4 Questions to Banish Your Negative Beliefs

One of my 9 principals of change is that people who successfully navigate change have positive beliefs. The question is, how do you get rid of the negative ones that constantly pop up?
 
Brain-imagery specialist and best-selling author, Daniel Amen, MD, suggests neutralizing what he calls automatic negative thoughts, or ANTs, as follows: Whenever you detect an ANT—i.e., all-or-nothing thinking, focusing on the negative, guilt beatings, labeling, blaming, mind reading, fortune telling and so on—write it down and then ask yourself these four questions:
 
1. Is the thought true?
2. Can I absolutely know it’s true?
3. How does it make me feel?
4. Who would I be without this thought?
 
Write down the answers and over time, you’ll come to understand that just because you have a thought doesn’t mean you have to believe it.