{"id":132519,"date":"2024-10-11T08:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/?p=132519"},"modified":"2024-10-11T12:52:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T16:52:35","slug":"the-practice-of-examining-our-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/11\/the-practice-of-examining-our-beliefs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Practice of Examining Our Beliefs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">By <a href=\"http:\/\/leobabauta.com\">Leo Babauta<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>There\u2019s a practice that I find to be really valuable, and I call it \u201cExamining Beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you regularly engage with this, it will transform you.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say there\u2019s something you want to do but you feel stuck \u2014 maybe you\u2019re procrastinating a lot, maybe you\u2019re stuck in an old habit. The practice starts with trying to discover the thought or belief that causes your action (or inaction).<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I don\u2019t want to do this because I\u2019m going to do a bad job (belief: I\u2019m going to do a bad job)<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m dreading doing this because it\u2019ll be boring (belief: it\u2019s going to be boring)<\/li>\n<li>I don\u2019t want to do this because it\u2019ll be really hard and uncomfortable (belief: it\u2019ll be too hard\/uncomfortable)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you might expect, these beliefs don\u2019t help you to achieve your goals.<\/p>\n<p>You might also examine any beliefs that cause you to be frustrated or resentful with someone else:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They shouldn\u2019t behave that way<\/li>\n<li>They don\u2019t love\/respect me<\/li>\n<li>They don\u2019t support me<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These beliefs cause you to feel unhappy with someone.<\/p>\n<p>So what can we do once we discover the belief? Examine it, and then if we like, practice letting it go.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Examine the Belief<\/h3>\n<p>If you can\u2019t uncover the belief that\u2019s holding you back or making you unhappy \u2026 get into a conversation with someone else who can help you see what you can\u2019t see. (If you\u2019d like to work with me as a coach, <a href=\"https:\/\/coaching.zenhabits.net\/\">\u200bapply for my 1-on-1 coaching\u200b<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve uncovered the belief, here\u2019s how to examine it \u2026 ask these questions:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>What effect does the belief have on me and my life?<\/strong> Does it make you take action, take care of yourself, or act in line with your intentions? Does it make you avoid, or look for faults, or get frustrated? If you think something will be boring, are you more likely to see it as boring (i.e. seeing through the lens of your belief)? Get clear on what effects this belief has on you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Is the belief really true?<\/strong> It might seem really true \u2026 but is it true? And if you say, \u201cYes, it\u2019s true\u201d \u2026 then ask yourself, \u201cCan I be absolutely sure it\u2019s true?\u201d The idea is to question the absolute truth of the belief \u2026 because if we can see that there\u2019s even the possibility that it\u2019s not true, then maybe we can begin to consider letting it go.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What would it be like without this belief?<\/strong> Imagine what it would feel like if you didn\u2019t have this belief. Can you imagine it? If so, what you\u2019re experiencing is a moment where you\u2019re free.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve gone through this practice of examining the belief \u2026 ask yourself if you\u2019d like to practice with letting the belief go.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Practice Letting Go<\/h3>\n<p>First, you have to notice when you are being influenced by the belief \u2014 when it\u2019s operating on you. If you\u2019re frustrated with someone, or avoiding something, for example \u2026 then the belief is operating on you. Notice that it\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n<p>Now ask yourself: what would it be like in this moment without the belief?<\/p>\n<p>Imagine that you could just \u2026 \u201cPoof!\u201d \u2026 have the belief disappear. Imagine that you are free right now. It should feel more peaceful, more liberated.<\/p>\n<p>Now try to take action from this freedom. Try to live life, with this freedom.<\/p>\n<p>This is the practice of Examining Beliefs. If you seriously engage with it, you will unlock your life.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/zenhabits.net\/examine\/\">The Practice of Examining Our Beliefs<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/zenhabits.net\">zen habits<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leo Babauta There\u2019s a practice that I find to be really valuable, and I call it \u201cExamining Beliefs.\u201d If [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[179],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132520,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132519\/revisions\/132520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}