You’re 100% correct, and I would like to really, really emphasize the journaling part, even over and above taking action.
Journaling is the only way for me to make significant progress and when I look at periods of rapid and significant growth, and compare them to periods of intense recon and seeming stagnation and intense confusion, the difference is ALWAYS the amount of dedicated journaling I’m doing, not so much the subliminal I’m running.
And no, I’m not talking about public journaling, I’m talking about hours spent writing in private journals either digital or handheld where you fearlessly just allow it all to come out. Public journals are great, but you will never fully allow yourself to expose the deepest and darkest parts of yourself in a public journal, you just won’t, and tbh, you shouldn’t because I don’t wanna see it and neither does anybody else, however, those deep dark parts are what probably need to come out for you to grow.
You’re not gonna post here on the Q/A and be like: “hey, I’m feeling a strong urge to cut my mother’s break-line and start a fire at an orphanage because of some shit my aunt Irene said to me when I was 7, is this recon or am I just HIM??? Plz help
.”
Yeah, not gonna come out in a public place…I hope. However, those insane thoughts are normal, and natural, and you need to confront them in private because confronting them only helps you and nobody else.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a lil neuro-spicy, but I literally cannot just deal with recon, I absolutely must externalize it or else I act like someone who’s a little extra neuro-spicy. Journaling is the only safe way that I can externalize the inner conflict. Talking to people just makes me likely to say a bunch of insane shit that…
- They won’t even understand
- That I don’t even understand or else I wouldn’t be talking about it
- Might cause damage to my relationships
When I journal, I can see what my mind is doing, and I can clear the recon just by getting the insanity out of my head and onto paper, and this almost always inspires the actions I take. This is why I say that journaling is actually “more important” than taking action, only because through journaling, the actions to take will probably show up on the page and become obvious. It’s pretty much impossible to write about a problem every day for weeks on end without either:
a. letting it go and moving on
or
b. figuring out some kind of a solution
For me, it’s really as simple as this:
- Listen
- Journal based on what comes up from listening
- Take action
- Journal about the actions taken
- Repeat steps 1-4.
I’ve tried pretty much everything else that you can imagine to “maximize” or “increase” results. I’ve used pretty much every spiritual Substance known to man at this point (that isn’t unreasonably dangerous), meditation, breathwork, magical techniques, binaural beats, visualization, cold exposure, sleep deprivation, extreme exercise, fasting, you name it, I’ve probably done it.
The only techniques that have consistently, repeatedly, and accurately yielded sustainable and positive results are a relaxed listening schedule, journaling, and taking action. That’s it, nothing else, and I do mean nothing at all, has had any predictably positive result on my journey besides journaling and taking action.
The only helpful things are meditation, exercise, and eating healthy.
Go figure, the simple shit that we all already know we are supposed to be doing, yeah, that’s the only shit that actually works in a sustainable and predictable way.
Listen, Journal, Take Action, Meditate, Eat Healthy, Exercise.
How boring, what a shame that those 6 are literally the only things that will work for everyone, every time, without fail, forever, and in every situation. The rest is very exciting and sexy, but a lot of it is just a distraction from the real bedrock that actually works.