Identify What You Want to Change Mentally
Identify areas of your life you want to change and examine the beliefs connected with them. Write down 5 to 10 specific concerns to work on.
THE IDEA
Identify What You Want to Change Mentally
Start with an area of your life you are unhappy with. Consider whether beliefs you hold about it are helping or limiting you. Repeated messages from other people may have shaped those beliefs, but dissatisfaction alone does not establish their cause.
Write down 5 to 10 things you most want to change. Be specific: if you are unhappy with your income, include that concern rather than describing your whole life as a failure.
When to use it
Personal development coaching sessions to identify core limiting beliefs.
Therapy exercises for clients to map out negative self-concepts and set change goals.
Self-help journaling prompts for breaking free from patterns of self-doubt.
Team workshops to uncover collective paradigms that hinder innovation or morale.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Career dissatisfaction
Someone who feels stuck in a low-paying job writes down 'increase income' and 'find fulfilling work' as two of their five things to change, recognizing that past criticism from teachers made them believe they couldn't succeed.
Social anxiety
A person who avoids social situations because of childhood teasing lists 'improve social confidence' and 'make new friends' as targets, understanding that repeated negative feedback created an internal paradigm of being unlikeable.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What repeated negative messages have you internalized that now shape your beliefs about yourself?
List 5–10 areas of your life where you feel stuck or unhappy—what do these reveal about your current paradigms?
How would your behavior change if you consciously replaced those limiting messages with empowering ones?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems and Mental Models Think Like a Super Thinker (Dawson, Marcus P)