Stream of Consciousness Exercise

This is a powerful tool to help you dig deeper into questions and discover your truth by overriding the surface-level consciousness and tapping into your wiser subconscious, your intuition.

I discovered the stream of consciousness exercise from a fantastic book I read many years ago called “How To Think Like Leonardo DaVinci.” And I have since used this tool many times to help me gain clarity on questions when there were no answers or when there were too many potential answers.

Exercise:

  1. Grab a notepad or journal.
  2. Write down the question you wish to answer and read it out loud.
  3. Set a timer for ten minutes and press start.
  4. Begin writing and do not stop or pause.
  5. Do not stop writing until the timer goes off.
  6. Put the notepad or journal away.
  7. Sleep on it.
  8. Revisit your writing the next day and circle, underline, or highlight what jumps out at you.

Important Notes:

  • It is CRITICAL that you do not stop writing during the exercise, even if it’s gibberish. You’re trying to kick out your everyday monkey brain and tap into your subconscious, and let the more profound answers bubble up.
  • Don’t focus on or judge what you’re writing, especially when you can’t “think” of an answer. Trust me, even if you’re scribbling, “I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know shit shit shit,” it will eventually turn into thoughts, ideas, and emotions you had no idea were there. That’s the gold. Keep going.
  • Do not read what you wrote right away. Sleep on it. This is also CRITICAL. Our curious, analytical minds will be dying to review immediately. Don’t. Overnight, your subconscious will make connections your waking mind cannot do. In the morning, with a fresh head, take a look at the results of the exercise.

BONUS: Remove All Obstacles When Asking The Question

The real kicker I discovered in doing this exercise is to clear the mind of any possible roadblocks. Imagine you have a magic genie and won the lottery. Here’s an example:

“What would I do about _____ if money, time, and resources were unlimited?”

Doing this allows for every option under the sun to come up, especially those that are most important, whether we consciously know them or not. Shoot for the moon, because doing so will get you miles closer to what is most important to you.

And most of all, have fun with this!

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