The first step in the Zoom Thinking process is deceptively simple. You have a topic you’re thinking about: you write down everything that comes to mind. Everything. No editing, no organizing, no prioritizing. Little things, big things, facts, ideas, questions, images… The only rule is that each unit of thought is short (a few words long) and written on a separate line.
This exercise provides what I call the “data mass” related to your thinking project. Of course it may expand in future, but here’s your initial inventory of stuff, all in a jumble.
Why do this? First of all, we want to widen the mental aperture, and allow the maximum scope of relevant material into the picture. Secondly, we deliberately postpone organizing or assessing the content. That’s because we have a process for uncovering the hidden structure of the data mass, and if we jump too fast we’ll pre-empt that process. But there’s a third aspect to this: feeding the below-conscious mind. As soon as all this material is written down, the BCM gets to work on it while we attend to other things.
Tell Me Everything requires a relaxed state of mind. You have to be as non-reactive as possible, so you can allow all the data to accumulate. What makes this possible is knowing there’s a process that will make sense of it all. Process creates safety, and the feeling of safety encourages the mind to open.