Our beliefs shape our lives. They determine how we interpret what happened in the past, how we react to what happens in the present, and what we expect for the future. To improve our lives, we must upgrade our beliefs. But can be hard to do that -- because of our attachments to our negative beliefs.

This article walks through a liberating cost-benefit analysis of four common reasons for holding onto negative beliefs. The bottom line? Generally, our attachment to negative beliefs persists because we over-estimate the benefits and underestimate the costs of keeping them. See Article