Name:Date:
How to use this sheet. Every good thing anybody built started as a belief that contradicted reality
as it currently stood. This sheet takes one belief of yours and treats it seriously: name it, name the doubt, and design the smallest test.
- Write the belief in plain words a friend would understand.
- Page 2 turns it into a test you can run this week.
STEP 1
The belief
What do you want that does not exist yet — for you, or for the people around you?
1.Why it matters to me:
STEP 2
Why it sounds delusional
Say the doubt out loud so it stops running the show.
2.The reasons it "can't" happen:
3.Who might judge it, and what they would say:
4.Which of those reasons are about the world, and which are about fear?
Clarify — Judgment usually arrives before proof does. That is the ordinary order of things. It is not a sign you are wrong.
→ Flip to page 2: the smallest test.
Name:Date:
Imagination is the entry fee. The effort is what separates a belief from a wish. A test is small enough to run this week and honest enough to fail.
1The smallest version I could try this week
Not the whole thing. One step someone could watch you take.
2What would count as proof it is working
Something you could point to. "It felt good" does not count; "I did it three times" does.
3What I will do if it fails
A failed test is data, not a verdict. Nobody is short on potential — people are short on repetitions. Plan the second try now.
STEP 4
The four steps
Tick each one as it happens.
| Step | What it looks like for me | Done |
|---|
| Imagine it | | ☐ |
| Build it | | ☐ |
| Trust it | | ☐ |
| Do the work | | ☐ |
⭐ After the test — one line
What happened? What do you believe now?
You do not have to be sure. You have to be willing to find out.
FOR MENTOR USE — READ FIRST (not printed with the student sheet)
Mentor Guide
Companion to I Think I'm Delusional on tervik.org/journey
1. What this sheet builds
The move from wish to test. The essay says imagination is the entry fee and effort is what separates a belief from a wish; the sheet makes the student design a test small enough to run and honest enough to fail.
2. Running it
- Do not evaluate the belief. Your job is the test, not the verdict. A "delusional" goal with a real first step is exactly right.
- Step 2 Q4 is the hinge: separating world-reasons from fear-reasons. Most students have never sorted them.
- Make Q2 on page 2 concrete. If the proof cannot be counted or pointed at, shrink the test until it can.
3. The debrief
- Come back after the week. Whatever happened, the repetition is the win — say so plainly.
- If it failed, run Q3: the second try was already planned. Help them adjust, not abandon.
- If it worked, ask what the next smallest step is. Do not jump to the whole thing.
4. Tone
Warm and honest at the same time. Do not soften a weak test to keep the peace, and do not talk them out of the belief to keep them safe. Restriction has a cost we rarely name.