Here’s one way to map the levels from easily challenged to intrinsic and micro-ingrained:
Nature: Casual, low-investment ideas.
Example: “I think pineapple on pizza is gross.”
How they change: One good experience, convincing evidence, or peer influence.
Challenge level: Minimal — facts, humor, or a new experience can flip it.
Nature: Formed from recent experiences, trends, or social environment.
Example: “This diet is the best for me.”
How they change: Contradictory evidence or personal trial showing better results.
Challenge level: Low to moderate — these beliefs haven’t had time to sink roots.
Nature: Built from repeated personal experience.
Example: “Hard work pays off.”
How they change: Compelling counter-experiences or witnessing consistent evidence that challenges the rule.
Challenge level: Moderate — you must unseat both the belief and the history that supports it.
Nature: Linked to how a person sees themselves.
Example: “I’m not a creative person.”
How they change: Requires reframing self-concept, often through repeated new experiences and affirmations.
Challenge level: High — change feels like altering “who I am,” which triggers resistance.
Nature: Inherited from family, religion, culture, or “tribe.”
Example: “This is the only true way to live.”
How they change: Often shifts only through sustained exposure to other cultures, values, or a crisis that breaks loyalty to the group.
Challenge level: Very high — change risks loss of belonging.
Nature: Subconscious assumptions embedded in early life or repeated reinforcement — the “water you swim in.”
Example: “I’m only worthy if I’m productive.”
How they change: Deep inner work, somatic practices, re-patterning the nervous system, long-term coaching/therapy, or a life-altering event.
Challenge level: Extreme — these beliefs operate beneath conscious thought, so they must first be seen before they can be shifted.
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