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You may be asking, “How do I do this?”
There is no “how.” It’s all in your head. There is literally nothing to do here other than mentally try on new perspectives and ask yourself, “What if [thing that is opposite of my assumption] were true about me? What would that mean?” And then psychically traverse the answer.
This will be scary, at first. Your brain will resist it. But, of course, that’s where the practice of the skill comes in.
Try this: Write down 20 things in your life today that you could potentially be wrong about. And again, I don’t just mean material stuff. I’m sure my understanding of physics is sorely lacking in many ways. But that’s not the most important thing I need to change my mind about.
What we’re going for here is questioning some of those deep assumptions about your identity — I am not an attractive person; I am lazy; I don’t know how to talk to people; I won’t ever be happy because I feel stuck in my life; I think the world is going to end next Tuesday.
The more emotionally charged the assumption, the more important it is to write it down and challenge it.
Then, after you’ve gotten 20, go through and write down what it would mean in your life if it were wrong.
This will feel scary at first. A lot of your assumptions you won’t want to question. But think of it this way: how confident can you be in your own beliefs if you’ve never challenged them, if you’ve never seen the other side? What we want to develop is that ability to see that “other side.” And those few occasions when it does appear more likely and more valid, hop on over.Share
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