Affirmations are frequently repeated short empowering statements like “I am healthy” or “Peace is mine.” You purposely repeat your affirmation out loud or silently to reinforce it. Yet affirmations are really any thoughts or words we repeat to ourselves over and over like “I can do this,” “I am ready,” “I can’t win,” “If I have luck, it’s bad luck,” or “I am not worthy.”
Why positive affirmations?
We are surrounded by affirmations all day long. Every spoken word or thought can be seen as an affirmation even when we think we are joking. Our subconscious takes these expressions, beliefs and thoughts as truth and then creates a world that reflects them back at us. This is why it is so important to be aware of our self-talk and use only positive affirmations.
Positive affirmations are short statements that use positive language to focus on what we want to attract or experience. A positive affirmation offers the subconscious a healthy, healing attitude or belief to reflect back to us. The examples, “I have healthy boundaries” rather than “I won’t get taken advantage of” demonstrates the difference between using positive or negative language to create an affirmation. “I have healthy boundaries” talks about what you want to create moving forward rather than ““I won’t get taken advantage of,” which focuses on the negative situation you want to leave behind.
The basics here are to focus on what you want in an empowering way. It may not be true yet, but you are affirming to yourself and your subconscious that this is the goal you are looking to achieve. Yet as you will see, affirmations also need to be somewhat believable and achievable.
Why affirmations work
Positive Affirmations compel your brain and your subconscious to examine a new belief. If the new belief is too unbelievable, you will experience a negative reaction or resistance when you say it. This is why an affirmation must have enough truth or possibility in it to avoid this resistance. “I am healthy” may be too hard to accept when you are lying in bed sick yet “I am getting healthier by the moment” or “my body has what it needs to heal” may be more believable and create less resistance.
It is important to create a believable affirmation that still stretches yourself toward your desired goal. Yet when you feel that resistance to even a well-formed affirmation, it is time to look at what underlying beliefs may be creating the resistance. Whether using intuition or therapy to flush out the belief, bringing it into your conscious mind for reflection and assessment is an important step toward healing.
Consistency and repetition are important for any affirmation’s success. There is no magic number of how many times to repeat your affirmation, yet setting times or situations that will remind you to repeat your affirmation is helpful. Maybe when you take your morning vitamins, eat lunch, answer a text, drive home, eat dinner and before bed would be examples of times or situations that can help consistency.
How quickly do affirmations work?
Since affirmations reprogram your thoughts and thereby your reality, your affirmation’s success depends foremost on believability. The next important factors are consistency and frequency. Finally, your affirmation’s success will be in direct measure to your ability to accept and make the changes reflected in your affirmation.
Why doesn’t everyone use Affirmations?
We all use affirmations, yet all too often they are the negative ones! Your negative affirmations are just as powerful, maybe even more so because you have been programmed to believe them!
I used to always say “If I was organized, I’d be dangerous!” I was telling my subconscious not to get organized! Negative affirmations can sneak into your life without even realizing it. Take time to listen to your self-talk. See what affirmations you are telling yourself.
Breaking free of negative thinking or self-talk can be daunting yet it is imperative for healing. Healing includes the mental aspect and it is through affirmations that you can begin that shift into believing in yourself and your abilities to change. It is all about becoming aware of your thoughts and words while choosing positive yet realistic and believable affirmations. It’s not easy, which is another reason why everyone isn’t doing it, yet using positive affirmations on a daily basis will make you a believer too!
Create your own Affirmations
You can create your own affirmations by taking a realistic goal or belief and turning it into an “I am” statement. Not all affirmations have to be “I am” statements, yet it is an easy place to start.
Yet let’s give an example that is not an “I am” statement. If your reading shows that you are blocking love by the tendency to believe the best in people and giving them more credit than they deserve, maybe start with “I allow people to show me who they are.” or “I trust people will show me who they are.” You don’t need to add “rather than believing the best of them” as that is what you want to leave behind. If you wanted to use an “I am” statement, you could affirm “I am allowing.”
Maybe you struggle with seeing the best in people and want to affirm that ability. “I see the best in others.” Remember that short is better.
Putting Affirmations to Work
There is no perfect way to use an affirmation yet consistency and frequency will strengthen the ability of the affirmation to shift your conscious and unconscious beliefs.
- Write the affirmation down on a piece of paper. There is something about writing rather than typing that creates a deeper connection.
- Repeat your affirmation multiple times a day either out loud or silently. Saying your affirmation out loud in front of a mirror is particularly powerful!
Figure out times or situations where you will be reminded to say your affirmation like in the shower, during breakfast, on your way to work, before you text, while walking to your car or to get the mail, eating a snack, during commercials, when on the toilet, or before going to bed.
These are a few suggestions to remember to repeat your affirmation. Although there is no specific number of times to repeat your affirmation and you really can’t overdo it, strive for 5-10 times a day and see how that works for you. The more passionately you say your affirmation and the more believable it is, the more effective it will be and the more quickly you will see results.
