How To Change Your Core Beliefs

Core beliefs form the foundation of how you view the world around you. Perspective and opinions are largely or entirely shaped by these foundational ideas.

Core beliefs are important to understand because they can impact not only your mindset but also your life in general.

Having disadvantageous core beliefs can cause social troubles, difficulties with navigating life’s challenges and even mental illness.

With that in mind, it’s also important to know that core beliefs can be changed or restructured. This process can help make them less damaging on you and make life in general easier.

But first…

What are core beliefs?

Core beliefs are the main ideas or beliefs about the self, others and the world in general that influence how we view and navigate life.

Core beliefs are themselves rooted in thought but their influence extends to the real world: like how we interact with others and the way we behave.

Their impact on our lives can be far-reaching. At the same time, some people are barely (if at all) even aware of them, let alone aware of the effects they have.

Understanding core beliefs and how they impact one’s life is important for making sure that they are not misguided. Misguided or distorted core beliefs can be mentally draining and harmful.

Ways to change your core beliefs

If you aren’t happy with the core beliefs you have, you can work towards changing them.

While core beliefs are often deeply rooted in the fabric of the mind, changing them is possible and doable.

For some core beliefs (especially weaker ones) this may be easy. For others, though, it may take some more effort.

It’s important to remember that your strategy needs to be adaptive, meaning it needs to change based on your needs. You might need to implement more than one technique at the same time.

But if you make the right efforts, you can change them.

Here are some ways to change your core beliefs.

1. Identify them

Before moving forward in any way to change your core beliefs, it’s important to understand what they are. What core beliefs do you possess? Write them down. Be candid with yourself.

It’s important to understand, though, that identifying core beliefs can be challenging sometimes. Just because they play a huge role in thinking patterns doesn’t mean it’s easy to constantly be aware of them.

Core beliefs can be hidden under thoughts that appear to be core beliefs themselves. Remember, when you seek to identify core beliefs, your goal should be to truly find core beliefs – key word here being ‘core.’

For example, say you tend to give up and feel incapable in the face of even the most minute failures. The root cause may be a core belief that you are inherently incapable of succeeding. This is, of course, ridiculous, but it’s a distorted core belief (a lot of them are ridiculous).

The point is to look extremely closely at what specific mindset you may have that would cause you to think a certain way.

Keep asking yourself why you think something until you get to the root – the thought that you cannot think of another underlying thought for.

Name it. Understand what it is. Then, from there, move on to addressing it. Having a firm understanding of what your core beliefs are can make the process of changing them more simple.

2. Don’t be harsh on yourself

Accept that you have these core beliefs – that they exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean taking a passive approach and letting them own you and dictate your life. It just means not being harsh on yourself for having these or any core beliefs.

Accept that they’re there and that whatever influence they may have had on your past has happened. Now, it’s time to grow past them. You don’t have to be defined by distorted core beliefs. You can change them to more logical and beneficial ones that help you grow.

In this context, to accept your core beliefs means to not be bothered by the past they may have influenced and the present they may be influencing. It also means not being bothered by the fact that you need to address them.

Some people consider changing their core beliefs a responsibility they have to take on. And while it is indeed a responsibility, it’s an important one. Voluntarily taking on a challenge when you know the outcome is important is part of growing as a person.

So before getting fully into the process of changing your core beliefs, start by accepting their presence.

3. Understand them

Many, and probably even most, core beliefs can be understood. They’re usually rooted in reasoning.

While the reasoning itself may be emotional, they’ll often still have reasoning. It’s not illogical to have emotions, just to process them in incorrect ways or to let them be unreasonable.

Start off by knowing what the core belief is and then ask yourself questions about it. Determine why you think the way you do in regards to that core belief.

Maybe it’s because you experienced an event(s) that led to you thinking this way. Maybe the way you feel emotions has caused you a certain amount of distress, fear, anxiety, sadness, etc. towards something.

This technique is all about getting to the core of the core belief. It’s about understanding what experiences or emotions shape this core belief.

Then take that information and take action with it. Having an understanding of your core beliefs can help you shape your strategy for dealing with them.

4. Journal them

Write it out to put it into context. Journal your core beliefs and your understanding of them. Journal what the problem is at the surface and what core belief(s) shapes this problem.

Write down your understanding of your core beliefs. Do a brain dump – just write whatever is on your mind.

The act of journaling itself can be relieving. Even more, it can be a way to put thoughts into context. When you write things down, you have an opportunity to organize them, view them, and review them.

Even if your journaling isn’t organized, the simple act of journaling can help bring order to chaotic thoughts.

Try to divide your journaling based on core belief. If you’re not sure what your core beliefs are, try writing about the things you think or feel. Pay close attention to where something that you don’t like about your thoughts or feelings stands out. Then delve into what core beliefs may be underling this.

5. Question them

How legitimate or logical are your core beliefs? Some core beliefs seem to just form out of nowhere. Maybe they aren’t built on any sort of logical foundation, but you let them play a role in your life anyway.

Questioning the validity of core beliefs is an effective way to eliminate them. This is most useful when the core belief(s) in question is not rooted in sound reasoning.

Question if your core belief is reasonable, logical, and if you have quality evidence that legitimates this core belief.

For a lot of people, their core beliefs are misguided and unreasonable. Yet, they have been accepted and integrated into their mentality.

If this is you, then you need to remove it by calling its legitimacy into question. You have no reason to take something that isn’t fact, or is at least unreasonable, and make it a part of who you are.

6. Challenge them

For every core belief that you want to get rid of, create a counteracting core belief. One goes in one direction and the other in the opposite direction.

Challenging core beliefs with their opposites decreases their power and can help rewire the brain to favor the better of the two. A core belief that tells someone they’re not good at anything can be replaced with a core belief that reminds them of their success or their potential for it (with some hard work).

A core belief that might make you feel defined by failure can be changed to one that is aware of the possibility of failure but remains resilient in the face of it.

Every core belief you have that you disagree with should have its own arch nemesis. Whenever you find yourself thinking with the bad core belief, switch your thought process and start thinking with the good one.

Do keep in mind that just because you can think positively doesn’t mean you have to enter a state of toxic positivity. Don’t be too positive to the point where your thinking becomes unrealistically positive and your expectations become unachievable.

Countering negative core beliefs with positive ones is fine but this doesn’t mean you have to become unrealistic in the opposite direction. That just sets you up for disappointment.

Instead, accept things in life as they are but realize your outlook may contain misunderstandings. You are not a failure/loser/unlovable/etc. just because you may have struggled to achieve some goals, relationships, or whatever else.

Just because you think one way doesn’t mean you should never think the other way. A thought may not only be misguided, but sometimes the complete opposite is what’s more accurate.