Making Correct Use of Impressions

 # Impression Management System

*A practical method for handling mental impressions*

## Core Principle

**The good consists in making correct use of impressions 

while maintaining readiness**

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## The Process

### 1. The Waiting Stance

**Position yourself like one lying in wait:**

- Alert but relaxed

- Ready for the next impression

- Steady vigilance

- Expecting without forcing

### 2. Impression Recognition

**When an impression arrives:**

- Notice it's a thought claiming something is true

- Don't react automatically

- Recognize this as your moment of choice

### 3. The Critical Question

**"Is this impression trying to make an external seem good, bad, or necessary for my happiness?"**

- **YES** → This is your target → Proceed to refusal

- **NO** → Safe impression → Assent if true

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## The Six-Step Method

### (a) Don't Assent to False Value Impressions

**Target:** Impressions claiming externals are good/evil

- "Getting this promotion is good" → **REFUSE**

- "Being rejected is terrible" → **REFUSE** 

- "I need their approval" → **REFUSE**

- "This setback is a disaster" → **REFUSE**

**Ready stance:** Always watching for these false value claims

### (b) Don't Assent to Inappropriate Response Impulses  

**Target:** Action impressions based on false values

- "I should get angry about this" → **REFUSE**

- "I must control this outcome" → **REFUSE**

- "I should retaliate" → **REFUSE**

- "I need to worry about this" → **REFUSE**

**Ready stance:** Catching inappropriate action impulses before they lead to vice

### (c) Consciously Formulate True Value Propositions

**Active practice:** Create and assent to correct impressions

- "My job is neither good nor bad" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT**

- "My health is an external, not my happiness" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT**

- "Others' opinions don't define my worth" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT**

**Ready stance:** Proactively preparing true impressions

### (d) Consciously Formulate True Action Propositions  

**Active practice:** Create virtuous response impressions

- "I should respond with honesty here" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT**

- "Patience is the appropriate response" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT** 

- "I can act justly regardless of outcome" → **FORMULATE & ASSENT**

**Ready stance:** Ready to choose virtuous responses

### (e) Assent to Virtue Achievement

**Target:** Recognizing when you act well

- "I just responded with courage" → **ASSENT**

- "That was an honest choice" → **ASSENT**

- "I acted justly despite pressure" → **ASSENT**

**Result:** Experience joy and positive feelings from virtue

### (f) Character Transformation Over Time

**Long-term effect:** Correcting impressions changes what impressions arise

- Refusing false value impressions makes them weaker and less frequent

- Assenting to true impressions makes virtuous responses automatic

- The waiting stance becomes effortless as fewer corrections are needed

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## Daily Integration

### Morning Preparation

**Take the waiting stance:**

- "I am ready for today's impressions"

- "I know what to catch and what to allow"

- "I will use every impression correctly"

**Pre-load true impressions:**

- "Externals today are neither good nor bad"

- "I can respond virtuously to anything"

- "My happiness depends only on my choices"

### Real-Time Practice

**Continuous cycle:**

1. **Ready stance** → Waiting alertly

2. **Impression arrives** → "There it is"

3. **Evaluate** → "External value claim or safe?"

4. **Choose** → Refuse false, assent to true, formulate better

5. **Act** → Virtuously if action needed

6. **Acknowledge** → "Well done" if virtuous

7. **Return to ready** → Back to waiting stance

### Evening Review

**Character development check:**

- What false impressions did I catch today?

- What true impressions did I formulate and act on?

- Where was my ready stance strong/weak?

- How is my character changing through this practice?

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## The System

**Waiting Attitude** + **Impression Evaluation** + **Six-Step Method** = **Functional Impression Management**

**Result:** 

- No unhappiness (refuse false values)

- Positive feelings (from virtue and simple pleasures)  

- Virtuous action (appropriate responses)

- Character transformation (fewer false impressions over time)

- Happiness (guaranteed through correct use)

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## Emergency Protocol

**When overwhelmed/reactive:**

1. **STOP** → "Back to ready stance"

2. **BREATHE** → "What impression just captured me?"

3. **EVALUATE** → "Was that a false value claim?"

4. **REFUSE** → If yes, refuse it now

5. **FORMULATE** → Create the true impression

6. **RETURN** → Back to waiting stance

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*The art of impression management through steady readiness.*