8-10 minutes daily:

In a journal, each day write down one thing you desire that’s on your mind that day. You’ll write down the desire, and then you will distill it down to the underlying True Desire of the Higher Self. Go as many times around as you need to in order to get to the point where that last “then____” blank cannot be filled any longer. And then you write that last thing as your true desire. And then throughout the day look for that true desire to show up. Notice that you have a conditioning that tells you the source is one thing (the compensatory desire) and how you may discover your true desire in unexpected places. You may even begin to realize that the source is within you.

Script:

I desire ____________.

If I have _______________, then ________________.

I desire ________________.

Short example.

I desire a big bowl of ice cream.

If I have a big bowl of ice cream, then I will feel pleasure.

If I feel pleasure, then __________.

I desire pleasure.

Long example.

I desire for my husband to help with the housework.

If my husband helps me with the housework, then I will feel like he is willing to participate in responsibilities around the house.

If he is willing to participate in responsibilities around the house, then I will know he loves me.

If I know he loves me, then I can be vulnerable to him.

If I am vulnerable, then I will be able to express myself freely.

If I can express myself freely, then ____________.

I desire to express myself freely.

And another complex one…

I desire to find a new lover.

If I have a new lover, then I will have someone to be intimate with.

If I have someone to be intimate with, then I will experience true connection.

If I experience true connection, then ____________.

I desire true connection.

DESIRE INVENTORY DEMO

This is a transcript of Rev. Brig working with a counseling client on her Desire Inventory.

Client:

I desire to be 100% self-employed, serving people, doing work I enjoy, & making a lucrative living from it.

Rev. Brig: Break this down. This is not a True Desire. It is superficial compensatory desire. It will not sustainably satisfy you. So you’ve gotta break it down deeper to get to the thing your higher self wants. Next line would be:

“If I were 100% self-employed, serving people, doing work I enjoy, and making a lucrative living from it, then I would feel_______”

Client:

If I were 100% self-employed, serving people, doing work I enjoy, and making a lucrative living from it, then I would be free to pursue my dreams, self-sufficient (no longer relying on my dad’s financial support), and in control of how I spend my time as well as how much money I make.

Rev. Brig: Good. But you didn’t really use my desire prompt as written. Don’t divert away from the last four words (“then I would feel…”) with more stratagems. Ok, next level, keep that in mind.

“If I were free to pursue my dreams, were self sufficient, and in control of how I spend my time and money, then I would feel______.”

What we are doing is getting to the bottom of what feeling you are seeking to acquire. An actual feeling. Not a material circumstance. A feeling.

Client: You’re right. Completely forgot that last part.

If I were free to pursue my dreams, were self-sufficient, and in control of how I spend my time as well as how much money I make, then I would feel empowered and independent.

Rev. Brig: Great! You have almost reached the root or True Desire. So your next line would be this:

“If I feel empowered then I will be_______.

If I feel independent then I will be__________”

And then however you answer this determines the last line:

“I desire to be___________and _________”

Client: If I feel empowered and independent, then I will feel free and unstoppable.

Rev. Brig: Beautiful work!! Ok. Last line then?

“I desire to feel free and unstoppable.”

So when I ask you what you want, your True Desire is buried underneath all of these layers of stipulations and conditions that you believe you have to achieve or acquire in order to be free and unstoppable. But if you actually connect with what you want, why would you want to have to overcome so many things to have it? Why can’t you be free and unstoppable right now in this moment unconditionally? And really? Your thoughts are oxymoronic. Free and unstoppable don’t dwell in the same house with all of those conditional precepts. It’s not always the case that this is true. When it does live in the same house, you’ll still need to discern what’s what so you don’t get so focused on the condition that you form an attachment to it even if it’s not the thing that will provide you whatever your True Desire is.

Client: That was so helpful. Thank you. I need to work on feeling free and unstoppable now despite present conditions.

Brig: Yes. Because your external experience of the world around you is a reflection of your internal state, not the other way around. Every morning do your desire inventory based on what comes up in your awareness as a desire. Eventually these inventories will get shorter and shorter, as you begin to peel back the layers and focus directly on the internal experience rather than the external conditions you believe you need to accomplish in order to have that internal experience. External conditions will become like strategies that may or may not be useful and you don’t have to give up the True Desire to give up the strategy.