The Power Of Affirmations

We all know what it means to “affirm” something: The dictionary definition of an affirmation is ‘an act of saying or showing that something is true.’ However, not all of us know or understand the concept or true power of affirmations.

Many people shrug them off as strange mantras some people use to calm their nerves, or mentally prepare themselves for something.

And while this is true of affirmations, they actually go far beyond that, as they can really change our everyday lives, not just for those ‘big’ moments, but the possible outcome and your attitude of every passing day.

A Closer Look At The Power Of Affirmations.

Affirmations as you now know are declarative statements that you are labelling to be true. Let’s say that you looked at yourself in the mirror tomorrow, and repeated to yourself with total belief; ‘I am feeling totally positive and confident about myself.’ Affirming it would allow you to take that positive feeling with you through the entire day.

For someone who struggles with low self-esteem, or doesn’t typically like the way that they feel, allowing yourself to believe a statement like that can make a big difference in how you feel for the rest of your day. You are actually declaring the affirmation not only to yourself, but also to the universe!

Affirmations are not necessarily goals, and they are not just things that we say to ourselves to trick our brains into thinking something about ourselves that isn’t true. They actually help to send messages to our brain, letting us know what we need to do in order to become the declarations that we have said out loud.

What Can Affirmations Do?

Some people swear by the power of affirmations, and for others, it can take some time to get used to the idea of repeating a sort of ‘mantra’ over and over again and expect to see results. There are a few essential steps that you need to take if you are new to the power of affirmations:

First, decide on the transformation that you are looking for. This could be anything from improving your health, (ie: “I feel fit and healthy today,” to having more confidence, (ie: “I am feeling powerful, confident, energetic, and on top of the world.).

If you don’t have a particular transformation goal in mind, what kind of attitudes, or characteristics would you like to further develop within yourself?

Using affirmations does not necessarily mean that you want to ‘change’ something from bad to good. It can also mean that you are looking to make a good quality you already like about yourself even better!

A lot of people find more success when they add an emotion into their affirmation, allowing them to connect with, and actually feel the emotion as they say it (ie: “I am feeling happy to go to my job today.”)

Always make your affirmations positive, instead of focusing on any negative aspects, even if they come from the past. The point is to develop positive habits instead of even considering the idea of looking back on where you might have come from.

While that can be effective in other ways, including self-reflection, it is important to keep affirmations positive and uplifting.

In reality, every single thought that you have is a sort of affirmation – or, self-talk. The problem arises in the fact that we have been self-talking since we were children, and we don’t always learn how to talk to ourselves in a positive and productive way.

That might seem silly to some, but you are affirming everything in your life through the experiences you have, and through self-talk. Maybe you went for a job interview once that didn’t go so well, and your thought was something like, “I hate interviews.” It’s not that job interviews in general are bad, or that you don’t like job interviews, it just might be that one particular job interview did not go as well as you had hoped.

But, by using self-talk like that over and over again throughout our lives, which can be more detrimental than helpful. You may have the idea that you hate job interviews forever, and in reality, it is just not true.

Working Affirmations Into Your Day

If you are interested in the power of affirmations, and you want to try them for yourself, an easy way to get started is by bringing them into your morning and night-time routine. This way, they become more of a habit, and less of a ‘chore’ that you have to think about.

Decide on your affirmations, and say them to yourself in the bathroom as you are getting ready in the morning or before you go to bed at night. You can decide how many times you would like to repeat your phrase, but a minimum of three times is best.

It usually takes a few days before your affirmations really ‘sink in,’ which might be frustrating at first, but once you stick with it for a few days, the habits you are forming in declaring something to be true will be more powerful than you can possibly realize.

I like to start and end each day by reading some Powerful Affirmations. These powerful messages are the perfect way to start and end each day, and are perfect for putting you into a positive, confident mindset.

I then say four or five personal affirmations out loud in front of the mirror. “What?” You might say. Trust me, when I started saying my affirmations in front of the mirror, I noticed something happen straight away. While speaking, I began to stand straighter, speak with more confidence, smile and feel much more enthusiastic and confident in myself.

When you create your own affirmations and say them out loud in front of the mirror with passion, belief and enthusiasm, it becomes a powerful way of super charging yourself both mentally and physically.

A great exercise is to get a blank piece of paper and write the title Areas To Work On; you need to write down what areas of your life you want to change or improve. This is a wonderful time for some self-reflection and honesty with yourself. You might write down for example:

Have more self-confidence.

Have more belief in myself.

Have more compassion.

Take more action.

Show more gratitude.

Improve my health.

Be a better spouse.

Have less stress.

Be happier.

On another blank page you need to take what you have written from the Areas to Work On list and put them into positive specific statements under the title Daily Affirmations. Use the present tense as if the change or improvement that you are seeking has already happened to you.

Use short powerful sentences that are easy to remember. Remember, these are your affirmations, the more that they come from you and that you feel totally passionate about them, the stronger and more powerful that they will be.

Remember, to make your affirmations extra powerful, repeat them in front of the mirror in the morning and in the evening as a part of your daily routine. Say them with total belief, confidence and with passion.

Talking to yourself in front of the mirror might feel unusual at first, but I promise you the feeling is great. You will instantly feel better both physically and mentally.