A belief can feel true simply because it produces a strong emotion. The feeling arrives first, and the mind treats its force as confirmation. This practice slows that down and asks what the actual evidence supports, looking at the evidence for the belief and the evidence against it with equal care. What you are after at the end is the most balanced and accurate belief available, not the most positive one.

In this exercise you will state the belief plainly, in one clear sentence. You will notice where you feel it in your body, observing the emotion and sensations without using their intensity as proof. Then you will ask what actual evidence supports the belief, keeping to facts you can verify rather than fears or predictions, and separating direct evidence from interpretation. Next you will ask what evidence contradicts the belief or shows that it is not completely true, and look there just as carefully, including exceptions, past outcomes, and facts the original belief may have filtered out. You will hold both sides together and notice which facts are strongest, what remains genuinely uncertain, and whether the belief claimed more than the evidence supports. Then you will state a more balanced and accurate belief, one that still includes the difficulty, and notice how your body responds as you say it.