How Affirmations Work Fast
A lot of people get stuck in a habit of thinking about all the things that they don’t have or can’t do, which creates more negative thoughts and feelings. Add to that what they don’t know how to do, and you have the perfect recipe for self-defeating behaviors.
By using the power of thought, we are able to influence our own perceptions and internal experiences. This is called cognitive restructuring.
When you think about it, your mind is always working. You think about something every minute of every day — from what you eat, to whether you sleep well, to what you say to yourself. All these things are influenced by what you believe to be true.
Using this knowledge, professionals develop strategies to help individuals change their beliefs and achieve new habits. It works like changing a behavior or lifestyle, but instead of giving up, you rephrase the behavior as an expression of who you want to be and give yourself permission to practice it.
Examples of affirmations
A few examples of how to use positive thinking for your mental wellbeing can be found everywhere around us. Make sure to add them into your daily life, learn some new skills, try different ones out!
A lot of people start using affirmative statements (or positive thoughts) when they feel stressed or overwhelmed. Rather than focusing on what you do not have, focus on what you have got – you are already spending most of your time talking about yourself, why not turn that around and emphasize your strengths?
By using this technique, you will begin to realize changes in your mood and stress levels. On top of that, it will help you achieve your goals and foster self-confidence.
You can make your own affirmations, say them back to yourself, write them down and/or tell someone close to you who could help you repeat them sometimes. Some people even find recording an affirmation on a device like a phone helps, so they can listen to it whenever and wherever they need inspiration or motivation.
Steps to start and become a success
A lot of people try using affirmations as a way to change their lives, but some do not seem to work for them. This is because they either use bad or wrong affirmations, or they don’t put the affirmation into practice.
Affirmation practices are very simple. You pick an affirmation you want to use, say it out loud (even if you don’t feel like it!), and then repeat this every day.
The easiest way to begin practicing affirmations and changing habits is to make small changes within your own life — something that most of us have done before.
Changing external behaviors such as quitting smoking or giving up sugar may be more difficult than altering internal thinking patterns, but both can be accomplished at a consistent pace.
Focus on what you want
A powerful way to use affirmations is in asking yourself questions about your goal. Rather than saying an empty sentence like “I want to lose weight,” try putting a question mark at the end of the statement and then focusing on the positive aspects of losing weight. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose weight,” ask yourself “What would I enjoy doing once I lost this weight?”
Your subconscious mind does not care about the fact that you want something, it cares about what you desire the object to be. By using a questioning technique, you are creating a transition from the current state of affairs (“I want to lose weight���”) to the new desired state (“what I want to do after I lose this weight”).
Positive affirmations
A positive affirmation is when your put into a sentence what you want to happen. Then, add the word “I” and stick that in front of the wanted outcome. For example, if you want to lose weight, a good negative affirmation would be “I will not eat any foods with sugar or carbs.”
A positive affirmation would be something like “I will lose all my extra fat and gain more muscle.”
The difference between the two is tone and consistency. With a negative affirmation, you are saying “no matter what I do, I will never have food with sugar or carbs,” which can seem very dramatic and unrealistic.
With a positive affirmation, you are stating what you want to occur (having food with sugar or carbs won’t help you), but you are also adding the effect of yourself by using the term “I.” You are identifying with this statement and therefore giving yourself permission to have these foods, as you already know that they don’t work.
By having a consistent relationship with eating foods that contain carbohydrates and sugars, you will only remain thin. Your body will eventually realize that asking for things it doesn’t agree with isn’t working and it will stop trying.
Negative affirmations
A lot of people get stuck in a rut because they tell themselves negative things about their situation or what they want out of life.
They think to themselves, “My job will not look good”, “I can’t afford this house”, or “He/she is not smart enough for me.”
These are all very common types of negative self-talk that we do. We make excuses as to why we cannot succeed, add more proof by failing again, and start thinking it is an irrefutable truth!
This creates a vicious cycle that keeps us from reaching our goals.
It makes it harder to break free because you create an inner barrier that says, ‘Yes, I may try something new, but it won’t work.’
And when you don’t believe in yourself, then none of these other things matter much does it? You stop trying. – Jared Oelke
There is a way to use positive thoughts to achieve your dreams. They’re called affirmations.
Affirmations are statements that contradict the current thought pattern. For example, if someone thinks their career is going nowhere, an affirmation could be: My career is the best thing ever!
The person saying the affirmation must believe it completely, otherwise it doesn’t work.
Creating an affirmations process
A few things about affirmative statements
First, you do not need to say your affirmation out loud. You can simply think it through and write down what you want to know about yourself.
Second, try to use simple, direct language when saying your affirmation. Use formal or informal versions of the verb to make your statement more powerful. For example, the version of “I love myself” using the past tense is much better than the longer version that uses the present tense.
Third, repeat your affirmation every day for one to two minutes depending on how long you feel it takes to refresh your self-confidence.
Fourth, start with short affirmations and work your way up to longer ones so that you get enough time to really focus on them.
Practice makes perfect
A lot of people try to use affirmations as, you know, “hacks” to make your mind think about how life should be more positive so that it will change its perception of reality. This isn’t necessarily wrong, but it can be tricky when no one seems to have any success with them.
The thing is – your subconscious doesn’t care what you say; it cares only about actions. When we tell our brains to believe something, it actually looks for proof to back up those beliefs. It gathers evidence and if it finds some reason why this belief is false, then it disregards it and moves onto the next idea.
This process takes time, though — which is where practicing an affirmation becomes important. You have to repeat it enough times to allow your brain to recognize it as true.
Tips for affirmations
A few tips to make your affirmations more effective
Understand how mental attitude can have an effect on your life, and learn some simple tools to use them for bettering your life. When practicing afforestation, or positive thinking about yourself and your life, there are certain things you should be aware of.
First, make sure your thoughts are authentic. If the thought does not come from a natural place, then it will probably not work. For example, if you think about eating chocolate every day, that won’t help you.
Second, write out your affirmation as clearly as possible. Using vague terms may confuse the mind and prevent results. “I am beautiful” is much less powerful than “My body is beautiful.”
Third, add pictures or references to aid in understanding. If the idea seems confusing at first, give it a week and see what happens. Chances are, it will begin to make sense eventually.
Fourth, practice daily.