How to Identify an Irrational Belief

Irrational beliefs can be detrimental to achieving a goal or living a stable lifestyle. Beliefs that don't hold any truth or don't contain any logical sense to them can keep you from overcoming emotional blocks and can influence the way you view people, places and things on a large scale. Depending on the severity of the belief, people can view you as insane. Fortunately, the first step in treating an irrational belief is identifying and becoming aware that you have it.

Instructions

How to Identify an Irrational Belief

• 1

  Find out about your general state of being. If you are depressed or unhappy with the way things are going, but cannot find the reason why, then it may be likely that its a belief that is not true in real life and is only believed to be true by you.

• 2

  Look for any problems, habits or sticking points that keep you from solving a situation. If you find yourself avoiding a problem or a creative way on fixing that problem, then an irrational belief can be stopping you out of fear from results.

• 3

  Become aware of the ways you imagine solving a situation. Take notice if you use magical thinking or fantasize about how to get around the problem without putting any effort. Irrational beliefs can limit the way you resolve problems by letting you think there is an easier alternative.

• 4

  Analyze your past thoughts after dealing with stressful situations. Find out if your thinking pattern holds any truth to real life by reflecting back in what realistically happened as opposed to what you think may have happened.

• 5

  Look into your childhood memories. Ask yourself if there is any scenario that happened when you were a kid, which can support or may have created an irrational belief. Many beliefs are created during our early years as kids, and can be imaginative to the point of highly unrealistic circumstances.