Can Making Positive Affirmations Improve My Life?

 Are things in your life going as you would like them to? How could anyone possibly feel content with so much difficulty in the world? It would be hard enough if you weren’t worrying about everything from your job and relationships, much less feeling the strain of the various injustices around the globe. So why should I bother with making Positive Affirmations?

What if you knew you could find a way to feel better about life.  What if you could look forward to every day with a sense of anticipation rather than dread or uncertainty? By using positive affirmations every day, you can make a positive difference in your life, starting with how you feel about yourself and working your way out. Positive Affirmations can work to change every single area of your life in a positive and uplifting way.

Think Positive, Be Positive, Stay Positive! 

What Are Positive Affirmations?

"Positive anything is better than negative nothing." Elbert Hubbard

To understand this, you first need to know what affirmations are. Simply put, they are short statements designed to be spoken aloud in a confident manner, which helps change how you see yourself and the world around you. Whilst advocating that you verbalise these statements it also has positive results by simply writing these down in a journal.

Now this might seem a lot to expect from a series of short statements, but their beauty truly lies in how you construct them. For an affirmation to work, they need to be put together to bring the best results. To start with, they absolutely must be personal to you, and your situation, which means making the affirmations yourself is incredibly important.

5 Steps To A Better You

"Each day comes bearing it's gifts - untie the ribbon!" Ann Ruth Schabacker

Thankfully, building your affirmations is pretty easy to do, just follow these five steps.

1. Know the Negative

You can’t make any kind of affirmation without a clear understanding of what you don’t like about yourself. Sit down and make a list of what you feel are your worst qualities. Include here anything other people have said about you which have stuck with you, true or not. Once you have this, explore the commonality. What links these thoughts or beliefs? For example, you might feel you lack confidence, or you’re incapable of doing anything right.

2. Restate to the Positive

This common factor now needs to be rewritten to reflect a more positive mindset. What is the converse of what you believe? Taking one of the examples from above, you might write down, “I am a confident person.”

3. Say It

This next part should be the easiest. Simply say these words out loud several times a day. Obviously, avoid saying them out loud in company. Just in case the people that overhear you think you might be having some sort of mental breakdown!

Try scheduling a particular time to spend on this, so you don’t forget, and it also helps to build the habit. Also, don’t rattle off the words. Think about them as you say them. Reflect on what they mean. You might even try writing them down on paper as you say them, almost like a “to do” list. This has a reinforcement element to it.

4. Make it Physical

As you speak the affirmation, feel it in your body. Breathe the words into yourself. Tuck it into your heart and anchor it in the pit of your stomach. Feel it inside of you. Think about what confidence feels like as you say, “I am a confident person” and try to pull a confident feeling throughout your body until it becomes part of you.

5. Take it Outside

It helps to hear someone else say these words, especially if you’re trying to rewire a message from someone else who might have put you down in the past. Ask someone you trust to say those words to you often as you work through this.

Stay In The Moment

Supercharging Your Positive Affirmations

"Know what sparks the light in you, then use that light to illuminate the World." Oprah Winfrey

Now, with affirmations in hand, let’s get to work. Acting on these five steps will get you started. Now it’s time to supercharge them to get the most out of every word you say.

1. Dig Deep

When you’re working with affirmations, you need to understand your most profound truths to go far beneath the surface. At first glance, you might think you have a negative thought for one reason, only to find this is only the tip of the iceberg. What you’re looking at is something else entirely. Go as deeply as you can for the best possible result.

2. Create S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Chances are you’ve heard this acronym before. If you haven’t or it’s been a while, the letters stand for:

•             Specific

•             Measurable

•             Actionable

•             Realistic

•             Timely

When you’re making affirmations, you need to create statements that reflect as many of these aspects as possible to hone your focus.

