 people to call theirs out. Keep the energy positive — no critique, just acknowledgement.
  4. Option: ask people to send it to themselves as a message or photo the post-it on their phone as a reminder.
1 post-it per person Pen
Why it works
Sessions live or die on whether people leave with something specific to do. "One thing tomorrow" forces a concrete commitment rather than a good feeling that evaporates. Saying it out loud — or photographing it — dramatically increases follow-through. Three minutes. Zero tech. Maximum impact.