I wrote a couple up in my blog with examples and video to illustrate. Since the original post mentioned inner monologue, copying just the action from http://joshuaspodek.com/effective-self-awareness-exercise
1. Carry a notebook or a few sheets of paper for a week or two
2. A few times each day write your exact thoughts — not the general
3. Note the following
- What prompts each instance
- What emotions relate to it
- How the instances relate to each other, what categories they fit in
Each time you write will probably take a few minutes. The whole exercise will take about an hour over a week or two.
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Another example is how to make a meaningful connection: http://joshuaspodek.com/meaningful-connection
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Each exercise is valuable on its own, but their greatest value comes in building to others, as scales lead to playing musical pieces and ground strokes lead to playing tennis. Practice and rehearsal in any active, social, experiential, emotional, performance-based field leads to self-awareness, self-expression, mastery, and freedom.
I find this interesting to read because I don't know what such a loop feels like - "blank" is the most common content of my "mental chatter" and "blank" is the emotion I feel most often - only rarely anything else, mostly just when provoked by emotional music, or during times of high stress.
Edit: I guess the "mental chatter" part is simply because I don't think in words, only impressions or concepts, maybe that is why I don't know this sensation...
It amazes me that our educational system at every level teaches so much information, knowledge, and analytical skill but virtually ignores teaching social and emotional skills, I guess because we can't test them in a way to stratify learners.
Most of my practice is leading clients and students through these exercises, which I call the basics or fundamentals of leadership, initiative, and entrepreneurship. In every other performance-based field we don't lecture and test but teach the basics and perform -- sports, acting, singing, musical instruments, the military (basic training).
A few exercises make master the following a matter of rehearsal and practice, not necessarily easy or fast, but straightforward and effective:
> The hardest of hard things to deal with for all these people (including myself, when I work with my own coach), no matter the level of success, is the perpetual, ever-recurring loop of mental chatter, difficult emotions and body sensations. To frame differently, it’s our capacity to be with what’s alive and right in front of us, whether we like that or not in any given moment.