Someone asked about this in a discussion and I thought it would be worth a repost and it's own thread. The process of challenging schema's (schema is a word for Subconscious beliefs. These are beliefs you have that drive your behavior, and often you are not aware of what these beliefs are) is in Alpha Mindset. The chapter on challenging anxiety. I'll give you the synopsis here in steps: 1. Take a look at something you are failing at or need to change. Let's say it's getting started in updating your resume and seeking new employment. If your action plan is simple and you are just not doing it and you seem to be self sabotaging, then we need to assume that something is wrong with your inner game. Assume that doing this represents a threat or pain or fear or something you are trying to avoid. 2. So start asking yourself questions, and take notes or journal them. What does updating the resume and seeking employment mean to you? what does it represent? what could you be afraid of? Meditate and brainstorm these types of questions 3. These questions will uncover subconscious beliefs (schemas) in regards to seeking new employment. Put those into a clear and concise statement. So maybe you might write a few statements like: "New employment highlights that I have been a failure at my current job" "Updating the resume and seeking new employment seems like a tedious waste of time." "I am comfortable in my job and I am nervous about change" 4. Now that you have put words to schema's and made yourself conscious of what has been in your subconscious, it is time to challenge these ideas. 5. Take a statement, like "New employment highlights that I have been a failure", and write all the ways that statement might seem true. Basically, Argue FOR the schema first. So that might look like.... "I picked a job that ended up being a dead end, and I wasted 5 years of my life there making less money then I should have. I've grown comfortable with it not being very challenging, but now I am financially hindered. And leaving this job means starting from scratch, and I have failed and found myself in a dead in job so what if I make the same mistake except with a new employer that is even worse?"

Just wanted to write a quick post to help with your frame, how you view others, and mental growth. I was having a discussion the other day with another professional (PHd psychologist). He is a pretty down to earth guy and he had said "well people don't usually change." I challenged that paradigm. It's true if you put the word "usually". But that way of thinking points to 2 ways of thinking about human behavior that can frame how you approach personal growth, relationships, and others. So let's talk about this. There are a few subconscious schemas that people use to tend to frame others and growth. Let's look over the strengths and limits of each. 1. "People are generally good (or generally bad) 2. "People and actions have purpose" 3. "People don't change" 4. "People and actions have reasons" "People are generally good (or bad)" This is moralizing. People who grew up with a religious background tend to take this stance. They grew up where parents "shamed" others for bad behaviors, and praised others for good, and the ideology could go in either direction. A person from a very dogmatic religion good take the stance that all people are inherently bad or evil and need seek salvation and ultimately fight their evil nature to be good. You'll hear language like "We are all sinners who need to repent or need to be saved" and so forth. More progressive churches could believe that people are generally good. We are all Gods children and made in his image, and thoughts along those lines. Judiasm and Islam do the same things in different ways. The benefits of moralizing is you tend to be more tribal, and create an "us vs them" mentality. This can protect you and your family in some ways. Another benefit of moralizing is that you might not lose site of your moral principles and values when you make choices. Some huge disadvantages with this way of thinking is that you tend to judge people as "good" or "evil," which is not really objectively true and can cause you to misread others. You can take things personally as well and see people as "bad people" when they do something wrong. The group identity can be protective, but it can also exclude and isolate you socially in negative ways.