Do affirmations work? What is all the talk about affirmations? Some people have heard of affirmations and they might have used them. Some people love them and some people dislike them but the people who dislike them might not have been using them correctly. Affirmations for self-love work and here's how!
This can be scary territory for you. You might not like to build or boost yourself up. It could bring on feelings of discomfort. However, if you are talking to friend, it might seem natural to build or boost your friend up. This process of creating affirmations is about being your own best friend.
Without having a love affair with yourself, meaning honoring your inner-most qualities, you are going to be at a loss for confidence. Confidence means truly honoring your best qualities and being able to let them shine through to others, but it also means identifying your lesser qualifies and working on them. By working on them with the use of affirmations, you are gong to feel a kind of dissonance or disharmony. By trusting the process and embracing these statements you will soon become more confident and empowered.
A Peaceful Mind Clears Out the Clutter
In our minds, we have weaknesses, fears, vulnerabilities, regrets, guilt, and shame. We can pick out our physical traits that are comparably ugly, fat, too big, or too small compared to the next person. In our minds, we have chaotic and unforgiving clutter. As author Dan Millman writes in The Peaceful Warrior, “Take out the trash”. By clearing out the clutter, you are able to think clearer and become happier. Let’s start with affirmations.
Affirmations are statements that you develop and say to yourself to bring on a more positive way of thinking about yourself. The truth is that your brain will believe what you tell it. The brain is far more powerful than people realize and the more you understand that your thoughts rule your life, the easier time you are going to have creating the life you want for yourself.
When you are feeding your brain self-loving, self-respecting, encouraging statements that rational, your confidence is going to soar. You will start believing these niceties about yourself and feel inspired, energetic and worthy. When you tell your brain self-loathing, disrespectful, discouraging or critical statements your irrational mind is lacking confidence and morale. You will feel bogged down, depressed, anxious or in essence, have a cluttered mind.
Let me show you how it works:
How to Make Affirmations
Choose 5 Negative Thoughts and Let’s Get to Work
Next, I want you to choose about five negative thoughts you have about yourself. These negative thoughts could include weaker character traits or physical traits you dislike about yourself. Create your own.
For example:
I am fat and diets don’t seem to work.
I don’t like the way I look.
I’m a disorganized person who can’t do anything right.
I don’t make the salary I want.
I don’t have many friends.
Present Tense and Positive Statements
In order to create affirmations, they work best if they are in the present tense and are positive in nature with use of positive language. These types of statements also work best if you are in the present tense by using words such as “am”, “feel”, “deserve”.
Short Statements
Short statements tend to work better for affirmations as well. When using long statements, we can get lost in the wording. By using short statements you are able to focus more concisely on simplistic terms in these positive statements.
Opposite in Nature
The non-niceties we speak about ourselves can be re-focused in a positive way through use of opposite statements. This is another way to look at affirmations. By creating a statement that is opposite of the negative statement you are saying about yourself, you can start seeing how an affirmation is revealing itself.
Now Let’s Put the Affirmations into Effect
From the examples above, I am going to reframe these critical statements into affirmations:
I am perfect the way I am and with exercise and healthy eating habits, I feel my best.
I am beautiful just as I am made.
I am unique and capable of being organized.
I deserve a higher paying job and am capable of earning a higher income.
I am happy with the friends I have and deserve to create more friendships.
It Feels Uncomfortable
These statements might be difficult to believe at first. They are possibly going to present some disharmony in your thought process. By rehearsing them, you might feel uncomfortable. The trick is to first create some affirmations based on statements you are willing to work with. What types of unkind, self-talk statements are you motivated to change? By starting slowly and keeping an open mind you will be more likely to say these affirmations to yourself consistently. Also, try to close your eyes and affirm these statements aloud. Use sincerity to let the affirmations flow out of your mouth. Imagine yourself feeling as if the affirmation is already happening in your life.
Where Do You Say Them?
By writing affirmations down on index cards, post it notes, on your mirror at home or computer at work, on your refrigerator or in your car, you are able to keep them right in front of you. You want them accessible and working in a subliminal way. These statements will start to become a part of your being the more you are around them and the more you say them.
When Do You Say Them?
I often tell my clients to say them in the morning or at night but honestly any time of the day works. The more you say them, the faster they will work. If you need to set an alarm to remind you, this can work as well. Challenge yourself to say them in the morning, afternoon and evening. This can be the best prescription.
Conclusion
Affirmations work, if you work them. The more you tell your brain kind, self-loving and encouraging messages, the happier and more productive you will be.
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