Approximate Plan for Independent Work

Depending on the chosen approach — using ready-made protocols or creating them independently — the work plan may look different. Here it makes sense to separately consider the option of fully independent work.

The first step is processing the past using a list. This refers at least to key episodes: situations involving humiliation, strong emotional experiences, resentment, trauma, and other events that have left a noticeable mark. Minor and secondary things can be postponed, but the basic, most charged material should preferably be discharged first. Technically, this is done as described in the corresponding chapter.

Next, it is worth compiling a list of your own qualities that you do not like. These can be character traits, habitual reactions, habits, and behavioral patterns. For example: “intolerance toward alcoholics,” “sarcasm,” “smartphone dependency,” “need for attention,” “short temper,” “procrastination,” and so on. For each such item, you can either write a separate protocol for automatic processing or describe all aspects of the problem in as much detail as possible and load this material into the auto-processor. In practice, the most effective approach is to combine both. After that, move on to the next item on the list and continue working in the same way.

Gradually, this process clears out mental space. Over time, topics and problems begin to surface that were previously unnoticed or did not seem significant. These should also be recorded and processed using the same scheme. Large clusters of beliefs deserve special attention — it makes sense to work on them deliberately and separately. Examples of such clusters include: “all beliefs about money,” “all ideas about what a man or a woman should be,” “the meaning of life and everything related to it.” Such topics usually contain hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual constructs. All of this is mental material that is useful to clear out. Any identified beliefs should be sent for processing without exception. The reasons why this is safe and does not destroy functional skills have already been discussed earlier.

As the work progresses, it becomes increasingly clear how beliefs and internal constructs shape the subjective picture of reality and influence events. This realization is usually quite tangible and motivating. However, at this stage it is important not to get stuck observing the effects and to continue working further. Over time, resentment may arise — toward circumstances, toward “reality,” toward one’s own subconscious — because changes seem to happen too slowly or not in the expected way. All such reactions, as well as ideas about “how things should be,” are also subject to processing. Disbelief and doubt require separate and regular attention: as already mentioned, they are among the most widespread and persistent sources of internal noise, and working with them can take months.

Special attention should be paid to ideas about your own capabilities and limitations, as well as to any knowledge, beliefs, and theories about the world and the “structure of reality.” The fewer rigid conceptual constructions there are in the mind, the higher the adaptability and flexibility of behavior. There is nothing to be afraid of here: practical skills — such as driving a car or working with a computer — will not disappear. But getting rid of excessive and rigid ideas about what is “possible” and what is “impossible in principle” is usually beneficial.

Material for processing appears constantly in the course of work. Therefore, it is important not to miss it. It makes sense to always have a way to quickly capture it — notes on a smartphone or a voice recorder. This allows you not to lose emerging thoughts, reactions, and states, and then calmly send them into further processing.