A thought that trips you up, looked at gently through four questions. Our thoughts aren't always truths — they're the stories we tell ourselves. Sometimes they help us, sometimes they hurt us. Inspired by "The Work" — Byron Katie's method.

Write a thought that trips you up.

Keep it short, exactly as it sounds in your mind — not how you "should" say it.

Question 1 — Is it true?

Answer from your first instinct. You don't have to justify it.

Question 2 — Can you absolutely know that it's true?

Can you say, 100% sure, without a shred of doubt, that this is how it is? Always? For everyone?

Question 3 — How do you react when you believe this thought?

What do you feel in your body? How do you treat your friends, your parents, yourself? How do you sleep? How do you study? How do you look at yourself in the mirror?

Question 4 — Who would you be without this thought?

Imagine a day — even just an hour — when this thought wasn't in your mind. What would you be like? What would you do differently? How would you talk to yourself?

Turnaround 1 — to the opposite

Turnaround 2 — to yourself

Turnaround 3 — to the other