The Four Components of the 4L's System - Introduction

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Origin of the system

I've mentioned before that I first came up with the idea of using mnemonic techniques to overcome my compulsive checking (OCD) when l was checking the oven. I was thinking to myself "If I could remember what I've checked has been checked properly then this illness would no longer be a problem for me."

So as I was looking at the controls of the oven (to see that they were off), I imagined the entire oven turning a blue color. At that time blue was my first code image. The blue color represents the cold, and if the oven is cold then it must be off. Over the years I added more elements to increase its effectiveness.

When you first learn this system some steps may seem time-consuming and unnecessary, but you should know that the Look, Lock, Label and Leave system has been tested literally tens of thousands of times. With practice checking your whole house may take only a few minutes and you should have little (if any) anxiety afterward. Without this system I couldn't create this course, my life would be too consumed by checking.

So although I recommend that you follow this system as laid out for you, you should change things if those changes fit you better. Here though are a basic overview of those four parts.

The four pillars look: we look at what we're checking with our eyes.

Lock: we place a coded image on the real thing we're checking.

Label: we place a relevant coded image on our body.

Leave: we seal off that 'label' on our body (although this is not always necessary.)

In the Director's chair

Even now I'm still experimenting with this system. And so should you. This section of the course will give you an in-depth look into these four pillars. While l do recommend you follow them when you first start out, in time you may be able to apply it to other areas of your checking or even a totally different form of your OCD.

Hopefully, in time, we'll be able to bring down the entire OCD empire but first, we begin with this battle station.

We'll cover the following topics in this section:

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