Reply #20: I like the technique....

[truthpusher]

....you said: "I've done exercises where i set an alarm every hour and observed what I was thinking at that moment, or deliberately think a particular thought on the hour. Make a practice of observing your thoughts - when you find yourself thinking something self-sabotaging, or counter productive to your goals, deliberately think the opposite."

I also like (usually done while driving) to clear my mind of talking thoughts, background noise (bad songs, etc.) and allow my mind top become clear so I can observe the first thought that comes in. When that thought comes in, I take an objective look as to where and why this thought comes in and whether or not continuing with the thought has any value. So far this technique has yielded an observation of hundreds of worthless and pointless thoughts. Almost always the thoughts that pop up are 'busy' thoughts like: I gotta get there on time....what am I going to do when....what will I eat....what will I say...stuff like that. These are thoughts struggling with a non-existent future. These thoughts provide little or no help for me. This exercise has helped me target thinking of 'value'. It has helped give me lot's of time to consider things of value and also alot of quiet time that allows me to see the world around me as well.