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As I mentioned in my last post, recently I found myself playing old mental “tapes” over and over as opposed to where my mind had been lately. Monitoring my internal state helped with this, but something that I did as a reflex bears scrutiny. After I determined that I was not where I wanted to be, I shut down the old tapes and brought the ones that I had been using recently, back up. When that happened, I was in a much better position to move forward. Of course the “tapes” were just a small part of something bigger. When you have a recurring thought, or pattern, quite often you have an entire thought process running. Being something of a geek, I call these mental processes “Procedurals”, as they shape what your procedure is in a given moment. If you have a “procedural” that veggies are good for you and tasty when prepared right, you will have greater tendency to select salads. Just as when you have a procedural running that says that people are out to get you, you will be incapable of placing yourself in their hands. As always, they can be used for you or against you. Many people try to use them for improving their lives, but I thought I would add a bit of a twist to how people think of them.
Procedurals 101
Merely being conscious of your mental state over time will give you a measure of what procedurals you have running. That’s when the fun begins. If you see yourself running a procedural that doesn’t serve you well, you are then aware of it and can turn it off whenever you catch it on. Over time this is extremely effective. As for implementing new ones, that’s what the whole affirmation concept is all about. Affirmations are, amongst other things, a tool for putting a procedural in place. After the procedural is in place, it’s just a matter of checking to make sure that it is still running. If it isn’t, then you would either affirm until it is running, or simply ask your inner mind to start it up again.
Which brings me to the system requirements for this tech to work:
- Monitoring your internal state and ideally have been for a while
- A method of communicating with your inner mind. The various forms of meditation are suggested.
- Increasing levels of clarity and courage will help, but are not necessary to start.
The third point brings up something which I’ll touch on later: You don’t need to be some awesome accomplished person to use this or any of these techs. You can always start with what you have no matter where you are. As long as you draw breath, you will always have something to work on.
Now that we’ve laid out the groundwork, let’s see how we can put it to use. Say for example that you are looking to clean up your mental space. This tech is perfect for that purpose. Additionally, you can set up new beliefs that will empower you going forward.
If you’re especially daring, you can try setting up sets of procedurals. By deciding what elements and what procedurals you are adopting, you can bring greater leverage to bear on what you are trying to do. You could, for example, implement the Jedi Code. I’m going to use the classical version here:
- Emotion, yet peace
- Ignorance, yet knowledge
- Passion, yet serenity
- Chaos, yet harmony
- Death, yet the Force
Or perhaps if you are looking for something from not so long ago and not so far away, how about the seven virtues of the Bushido code:
- Rectitude (Right Action)
- Courage and Valor
- Benevolence and Compassion
- Courtesy and Respect
- Honesty
- Honor and Success
- Loyalty and Dedication
Or perhaps the five principles of Reiki:
- Just for today, do not anger
- Just for today, do not worry
- Honor your parents, teachers, and elders
- Earn your living honestly
- Show gratitude to everything
These sets are just a sample of the ones you could try. Feel free to choose or even come up with your own. As you practice, it will get easier and more effective. Once you get the hang of keeping track of what is in your inner world, you can rearrange it the way you want. Once you have your procedurals in place to get you where you want to go, you will be ideally situated to make it happen.
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