Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions

It is widely believed that the human mind produces approximately 70,000 thoughts per day, most of

which occur unconsciously. Inevitably, thoughts are transformed into actions. It is in this processwhere we can consciously decide what action to take.

Core Beliefs and Events

The mind produces thoughts based on two elements: Core Beliefs and Events. Core beliefs are ideasrooted in our mind as truth; events are all situations we face in our daily life. When a situationarises, the mind immediately relies on a core belief associated with that event to create a thoughtaccordingly.

For instance, a man walks into a bar and another man strongly bumps into him driving him sidewaysonto the wall. The man is in pain and immediately thinks, he did it on purpose.

There's an event here, but there's also a core belief involved; the man might believe that people arealways aggressive for no reason, or that people always try to pick a fight after they drink. His corebelief is so strong that he does not consider it may have been an accident. The combination of eventand core belief makes the man think that the attack was intended.

Thoughts Turn into Feelings

The mind's natural reaction to thoughts are feelings. Depending on the nature of our thoughts ourmind and body feels a certain emotion. Negative thoughts result in negative feelings; positivethoughts result in positive feelings.

In the scenario portrayed above, our man has a negative thought. It is likely that he feels angry,irritated, and resentful.

Feelings Turn into Actions

Feelings should be taken as warnings. It is at this stage when we take action based on our emotions,that's why it's important to pay attention to our feelings. If we don't become aware of a negativefeeling, it's possible that we will take a destructive action.

A positive feeling, on the other hand, leads to a positive action. It is also important to be aware ofthese emotions, because they help us take constructive actions.

In the case of our friend above, his anger is a sign that something can go wrong. If he does not seethe warning, he will attack the other person. Or if he manages to stop himself from starting a fightbut remains angry, he might go straight to the bar and drink compulsively to ease his stress.

On the other hand, he could become aware of the negative feeling and choose to let it go. Byanalyzing the situation, he could see that the other man is drunk and didn't even notice the incident.

Our friend can choose to walk away.

Consequences of Actions

Every action we take has a consequence.

Going back to the man in the bar, a consequence of his actions may be that he could get arrested forassault if he chooses to attack the other man. Or if he drank too much out of anger, he could drivedrunk and get stopped by the police resulting in legal issues. In the worst case scenario, he could beinvolved in an accident for driving under the influence of alcohol.

But on the other hand if he is able to recognize his feeling as a warning, he would not allow theincident to ruin his night.

The timeline goes as follows:

Core belief/event turns into thought;

Thought turns into feeling;

Feeling turns into action; and

Action has consequence.

Some consequences related to negative thoughts and bad feelings are violence, alcoholism, crime,accidents, eating disorders, and other avoidable problems.

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