Positive affirmations are undoubtedly one of the greatest tools that we can utilize for success.
They allow us to ‘re-program’ ourselves with positive commands that we can repeat over and over until they are tattooed indelibly into our brain.
These affirmations can help us re-wire our conscious and subconscious minds for success.
What are positive affirmations?
A positive affirmation is a statement that is said out loud, repeatedly, and with conviction to reach a desired goal.
It is a positive form of self-talk that encourages us to follow our dreams.
Using positive affirmations for success
There are a few key points to remember when using positive affirmations to achieve your goals.
- Positive affirmations should be used repeatedly in order to be successful.
- These affirmations should be phrased in a positive way.
- Positive affirmations should be phrased in the present tense.
- Each affirmation should be said with conviction.
Whether we aware of it or not we are constantly using affirmations all day long everyday of our lives.
Remember, affirmations are simply statements that we tell ourselves, they are our thoughts.
A lot of times we are not fully aware of our thoughts because there are so many of them and they are in the background of our mind.
And in the forefront of our minds we are distracted with tasks of living our daily lives.
But if we pay close attention we are telling ourselves numerous affirmations (statements) throughout the day, both bad and good.
If we give ourselves more quiet moments, these statements we tell ourselves will come to the surface and become more noticeable.
If we listen carefully we might be saying things such as “I’m never gonna lose this extra weight”, or “I never catch a break”.
Although these statements seem benign on the surface, we are programming ourselves for failure.
Why do we have negative thoughts?
Negative thoughts are essentially fear based.
This means that they arise out of fear or our ability to do certain things or handle certain situations.
Our thoughts and personality are just a compilation of our experiences and environment.
Everything we consume (read, watch, listen, experience) affects our thinking about ourselves as well as what we think about everything else.
Having negative thoughts or limiting beliefs about ourselves is probably a result of being taught to do so.
Family and upbringing have a huge impact on our self-esteem and how we view ourselves in the world.
Learned behavior such as negativity can be taught and transferred to us through our parents, significant others, friends, or any other relationship.
Negative thoughts can also be developed or exacerbated through news, social media, reality tv and other platforms that thrive on fear, drama, and negativity.
Positive affirmations to cancel negative thoughts
Positive affirmations can be our greatest ally in combating negative thoughts and limiting beliefs.
–What are limiting beliefs? They are false beliefs about ourselves that prevent us from achieving our goals and desires.
The tricky part is that people who suffer from negative thoughts and limiting beliefs have probably been doing so for a long time.
This causes these negative thoughts about oneself to be deeply ingrained in the brain.
In order to re-program the brain to think positively we have use positive affirmations consistently and repeatedly.
Repetition is a major key to success
Ever heard of the phrase practice makes perfect?
Well, its the same method for positive affirmations.
We have to practice it daily in order for our new positive ‘commands’ to permeate deeply into our brains and become our new mode of thinking.
This just isn’t the case for positive affirmations, but everything we do in life that we want to be successful at.
Everyone that has mastered their craft has done so from repetition.
They repeatedly performed the same task over and over again until it is perfected.
Talk positive to yourself
The other important element in achieving the greatest results from positive affirmations is to phrase the affirmations positively.
This means that we design our affirmations in a way that highlights the positive and excludes any negative words.
For example: Instead of saying “I will no longer fear public speaking” or “I will overcome my fear of public speaking.”
One should say “I am fully confident in my ability to speak publicly in front of others”.
Its best to exclude negative words like ‘fear’ and ‘no’ which are confusing for the brain.
Keep in mind that we do not want to repeat and program negative words into our brain.
It’s better to focus on positive words and making the statement positive such as ‘I fully am confident’.
The last point is to use the present tense in phrasing positive affirmations.
This helps us train our brain to think that we are already in the current state of our positive affirmation.
