Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering (Beyond Suffering Book 1)

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That’s it. Don’t believe everything you think. Our default setting is to simultaneously believe and embody the thoughts that we have. But the thoughts that we have are sometimes wrong, unwise, or unhelpful. So we should not automatically buy into them, and we should not automatically use them to guide our behavior. Is it Valid? If all of these thoughts were empowering, non-stop thinking wouldn’t be an issue! But far too often, thoughts lead you astray, bring you down, or obstruct your ability to do things that you care about. You can’t always control when these thoughts will surface. But you can develop strategies for responding to them in a way that doesn’t bring you down. Even if our thoughts are valid, they still might not be helpful. Just because a thought is true and logical does not mean you want to act on it, embody it, or allow it to occupy your mind. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help determine whether or not a thought is helpful:

Some thoughts appear in an instant. Others are reoccurring, and represent a longer-standing narrative in your mind. Seeing that the thoughts which cause you suffering are not the truth helps you let go of them, so you can focus instead on loving what is. See Your Thoughts for What They AreThis principle gives you the power to take control of how you respond to your thoughts as you go through life. It helps you let go of thoughts that bring you down, so you can cultivate greater peace and joy.

Note the thought with gentle curiosity, giving it a one-word descriptor. (Along the lines of, “Ah, I see: Fear.”) With Mental Noting, you gently “note” thoughts or sensations as they arise in your mind by giving them a simple 1-word descriptor. (e.g. warm, tense, anger, etc.) When you’ve identified a thought that creates suffering for you, proceed with the following four questions:The human mind is constantly processing the world around it. Each day is a non-stop barrage of thoughts, questions, and observations. What do I mean by that? I mean developing a better relationship with your thoughts. I mean recognizing and altering your habitual patterns of thought. I mean developing better habits of thought. Regular doses of wisdom can help! Every other week, I publish an article with actionable tips and strategies that you can use immediately to make your life better. Joseph Nguyen is the author of the #1 international bestselling book, Don't Believe Everything You Think, which has been translated into 31+ languages.

The second reason why not believing everything you think is difficult is that we’re often unaware of our thoughts. Most of our thoughts arise automatically, and we instantly believe and embody them. We rarely recognize them as thoughts at all. Becoming more aware of your thoughts requires mindfulness, journaling, or the help of a cognitive therapist. The gist of The Work is simple: Believing your thoughts often leads to suffering. This means suffering is optional, because your thoughts are not always true. You can choose not to get swept away by your thoughts. Start by noting thoughts and feelings with gentle curiosity as they arise. And when you find yourself face-to-face with a more intense thought or interpersonal conflict, use The Work to see more clearly. One minute you might be feeling down about a challenge at work, and the next minute you’re laughing at the joke of a friend.

The fundamental truth that gives you these powers is that your thoughts are not always true, so you don’t have to believe them. Don’t Believe Everything you Think Oftentimes, these are “should” thoughts. (e.g. “The world should be different,” or “My significant other should act in a different way.”) When examining one of your thoughts, the first consideration is whether or not the thought is valid. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help with this: The Turnarounds help reveal the contradictory nature of our stories about other people, and how our judgements are also true, or truer for ourselves. But when you hold on to your thoughts as if they are the utmost truth, unpleasant feelings are sure to follow.