How False Negative Thoughts Become Self-Sabotaging Behaviors

Overcoming False Limiting Beliefs: Part 2

Today, we’re exploring how false negative beliefs become self-sabotaging behaviors.

Decades ago, when I first started teaching mindset concepts to young people, I developed an analogy to explain the beliefs-to-behaviors process that I’ve been using ever since.

Here it is…an apple seed becoming an apple.

Let’s dive in.

When we think about an apple seed becoming an apple, there are three distinct phases.

Seed
The process starts with an apple seed being planted in the ground

Root
In the second stage, growth begins. It starts down, not up. The initial growth of the seedling produces a root system that supplies nutrients to the eventual fruit.

Fruit
In this final stage, the apples are produced.

As we think about these stages in relation to thoughts, seed>root>fruit becomes thoughts>beliefs>behavior. Let's explore those more fully.

Stage 1: Thoughts
In stage one, initial thoughts are planted into our minds like seeds into soil. These thoughts can originate internally (how we interpret experiences, our memories, etc.) or externally (words and actions of others). These initial thoughts can be true (reflecting reality) or false (inaccurate perceptions).

Stage 2: Beliefs
In the second stage, those initial thoughts become beliefs we actually start to embrace. When they’re just thoughts, they’re not necessarily things that we own yet. If they are repeated and left unchecked and unchallenged, the thoughts become things we embrace and agree with. This root system provides the “life source” of our actions.

Stage 3: Behavior
In phase three, we start manifesting our beliefs as behavior. In the same way that the apple is the visible result of the non-visible root system, our actions are the visible result of our non-visible belief system. The initial thoughts grow into a system of belief that produces our behavior.

When initial thoughts are false and negative, and they form a root system of belief in a young person, the resulting choices and actions usually lead them to miss out on their personal development and their full potential.

Here are a few examples of real false negative beliefs some of my clients have worked through. Notice how the initial thought forms beliefs they're convinced of and causes specific behavior.

In the first case, the young person was being deprived of growth and development by limiting their learning. In the second case, the young person was being robbed of their full potential by limiting career options.

Most teens are plagued by false negative beliefs and are often unaware of them. They don't realize how many of their decisions and actions are being influenced by beliefs about themselves and their futures that aren't even true.

In the next post, I’ll introduce you to my Busting Free Blueprint. It's a simple three-step process teens use to destroy false-negative beliefs, so they can replace lies with truth and have the freedom to be their best, fullest selves. I hope you'll keep reading along!

START A CONVO
Use these prompts to start a conversation with your child about this topic.

Do you think people can become convinced of things that are'nt true? Explain
Do you think there is a connection between what people believe about themselves and their behavior? Explain.
Explain the thought, belief, behavior sequence, and then ask…Do you think those are legitimate stages? Explain.

Overcoming False Limiting Beliefs Series

Part 1: The Mind is Powerful and Dangerous

Part 2: How False Negative Beliefs Become Self-Sabotaging Behaviors (currently reading)

Part 3:

Part 4:

About the Author

Jay DuSold

Jay has spent over three decades working with young people and parents as a mentor and life coach. He started focusing exclusively on career guidance in 2014 after helping his son figure out career direction while he was a junior in high school.

As a youth career guide, he helps teens and twenty-somethings around the world identify a job fit to gain clarity and confidence about career direction so they’ll reach their full potential and avoid the waste of getting it wrong.

As an author and speaker, he equips young people to think differently about their identity, true success, and figuring out where they can be awesome in the world of work. He also empowers youth advocates and organizations to more effectively support the young people they serve through their career guidance initiatives.