Definition
Self-observation is the deliberate monitoring of your own cognition and behaviour — catching what thought am I running? before or shortly after you act.
Origin
Core to metacognition (Flavell) and mindfulness traditions; in performance psychology, the bridge between automatic habit and deliberate practice.
Mechanism
Most drift is sedimentation — trace debris left when attention loosens in fuzzy weeks. Observation can start post-mortem (damn, I drifted again) and must graduate to in-the-moment notice. Words structure energy; unnamed fear-filtered cognition becomes default until watched.
Applications
- Log one sedimentation moment — exact words used before you changed task.
- Use hourly pings or flashcards in low-stakes weeks — fuzzy challenge is the gym.
- Pair with OTT and Weekly Review say-no language so observation has a weekly anchor.
Sources
Cite
- Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911.
- Koriat, A., Ackerman, R., & Adiv, S. (2014). The effects of goal-driven and data-driven regulation on metacognitive monitoring during learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 386–403.
Related doctrine
Weekly Review · All Success Lies in Its Preparation