Ask yourself: ‘How did I come to believe this in the first place?’
When in the grip of a negative thought process our instinctive response to this question might be, ‘Because it’s true, of course!’: but the origins of our beliefs are usually based in specific experiences that have taught us to think in certain ways.
When addressing a negative thought, can you identify any critical incidents or experiences responsible for the current levels of your conviction regarding your belief? If you had not been through that experience would that have changed the way you see things?
Maybe your belief is a piece of received wisdom, a piece of programming handed down from someone close to you. When you think about your belief can you picture anyone else who ...
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