Using a Thought Ladder to upgrade your beliefs
Changing a deeply held belief you have about yourself can seem impossible. The idea of thinking the “opposite” of what you currently think is too wild, too different, unimaginable. And from where you are at present, it probably is.
This is why you need a Thought Ladder — a simple tool to help you go from repeating a limiting belief to practicing an empowering one. A Thought Ladder allows you to shift your thinking in small, meaningful increments.
The process is fairly straightforward. Start by asking yourself these two questions:
The concept of a Thought Ladder was introduced by Master Coach Kara Loewentheil in her Thought Ladder podcast episode. I’ve expanded on the concept here and adapted it to a worksheet.
What is the current thought I'm having?
What is the thought I'd like to have instead?
The answer to the second question is your goal thought. This is something that you don’t believe yet, but would like to.
The process involves writing your goal thought at the top rung of a ladder and writing your current thought on the bottom rung.
Next, you’ll come up with intermediate thoughts to work your way up to the goal thought. These intermediate thoughts might start with ‘openers’ such as:
I’m open to the idea of…
It’s possible that…
I can learn to…
I don’t yet know how to, but I can…
Once you have a ‘ladder’ of thoughts, your task is to slowly work your way up the ladder, focussing on only the thought above the one you currently believe. Once that new thought becomes your current thought, you move up to the next rung.
By following this stepped process, you’ll be able to create a pathway from your current thinking to a much more productive, desirable thought.
I’ve created a free, editable PDF worksheet to walk yourself through the process of creating your own thought ladders. The worksheet also gives you three examples of common thought ladders to help you visualise the process, such as:
How to go from “I’m bad with money” to “I am good at managing my money”
How to go from “I'm destined to be miserable at my job” to “I can find a job doing something I love”
How to go from “I hate the way my body looks” to “I feel good about my body”
Download your free Thought Ladder worksheet:
If you have feedback to share or would like to see a particular topic covered, please let me know! Email coaching@witten.kim to share your thoughts.