3. Mind Your Words

Whether you realise it or not, words have a lot of power in them. Just hearing specific phrases can set you up for success or failure. For example, say you feel like you’re not very smart. The thought you’re trying to change might be “I am stupid.” If you say “I’m not stupid,” your brain focuses on the negative word “stupid” and burns it in your subconscious. This strengthens the negative thought instead of being positive as you intended. Creating an affirmation with a positive word, such as “I am smart” works much better.

4. Keep in the Now

You should write every affirmation in the present tense. When you think in the future tense, you draw your attention away from the ‘now’ into a ‘possible someday.’ This turns your affirmation into a most less useful wish. In contrast, an affirmation in the present tense tells yourself you’re already there. It’s only a matter of accepting this truth.

5. Talk about Yourself

With affirmations, it’s good to keep the focus always on yourself. Be sure to use “I” statements over anything else. “Happiness is here” is not as effective as “I am happy,” for example.

6. Keep things Personal

Sure, there are many affirmations you can find online already written out for your use. Still, it’s always better to craft your own where possible. This way, they speak to your specific situation.

7. Connect to Emotion

Anytime you can connect a thought to an emotion, you will have a better and longer-lasting response. Instead of “I say clever things,” try, “I say clever things and feel pleased when I do.” Then, when you say it, focus on the emotion you want to link to the affirmation.

Let Yourself Shine

8. Be Specific

When you’re vague in an affirmation, you’re leaving way too much to be open to interpretation. Try to become detailed in what you’re picturing in your mind, especially in regards to the emotions mentioned previously.

9. Make it Catchy

Affirmations should be repeated often. They lose impact if you’re always changing what you’re trying to say because you forget the words. If you add a rhyme or make the phrase catchy somehow, you’re going to remember it more easily, making it easier to repeat when you need to.

10. Set a Schedule

Affirmations only truly work well when you repeat them frequently over many days. The problem is, we’re only human. We get busy, we have good intentions, but it’s easy to forget or to put off doing what you’re supposed to. If you put affirmations part of your daily routine with a set time on your schedule to say them, you’re more likely to stick with them.

11. Slow Down

If you say the same thing over and over, after a while, you’ll find yourself speeding up the words or, worse, not paying attention to what you’re saying. The phrases become meaningless and start to do you no good at all. For best results, take your time in speaking your affirmations, so you can think about what you’re saying.

12. Step Cautiously

Sometimes you’re going to explore an affirmation that might lead you to painful memories or emotion you’re not ready to process. This is normal and part of this process. Don’t panic if it happens to you. Simply step back and give yourself time to explore where this thought comes from. It might help to work through the painful memory in pieces, working to affirm it in stages. No matter what, be patient and allow yourself time to deal with this in as much time as needed.

13. Believe

If you don’t believe affirmations are going to work, they won’t. It’s ok to be skeptical as long as you keep an open mind. Allow yourself the possibility of your success. Create and speak your affirmations, and with a little faith, you’ll be amazed at the results.

14. Keep it Current

The more you do affirmations, the more change you’re going to see in your life. This is why it’s essential to revisit your affirmations frequently and ask if they’re still serving your needs. It might be you’re ready to explore a deeper aspect of the same problem or to move in a new direction entirely.

15. Do You

Some people will tell you should say your affirmations right when you wake up. Others will say the same thing, only to do them at night before you go to bed. Or to stand up when saying them. There’s always someone who will have the ‘best’ way to do things. You need to do what works for you. The important thing is to pick a time when your mind is alert and ready for new information and to be consistent in doing them. Whatever works for you is the right way to do affirmations.

Seeing Is Believing

Conclusion

"Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own." Michelle Obama

When you use affirmations, you have to remember it takes time for them to work their best. You need to be consistent and patient as you go through this process. Once you’ve mastered them, you’re going to see some massive changes in your life. Affirmations open you up to all kinds of positive change, which is what makes them very powerful.

Employing “positive affirmations” WILL help you become a more positive person. The benefits are REAL with a positive impact on your mental and spiritual well-being. The adoption of helpful thinking patterns will influence proactive behaviour, and create empowering changes in your work, relationships and various aspects of life. It really is a WIN-WIN situation.

————————————–