{"id":71589,"date":"2022-07-09T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=71589"},"modified":"2022-07-19T09:24:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T13:24:11","slug":"challenge-your-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/challenge-your-beliefs\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Your Beliefs: Are They Yours or Society’s?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is it important to challenge your beliefs<\/a>? How do you know whether your beliefs and opinions about the world are true? What are the consequences of living with blind beliefs? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenging your beliefs is an important step in self-growth. The more you question the validity of your thoughts and beliefs, the less likely you are to accept other people\u2019s opinions as your own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following questions will help you question your beliefs<\/a> to see whether they align with who you really are<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Assess Your Current Opinions and Beliefs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An important step in learning to think for yourself<\/a> is assessing whether your current opinions and beliefs align with who you really are, or if they only exist to please or impress others. She suggests that you can dissect each of your opinions and beliefs by asking yourself the following four questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. When was the first time you came across this idea?<\/strong> For example, you believe that people should not make mistakes. You remember overhearing your parents punishing one of your siblings for making errors on a spelling test. <\/li>
  2. How does this idea influence your judgment of yourself, other people, and your experiences?<\/strong> Your belief that people should not make mistakes compels you to be overly critical of yourself and others. It also makes you feel resentful of the experiences that don\u2019t live up to your perfect standards.<\/li>
  3. How might adopting opposing ideas impact you?<\/strong> If instead, you choose to believe that it\u2019s okay to make mistakes<\/a>, you might find it easier to accept and forgive yourself<\/a> and others for making mistakes. You might also be less inclined to notice mistakes in the first place.<\/li>
  4. How would you choose to think about this if your thoughts were already aligned with who you really are? <\/strong>Your aligned self sees mistakes as a valuable part of learning. Therefore, there\u2019s no need to feel critical of yourself or others for making mistakes.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Use CBT to Challenge Your Opinions and Beliefs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The CBT method provides more specific questions to help you challenge your beliefs by objectively examining them from multiple perspectives. Therefore, you\u2019ll gain a deeper understanding<\/a> of your beliefs if you answer the following questions in addition to Wiest\u2019s four questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n