Stop it, Justin

For me, self-intervention has become one of my key tools for self-mastery. Coupled with observing the observer, self-intervention is applying red team thinking to your thoughts, feelings, reactions and behaviors. Self-intervention is inserting the observer between self and Self — between the ego and the soul. A common metaphor is a horse (mind) and rider (soul). Or sailor and a boat. Self-intervention is the third way between reckless consumption and austere self-denial.

For me, self-intervention comes in many forms. It could include reminding me of my power to choose, reminding me of a commitment, reminding me of my values. Put another way, it’s my Higher Self intervening with my lower self.

Where I need self-intervention ranges from the arcane to the apoplectic. This includes:

• Obsessing about battery levels on my devices, political news, hitting my social feeds repeatedly, planning/re-planning/over-planning. Self-intervention reminds me that I will be just fine.
• Consumptiveness — especially related to food and information. Self-intervention reminds me that I get to choose what I consume.
• Dealing with the fugue — my term for a general sense of angst, anxiety, restlessness and irritability. Self-intervention reminds me that negative feelings are quite temporary and rarely mean something is wrong.