Great read surviva, and I have some questions and comments that deal with my observations and weaknesses where I play (5nl).

If you’re at a loss at the time, then I personally give you the allowance to be a nit for that hand and fold because that’s a 0 EV decision that might save you a lot of money. But don’t just fold the hand and be done with it. Here’s the important part: THINK! Mark the hand for review, but don’t just promise yourself that you’ll post it on FTR and get the “right” answer later. THINK! Back in the day, if I were smart enough to fold the hand in front of me in the first place, I woulda been to thick-skulled to actually think about how I’m going to exploit this player. I would fall back on that thought process I told you about: “he’s a bad player, I’m better than him, when I actually hit a hand he’s gonna get pwned…” and so forth, but never actually take advantage of his exploitable play.

This is one of the reasons why beginners shouldn’t massively multi-table because you need time not only to think about decisions that are in front of you, but also to think about your play in general. Think about how you can exploit in a similar spot WITH YOUR WHOLE RANGE! I put that in caps because it’s important, and this is where the ABCD theorem comes into play.

Let’s say that you had TT on a Qd5h4d board. Well the first step is to completely ignore the fact that you had TT in that particular hand because it’s irrelavent to how you should play your range as a whole. I won’t go into too much detail, but basically, you’ll find that your B range (your hands with value that you don’t want to play for stacks with) should be bigger than usual, and you should check this range behind to avoid giving him an opportunity to bluff you off your medium strength hands. I also think you should include hands that have a chance of improving like AdKx in this range because it’s such a bad spot to bluff unless your willing to bluff your whole stack. Your A range should also be pretty big (should probably even include KQ and should definitely include 76dd) and should obv be b/shoved (and your bet sizing should reflect this). Your C range should include a whole fuck ton of draws that you can profitably rebluff with. You may b/shove these or b/float them depending on which seems better. Your D range you can bet if he folds enough to make it +EV, but you might just be better off giving up or making a delayed Cbet. For that last reason, you should probably have a strong range to get involved in the hand to begin with against this player.
I cbet too much, I know that. I do it mainly b/c it makes my post flop decisions easier for me. I cbet, he folds, I win with basically air and I'm happy. I cbet, he calls, I either 2nd barrel if the board is VERY unlikely to have helped him, or I check and fold to any aggression. Basically it keeps me out of trouble I would say.

According to what you have said, I cbet in times that I shouldn't and I prob cant argue that. However, how would us even lower than you (i'm at 5nl) put this to practice?
It is very fit or fold poker, sometimes causing me to become fit or fold. Its tough to bluff (cbets aside) unless its against a weak villain.
I find that there are 3 main types of players at 5nl: The uber nits (6/2/1), the limp tighties (30/5/1) and the droolers (45+/20/3). There are others but this is the bulk imo.
Using your hand history from above where we have TT on a Qhigh board, I would usually do the following vs each of these.
Nit: check b/c he doesnt call w/o a high pair or at worst AQ and is likely ahead or coinflip at best if he called with AK. I keep the pot small, perhaps bet on turn etc...
Drooler: I will check and let him bet back b/c he bets too much and I can let him hang himself
limp tighties: THIS IS WHERE I HAVE TROUBLE. I cbet these players religiously and probably too often. It comes back to what I said about making it easier on me. You said that if I fold a worse hand with a cbet then it accomplishes nothing...and I agree other than I won the small pot. Lets say in the above example I have KJo instead of TT and raised with it in LP and had a limp tighty call. I will cbet this flop all the time. I probably got them to fold worse but I dont have to think too much after.....on other streets.
If I check, and he bets, its tough to put a tighty on air b/c they play passive so I have to start thinking that he hit a Q or holds a mid pair like 99 or TT and I am behind so I fold....see? Fit n' fold poker. If I cbet and he reraises, my decision is made for me, I can fold. If I cbet and he calls, I can slow down and maybe check turn and keep it small. But if I check the flop, I feel like I give up control, initiative etc and I have a difficult time calling bets from these players who often make up 2/3 of the table...
I also hate to check to these players and give them a chance at a free card and then see a card land which now hits their range alright and now I have to c/f to any aggression....I'd rather just take the small pot with a cbet and run with it.
See what I'm getting at?

I am assuming you thought like this at some point, how/when did it change?