Meta Mystic Journal #2: Internal Family System of Mental Models

In last week’s piece, I wrote about my internal family system of mental models:

My Internal Family System: Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, Sam Harris & The Weeknd

As I did with the inaugural Meta Mystic essay on the “Old Self vs New Self” duality, I’m going to share with you my journal in response to the self-reflection prompts I provided at the end of the last piece.

Note: this is not literally my journal. Journalling is supposed to be messy and incongruent as you honestly express your inner world — which is typically going to be chaotic and irrational. I’ve converted my actual journal (which is not optimized for readability!) into a more polished version here, but your journal should be expressive, messy, and emotionally explorative rather than readable prose.

I hope this encourages you to reflect on these prompts yourself — whether in written form (best for deeper reflection) or while on a long drive or walk.

You can email me here if you’d like me to publish your reflections (anonymously or with your name): ravmetamystic@yahoo.com

Either way, I hope this helps you in your life journey. We’re only here for a limited amount of time — may as well live consciously and dedicate our time to self-improvement.

Meta Mystic mode Activated!

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1. Who lives inside your mind — and when do they take over?
   
   Which thinkers, artists, friends, parents, teachers, or public figures have shaped the way you think, speak, feel, or move through the world? Which “mental models” do you unconsciously run in different situations — at work, in conflict, in relationships, in parenting, in creativity, in moments of stress or desire?

When I look closely, I can see that my mind is not occupied by one stable self, but by a rotating cast of archetypes. The four I recognize most clearly are Sam Harris for yogic calmness, Jordan Peterson for intellectual grandiosity, Joe Rogan for adolescent humor, and The Weeknd for embodied magnetism. These are not people I “copy” in any literal sense. They are more like internal operating systems — models of perception, speech, energy, and posture that I unconsciously or consciously channel in different situations.

The Sam Harris archetype is the one I use most often because it is the most universal. It is a model for interfacing with reality itself: recognizing the sacred primacy of the present moment, the impermanence of negative mental states, and the bright, open quality of our awareness.

The Jordan Peterson archetype comes online when I’m podcasting, interviewing, or threading together big ideas for an article — when I want to think at maximal depth and speak with conviction, seriousness, and scale.

The Joe Rogan archetype emerges with my buddies, on weekends, or in any setting where the point is to loosen up, be ridiculous, and return to a more adolescent, unfiltered mode of play.

And then there is The Weeknd archetype: embodied magnetism, sensuality, aesthetic confidence, nightlife energy. This is the most limited and situational of the four. I don’t live there day to day. I can usually only channelize it a couple times a week, when I’m out at bars, clubs, parties, or social events where attraction, music, style, and flirtation are in the air.

2. What archetype are you overusing?
   
   Is there one mode you rely on too much — the hyper-intellectual, the discipliner, the perfectionist, the visionary, the caretaker, the overachiever? Where does this archetype serve you, and where does it limit you?

As I wrote about in the essay, the Sam Harris archetype I default to in my day-to-day experience is great for aiming for contentment, peace, and equanimity — but it doesn’t make women’s panties drop (Ok Joe Rogan adolescent humour activated!). In seriousness, I’ve realized that this more monotone, meditative tone of voice that I’ve unconsciously adopted from Sam doesn’t lend well for emotional expression, flirtation, and seduction. As many (female and male) dating coaches say, women often want to feel something on dates. Not have another quotidian conversation. Of course, this is not universal — for male and female hyper-intellectuals (I know a few!) who don’t value the more Dionysian aspects of life, a date purely talking about your favourite philosophy books and mathematical theories is sufficient. But for most of us, we operate on multiple levels.

So now I’ve been more consciously aware when I’m drifting into more calm, overly chill Sam Harris mode and calibrate to a more emotionally expressive, risqué, and bold mode when the social occasion calls for it. Sam is notorious for his infinitely-caveated speech where he tries to be as precise as humanely possible, noting all the complexities and nuances of the matter. This left-hemispheric mode is best set aside for podcasting rather than socializing or courting.

Ironically, Sam’s own meditation app helps in this. Through meditation you can learn to be increasingly aware of what algorithm you’re running in your mind which dictates your behaviour and you can exercise real freedom to choose another mode of being when necessary.

Get a 30-day trial of Sam’s Waking Up meditation here using my affiliate link:

Waking Up

1. What missing archetype do you need to develop?
   
   What part of life feels underdeveloped in you right now — play, discipline, sensuality, courage, calmness, creativity, devotion, confidence? Who embodies those qualities for you, and how could you consciously practice channeling it?

Masculinity.

I recently realized that I surprisingly haven’t developed a firm sense of masculinity in my psyche. By that I mean, resilience, strength, discipline, pugnacity, overcoming the odds. Of course, it’s not that I don’t have these things. It’s that I don’t have a deeply internalized mental model for those qualities.

So moving forward, in my Joe Dispenza meditations (which I wrote about here) and various moments throughout the day I rehearse a more masculine identity centred around grit, power, and strength. I’ll write about this more in a future piece but this has already motivated me to get to the gym more, recently.

I’d like to develop this mental model to replace what I feel to be excessive neuroticism, obsessive overthinking, chasing after validation, and a low sense of self-worth. As far as real-life archetypes go, there are the David Goggins, Jocko Willinks, and Dwayne Johnsons (or seriously problematic red-pill figures like Andrew Tate) of the world but I don’t quite relate to them in their more cold-hearted demeanour. The Rock is more humorous but I haven’t consumed enough of his work to relate to him.

Joe Rogan may win here again — on top of his class clown archetype which I already have in my internal family system — as he frequently encourages mental and physical discipline on his podcast which is listened to by tens of millions of young men around the world. He’s humorous and light-hearted but also super jacked, physically fit, and resilient. He’s about as good of a masculine inspiration as anyone.

(As an aside, stay tuned for an interview I did with him on my politics/science-focused Substack The Illusion of Consensus)

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