Begin with what your mind has actually been saying.

Think about the difficult thoughts that appeared in your action log or during the past week. These are the thought-passengers that tend to show up before something difficult.

Write the thoughts down as accurately as you can: This will be a disaster. You always leave things too late. They are going to find you out.

Now read the list. What do you notice?

Many people discover the same two things.

First, the list is shorter than expected. Your mind may feel endlessly inventive, but it often repeats the same three or four thoughts. Some of them may have remained unchanged for years.

Second, the list has a recognisable personality. The thoughts may share a theme, a tone, or a particular focus. Perhaps the voice is cautious, catastrophising, or perfectionistic.

Noticing this pattern is the skill.

The moment you can say, There is the “I’m not ready” thought again, something has already changed. You are looking at the thought instead of looking through it.

The ordinary state in which you and a thought feel inseparable is called fusion. When you are fused with a thought, there is no space from which to observe it. This exercise helps you create that space.

You can practise this playfully. The playfulness is an important part of the exercise.

Give the voice a name. People choose names such as Mr Cautious or Madame Procrastination.

This may feel silly, but notice what happens when you name the voice. You begin to relate to it as something you can observe, rather than as the whole of who you are.

Then take the exercise one step further. Choose the thought that affects you most strongly and imagine hearing it in a cartoon voice, such as a duck, a robot, or a sports commentator.

The words remain exactly the same. However, they may no longer feel quite as authoritative.

Does this mean you are making fun of your own pain?

No, and that distinction matters. A difficult thought may contain useful information. The thought You are not prepared may occasionally be correct about an upcoming meeting.

Seeing a thought more clearly does not mean deciding that it is false. It means ending the pattern in which you automatically obey whatever the voice says simply because it is loud.

From this small distance, you can keep any useful information and leave the judgement behind.

There is one important warning: this is not a quieter or more creative way to make thoughts disappear.

If you use the cartoon voice and then immediately check whether the thought has gone, the control agenda has taken over the new technique. The conclusion from Lesson 3 still applies.

The passenger remains on the bus. You have simply stopped allowing it to choose the route.

Thoughts make up only half of the passenger list. The other half does not speak in words.

It may appear as dread in your chest or a heavy feeling on Sunday evening. Words alone will not create distance from these experiences. The next lesson introduces a skill designed for feelings.