Mindfulness and flow · Command of self
See an impulse before obeying it
Definition
An impulse is a proposed action. Seeing it means there is a gap in which the code can refuse.
The lesson
The impulse to speak, to grab the phone, to snap, to quit the rep, to prove the point — it arrives as if it were already you. It is not. It is a suggestion. The practice is to notice the suggestion while it is still a suggestion.
Today, catch one impulse and do not obey it for sixty seconds. In that minute, ask what the standard says. Then obey the standard, which may be the impulse or may be the opposite. The point is that you chose.
Delay one impulse for sixty seconds. Write what it wanted, and what you did instead.
Calling every desire an impulse so you never have to want anything honestly, or never delaying one at all.