I've tried it in the past, but never stuck with it for that long. Not exactly the most fun way to spend my time. But I'm planning to give it another shot after discovering a new kind of approach. What I've tried in the past is just focusing on my breathing, bringing my attention back to that whenever a thought pops in, essentially forcing things not to happen as you said. But there's another approach that just involves observing your present state without judgement, just letting thoughts pass by without pursuing them. That seems more useful for forcing. Kinda relates to my recent change in mindset about forcing, where I try to let go and just observe. Also essentially what you just said. I have a feeling guides have been trying to tell me this all along, but it's just now starting to make sense to me.

Also, I had a funny dream where I had apparently read a technique somewhere that to master visualization you should look in the mirror and try to see your tulpa instead of your reflection, so I tried looking into the bathroom mirror and with just the right focus I could clearly see my face morph into Melo's face. Strange stuff, I rarely remember any visual details from my dreams. But tulpa-related dreams are always nice, it shows me that my brain is reinforcing my tulpa-related neural pathways.