How to Identify Our Core Beliefs
Core beliefs are the deep assumptions we hold about ourselves, our relationships, other people, and the world. Below many of our automatic thoughts, they shape our day-to-day thoughts and worldview. Most of us are unaware of them, and simply make decisions, assumptions, and judgments without looking at where those actually stem from.
Mindfulness practice in general can help us become more aware of our underlying motivations. This worksheet takes a more targeted approach: once you can see a core belief, you can begin to question it and consider a more realistic view of yourself, your life, other people, and the future.
Core Beliefs Mindfulness Exercise
This free mindfulness exercise guides you in finding and examining your core beliefs. The worksheet above uses a downward arrow technique:
- When you notice you’re upset, you might write down the particularly gripping or distressing thought behind it.
- Ask yourself, “What would happen if this thought were true? What would it say or mean about me or my situation?”
- Draw a downward arrow below the thought and write your answer beneath it. Then ask the same question of that answer, and keep going until you can’t answer it anymore. Where you land is a core belief.
- Step back and question it: “Is this belief true 100% of the time?”
The same method works for beliefs about other people or the world. Start with a negative thought about them and ask what it would say or mean about others or the world. The worksheet suggests not being obsessive about this and working at it for only a few minutes at a time.
Examining core beliefs can be difficult. Getting to where a feeling comes from takes a few minutes of quiet reflection, and what you find may be uncomfortable or painful, since we are often unaware of the beliefs we hold and how long they have been influencing us. Be gentle with yourself for whatever beliefs you have. You are more than your beliefs and assumptions, and beliefs can change.
This is a self-reflection exercise, not therapy. If it brings up more than you want to handle alone, a licensed mental health professional can help.
Where This Technique Comes From
According to the worksheet, identifying core beliefs with a downward arrow is a common practice in cognitive behavioral therapy. It adapts the Vertical Arrow Technique from Dr. David Burns’ book The Feeling Good Handbook, and the Downward Arrow Technique in Padesky and Greenberger’s book Mind Over Mood.
