Gevalt, what's with y'all? I don't mean to go without your brain, really. I just mean what works for me: Not to go with too much of our brains. Knowing when to think, think, and think - and when to let go of the lust to nail down the explanation or rationale...that's a blessing from Hashem. Most nisyonos require (as the ba'al haTanya and many others say) a bit of suspension of our Da'as. We seem to lose our brains at the point of nisayon - and are left to proceed on what feels like blind heart, alone. I cannot count the times I went without the lust temptation for what felt like no rational reason whatsoever! When I have a lust temptation - ate actual moment of true choice - it boils down to me feeling that I really need this crap. It truly seems to be in my best interest and there is no logical answer I seem to be able to grasp onto. The mussar is all slippery in my hands. But when I "overcome" it is usually by me just figuring that there were so many thousands of times that I went with the lust 'just because', that it was now my turn to suspend my judgement of what's better for me and go without it - just because.
In other words, sometimes, all the hundreds of meetings, thousands of hours of stepwork, and thousands of shares in meetings I have made, all boil down to a moment of letting go of my judgement and accepting Hashem's judgement instaed of mine. And doing without what feels like it'd be soooo nice.
