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Through continually producing content with your phone via text, audio and video, and by questioning your life and times critically, you come to discuss them in particular ways, crafting fresh ways of thinking, acting, and relating off the back of this process. Think self-talk meets the smartphone.
It's adding to eventually take away - to unearth the nasties and the hidden gems to get the full picture of your life - the good as well as the bad, to unearth your qualities and full potential; to better know yourself and the world around you. Not only that, but you're accumulating skills, good habits, and confidence to better handle the accumulated knowledge that comes your way. It's a process of gradually taking things onboard, expressing them, and releasing them.
A freer mind to pursue those new ways of doing things. No longer bogged down so much with the smoke and mirrors of the mind, you can devote more mental energy to enjoyable and, once you see the kind of substantial approaches these methods can bring about, positively involving lifestyle choices.
No. It’s not treatment and it’s not a diagnosis-machine. It’s craft. It can be therapeutic—because honesty usually is—but the frame is different: you’re author and editor, not case file. If you’re in clinical care, this can sit alongside it as a disciplined, self-respecting practice rather than pure performance.
Set a timer for three minutes. Speak to a single, imagined listener you trust. Start with: “What’s really on the table today?” Keep going until the timer ends. Title the file with the date and a two-word tag: 2025-10-25_stuck-hope.m4a. Done. Tomorrow, do five minutes. Next week, try transcribing one good paragraph and shaping it.
No, but the more you diversify, the more you’ll get used to that way of thinking and approaching things. What’s more, different formats encourage and develop, different strengths and skills. For example, audio naturally favours the immediate; text tends to be more structured, organised and deep; one is for unearthing things (speech); one is for structuring and developing what those are.
There are no blanks in the longer term, but on those occasions where you just need to talk in the moment, use small hinges: sleep, food, money, work, fear, love. Pick one. Describe one scene from the last 24 hours without commentary. Then ask: “What’s the pattern I’m pretending not to see?” Try keeping it ordinary. The ordinary is loaded.
Two checks. First, flow vs structure: talk freely, then pick one theme to sharpen. Second, cumulative subtraction: once a month, list what you’re dropping - habits, storylines, obligations that don’t fit the person you’re becoming. Practice means pruning.
Rumination circles the drain; diarying builds a path. Each session sets a tiny next step: a sentence to write, a call to make, a question to test. If you leave every session with one action, you’re not stewing - you’re growing.
As often as you like. For example, to start with, a simple routine: most days three minutes out loud, once a week a 20-minute sweep, once a month a 60-minute evaluation. That's a guide, but be your own guide - you'll get it if you stick at it.
You’ll notice fewer repeat crises and faster recoveries. You’ll hear yourself catching old scripts earlier. Every quarter, write a one-page “what’s changing” note. If the same complaint appears unedited for three months, that’s a live problem—give it a dedicated session. Sometimes you won't know it's working then all of a sudden, after a duration, you will, and you'll see all your work clicking into place. Be patient with it - those times do come naturally.
Treat names as permissions you probably don’t have. Use initials or roles. If you plan to publish, ask: “Could this harm, shame, or misrepresent?” If yes, edit. You are building a self, not burning a village.
Private-first. Share selectively when the piece helps more than it exposes. Publishing can clarify your voice and offer valuable feedback, but it also invites other people’s frames. Keep control of context: short prefaces, clear disclaimers, and an honest “why this piece exists.”
That’s normal. Keep talking. Your voice acclimatises to your ear the way a lens acclimatises to light. Pride is part of the craft: not vanity—care. You’re allowed to care. And if you adjust your voice, good. You’re growing.
Technically, yes, there are times when I'm mad, but self-talk is capable of developing key skills. A fresh way of relating to others comes with developing the art and science of talking to yourself. It just takes time and practice. Result: a rosier outlook, a refined mind, and better relationships.
Think of flow as mining and structure as metallurgy. Flow carves out vivid scenes, blunt admissions, fresh angles. Structure refines one step at a time: a paragraph, a page, a three-minute clip. You craft by alternating phases, not by waiting for the perfect mood.
No. The “extra steps” are the point. You’re building a knowledge bank: tagged audio, titled notes, select transcripts. Over time you can query your own life: 'Show me every time money, sleep, and resentment co-occurred.' Patterns appear; new patterns develop; choices follow...and the promise of a new life.
Anything that records. Your phone, a word processor, a Voice Memos app, and a camera with a recording function is enough. If you already enjoy cameras and mics, a pen and paper, great, but don’t confuse kit with commitment. The practice is where promise of treasure lies.
Date-lead titles (YYYY-MM-DD_topic.m4a). Add one or two tags in the filename if you must, not ten.
Say it privately first. Then decide. The private draft is a pressure release valve and a rehearsal space. Most “wrong things” become more precise, and therefore less wrong, when spoken and then edited.
Give them a timed slot. Three minutes of pure heat, then two minutes of “what is this asking me to do or stop doing?” Express them. Go into as much detail as you need to, expressing emotion, then working it out in more ways than one. Eventually you build momentum and life really begins to move.
Memory is an instrument, not a museum. Use the past to tune the present. If you find yourself indulging scenes without extracting sense, switch medium: talk instead of write, or write instead of talk.
Dumping ends with “and another thing…”. Diarying ends with a decision (even a small one): delete a number, say no to a meeting, take a walk, lay down a boundary: make a change. Decision is the hinge between expression and growth.
Yes. Especially then. Chaos is famously bad at scheduling; three minutes is how you outwit it. On rough days, lower the bar but keep the bar. Expressing yourself gets what's swirling around in your head out there - even if it's only between you and the page, the mic, and the camera.
Make small things as well as big things. Pay attention to what you do, but don't over do it. Let things flow, then take stock when new ideas emerge. Say what you need and want to say and say it without hedging. Pride isn’t peacocking; it’s care taken to keep faith with your future self, and that person will be proud of you, looking back.
That's the popular view, but it's how you use this technology and what you bring to the party that ultimately matters. Establish a better relationship with your device. It has the tools you can use to craft a better life. Respect it for that. How you use your smartphone is up to you. Make it work for you rather than against you. When you're engaging in CST through text, audio and video, you're building skills that you'll be able to use in social situations, and the work you do will enable you to better relate to others.
You’ll feel a mix of shock and relief. Then there'll be silence and you won't know what to do next. That’s normal. Keep going. The point is not to end the practice once the dragon is named; it’s to walk the land as a person who knows where the dragon's resides.
One ideal listener - real or imagined - is enough. If you share, share to be understood, not admired. If you publish, publish not to be congratulated, but to be to be useful. Ultimately, you are your minimum viable community. Understand how to quieten and understand your ego and psychological defences (that will come), and you're on your way.