Affirmations are positive affirmations that can help you challenge yourself and overcome your negative attitudes. When you repeat them often and believe in them, you begin to make positive changes in your life.
Why and how to use affirmations
Some are skeptical about afhermations as wishful thinking. But try to look at positive statements this way: many of us do repetitive exercises to improve our physical health, and affirmations are like exercises for our mind and outlook. These positive mental repetitions can reprogram our thought patterns so that over time we begin to think and act differently.
For example, evidence suggests that afermations can help you do a better job at your job. According to researchers, spending just a few minutes thinking about your best qualities before an important meeting can calm your nerves and increase your self-confidence.
What's more, affirmations are used to successfully treat people with low self-esteem, depression, and other mental disorders. For example, they have been shown to stimulate areas of our brain that cause positive changes in health.
There is evidence that the higher your self-esteem, the more effective affirmations can be. However, research has also shown that if you have low self-esteem, positive affirmations actually make you feel worse because they create a conflict between the positive state you want to achieve and the negative feelings you are currently experiencing. If this applies to you, work to improve your self-esteem.
Therefore, people with low self-esteem need to repeat affirmations that help increase their self-esteem. Every person is certainly worthy of respectful treatment and has the right to happiness. Therefore, such affirmations as: “I am worthy of respect”, “I have the right to be happy”, “I have the right to my point of view” work very well. And remember, it's pointless to try to please everyone. It's better to focus your efforts on building trusting and warm relationships with people who really matter to you.
The principle of affirmations is to repeat them regularly. It is helpful to repeat your statements several times a day. Remember the sayings and proverbs that have firmly entered our consciousness due to the fact that you or someone from your environment often repeated them.
How to write affirmations yourself
Affirmations usually target a specific area, behavior, or belief that you would like to change. The following points will help you write the statement that best suits your needs:
1. Think about the areas of your life that you would like to change. For example, do you want you to have more patience? Or, a deeper relationship with loved ones? Perhaps you want to better handle your responsibilities at work?
Write down several areas or behaviors that you would like to work on. Make sure they are consistent with your core values, which are most important to you, so that you feel genuinely motivated to achieve them.
2. Make sure your affirmations are trustworthy and achievable. Be based on a realistic assessment of your capabilities. After all, if you make a statement that you cannot believe, then it will not work. Write realistic affirmations. After all, they are not magic spells - if you cannot believe them, they are unlikely to affect your life.
So if you say, for example, “I am a rich and successful person,” but your current financial situation is very different from your own ideas about wealth, then the affirmation will be simply useless.
Of course, with a lot of repetitions, you can inspire yourself with anything. But will it be of much use to you if you believe that your current financial situation is wealth? In such cases, affirmations like the following will work better: “I have every opportunity to achieve wealth and prosperity”, “I am getting closer to success every day”, etc.
3. Turn negatives into positives. If you are struggling with negative thoughts about yourself, write down the thoughts or beliefs that bother you. Then choose a statement that is the opposite of these thoughts and statements.
If you usually think, "I am not talented enough to advance in my career," then write the following positive affirmation: "I have enough experience and professionalism."
4. Write your affirmations in the present tense as if it were already happening. This will help you to believe that the statement is true now. For example, "I am well prepared and rehearsed well, and I can give a great presentation."
5. It is advisable to say affirmations with feeling. Affirmations can be more effective when they are emotionally charged.
6. Make up your affirmations only in the affirmative form, avoiding denial in every possible way. At the same time, they should be more specific.
Examples of affirmations
By definition, self-written affirmations will be personal to you and better suited to achieve your goals, but the following examples can serve as a source of inspiration:
"Today I will have a lucky day"
"Every day I have more and more money"
"I'm full of ideas"
"I have the right to be happy"
"I have a lot of advantages"
"I am constantly improving my skills"
"I have tons of opportunities"
Advice
Using affirmations is just one way to make positive changes in your life. You can also use techniques such as rational thinking and positive thinking and cognitive restructuring.
