ABC Model

MINDSET & GROWTH TOOLS

Map the link between triggering events, beliefs, and outcomes
to interrupt automatic responses.

Where This Tool Helps

The ABC Model comes from cognitive behavioural therapy and does one specific thing well: it slows down the gap between what happened and what you did about it. Most clients arrive convinced that events cause their reactions directly. The model shows them the middle layer — the belief that interprets the event — and that is where the real leverage lives.

The common mistake is filling in A and C first, then working backward to B. That sequence reinforces the illusion that events drive outcomes. Start with A, then ask what belief made C feel like the only possible response. The Beliefs & Behaviours box is the hardest to fill honestly, and it is the most useful one.

The steps below are sequenced to counteract that pattern — moving deliberately from trigger to interpretation to consequence, in order.

How to Use This Worksheet

  1. In the Activating Agent box, describe the event precisely — what happened, where, who was present. Stay factual. Do not include your interpretation of it yet.
  2. In the Beliefs & Behaviours box, describe what you told yourself about the event and what you did in response. This is the interpretive layer.
  3. In the Consequences box, note both the positive and negative outcomes of that response. Most situations have both.
  4. Look at the sub-type labels — Rational / Irrational. Ask whether the belief in step 2 was proportionate to the actual event in step 1.
  5. Use this as a single-incident tool first. Patterns emerge after you have completed it for 3 to 5 separate events.
1

ABC Model

A
Activating Agent
Internal / External
Describe events preceding your actions or thoughts
B
Beliefs & Behaviours
Rational / Irrational
What did you tell yourself? What actions did you take?
C
Consequences
Positive / Negative
Describe the positive and negative consequences

To Consider

Now that you can see it laid out: Which belief in box B do you hold most automatically — the one you rarely examine? What would change if that belief were slightly less fixed?

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