When I do The Work, I find it very helpful to not only split the statements into their components, but also to explore the underlying beliefs – the assumptions behind the belief.
For instance, a statement may be I shouldn’t waste my life, and underlying beliefs may be I am wasting my life, and it is possible to waste one’s life.
Some of the more basic underlying beliefs include I am a human being (which makes everything else into an Other), I live (which means I can die), I am (which makes nonexistence into an Other), and even just the idea of a separate I.