The Work
Question a painful belief and hold its opposite as at least as true
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 99%
The Work is Byron Katie's structured inquiry into a painful belief. Begin with one precise statement and ask whether it is true and whether you can absolutely know it is true. Then examine what happens when you believe the thought, including emotional, bodily, and behavioral effects. Imagine the same situation without access to that thought and notice what becomes available. Next, turn the statement around and gather real evidence that the opposite is at least as true, not merely intellectually conceivable. The original possibility does not need to be denied; both sides can be held without righteous certainty. Diana Chapman calls this walking the line. The mechanism separates an event from the suffering generated by certainty about its meaning, settles the mind toward neutrality, and creates more capacity to stay present, learn, and respond.
Origin
Byron Katie developed The Work. Diana Chapman said she uses it with herself and clients and demonstrated it with Tim Ferriss's belief about future depressive episodes.
Core principles
- 01Believing a story can create present suffering
- 02Certainty weakens when a belief is questioned honestly
- 03The opposite can be held without erasing the original possibility
- 04Head, heart, and body should all register the evidence
- 05Neutrality creates room for presence and learning
How to run it
- 1
State the belief
Choose one specific judgment or prediction that is creating distress. Keep separate beliefs in separate inquiries.
Pro tip Use a direct sentence such as, ‘It is dangerous if I go into a depressive episode.’
Watch out Do not blur several claims together; decide which one is most charged.
- 2
Question its truth
Ask whether the belief is true, then whether you can absolutely know for sure that it is true.
- 3
Observe belief's effects
Describe what it is like when you believe the thought, including emotions, vigilance, body sensations, and behavior.
Pro tip Stay with direct present experience rather than debating the belief abstractly.
- 4
Remove the thought temporarily
Imagine being in the same moment while unable to believe that thought. Notice the resulting state without installing a replacement thought.
Pro tip Use breath and, if helpful, closed eyes to become more present.
Watch out This is inquiry, not permanent deletion or denial of risk.
- 5
Turn it around
Form an opposite version of the belief and look for concrete ways it is at least as true as the original.
Pro tip Find multiple real examples and let the evidence register in the head, heart, and body.
Watch out A merely intellectual answer may not change the felt certainty.
- 6
Walk the line
Allow the original and its opposite to coexist without claiming righteous certainty for either. Return attention to what is happening and what can be learned.
In the wild
Tim examined the belief that a future depressive episode would be dangerous. He identified panic and hyper-vigilance when believing it, then found evidence for the turnaround: he had survived many past episodes, had supportive people and experts, and could access a nonjudgmental witness.
→ Holding both danger and non-danger as possible reduced the certainty feeding anticipatory panic.
The belief ‘My sister shouldn't be selfish’ can be turned into ‘My sister should be selfish,’ ‘I should be selfish,’ and ‘I shouldn't be selfish,’ followed by evidence for how each is at least as true.
→ The inquiry lowers reactivity enough to make breathing and later problem-solving more available.
Common mistakes
Using inquiry while dysregulated
Diana recommends first using movement and breath to calm the nervous system. Otherwise the exercise can become a weapon or another form of intellectualization.
Treating the turnaround as denial
The goal is not to prove the original belief false. It is to recognize that the opposite may be at least as true and loosen righteous certainty.
Keeping the evidence in the head
Intellectual assent may only glance off the belief. Let concrete counterevidence register through breath, feeling, and bodily experience.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for recurring judgments and beliefs that can be examined after the nervous system is calm enough for honest inquiry.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as an immediate first response while severely dysregulated or as a reason to ignore practical danger.
From the transcript
“Okay, is it true? Is it true this thing you believe? Can you absolutely know it's true?”
“You can keep your righteous stories, but can we also ask you to hold the opposites as at least as true so that the mind…”
“I call it walking the line. It's like I walk a line right down the center where I'm holding both is equally true.”
From the episode
#536: Diana Chapman — How to Get Unstuck, Do “The Work,” Take Radical Responsibility, and Reduce Drama in Your Life
Diana Chapman