Positive Affirmations How To Use
A positive affirmation is basically a statement that includes your goal or desire, followed by the word will. The will is important because it sets up intention for what you want to happen.
So, your desired outcome must have the will attached to it. For example, if your wanted to lose weight, then your affirmation would be: “I will not eat paster (bread, bagel, pizza) unless it is made with olive oil”.
The will part comes in before you actually do things like exercise or run errands. You need to set time aside to practice your affirmtion, which helps you maintain motivation.
At times, we get distracted trying to achieve our goals so having a reminder can help keep you motivated! There are many ways to use a positive affirmation.
You can say your affirmation out loud, write down how you will feel after saying it, or even do something related to your goal. Some people put little pictures or markers next to their affirmation to make it more visible. This helped me when I was struggling to stay motivated at first.
By using a positive affirmation, you create a mental link between thinking of your goal and doing something to bring about that result. It becomes easier to think of the whole process as moving you closer to your dream.
Make them into a list
One of the best ways to use positive affirmations is to create a listing or an affirmation table. This can be done in either your mind or using your notebook and writing down your thoughts.
To do this, you will need to identify what area of your life you want to work on. For example, if you wanted to improve your career, then you would choose your career as a place to add your new affirmation.
Then, you could make a note about how being able to relate to people comes more easily to you now than before and your self-confidence has improved. You could also include how your success brings happiness to yourself and others.
You can repeat these statements anywhere and any time for constant re-enforcement. The only thing to watch out for is that you don’t become too dependent on the statement, but instead learn how to push through it and succeed even without the help of the affirmation.
Practice saying them out loud
At this stage, you can practice your affirmations in silence or with a friend who will listen for you. If you’d like, you can even do it at night when no one is around!
Practicing positive thinking statements is an efficient way to strengthen your beliefs and influence your subconscious mind. The more you expose yourself to positive messages, the stronger your belief system becomes.
Your subconscious mind does not consciously think about most things – it processes information all day long without our knowledge. So as a smart person, you should be investing time into having strong thoughts so that they loop over and over in your head without your interference.
Record yourself
Recording your affirmations is an easy way to begin practicing this technique. You can use headphones or a device speaker for your listening session. If you prefer, you can also write down your affirmations!
You can make your recordings as short or long as you like. It does not matter if the words are well put together or if they sound natural. Simply focus on what you want to learn and say it out loud!
Your recording can be personal or for the whole world to hear. The only thing is, the message must be positive so look up meaningful phrases and say them like your own self confidence booster.
After you have recorded your affirmation, repeat it back to confirm that you understood it correctly.
Develop your own personal list of affirmations
Let us take a look at some ways to use positive affirmations for improving your health and wellness. First, you can create your own personal list of affirmations that focus on your goals and/or negative behaviors you want to change.
Second, you can make daily or repeated statements either out loud or in your mind. For example, if your goal is to eat healthier, you could say an affirmation like “I will put aside time this week to prepare my family’s meals.” Or, if your goal is to exercise every day, you could say “I will work out for at least twenty minutes today.”
Third, try using both verbal and nonverbal affirmations. You can speak about how you intend to achieve your dreams and goals, as well as what you plan to do them with. Non-spoken affirmations include things suchas looking forward to exercising, thinking about yourself for having the courage to be healthy, etc.
Fourth, keep track of your affermtions! Write down your current lists and compare them from time to time.
Use them with self-help techniques
A positive affirmation is not a sentence, it is not even a phrase. It is usually a word or set of words followed by something that depends on you, such as yourself.
The dependent element comes after the affirmatory statement and makes the assertion more believable. For example, if your affirmed statement was “I will make smart decisions,” then the dependent part would be “so I can stay out of trouble.”
Your mind adds context to the affirmatory statements and shifts the emphasis towards the dependent part. This creates consistency in thinking and reminds you of the original goal.
Using affirmations for mental strength and wellness is typically two negatives being turned into a positive. By changing what you are trying to achieve, you can reword the affirmation and refresh its power.
This article will go over some examples using negative thoughts like ‘no one believes in me’ and turning them into positives via a creative rewrite.
Give them to friends
A lot of people begin listening to positive affirmations in their life after recording them themselves or reading them out loud. While this is an excellent way to start, it can be tricky to get the word going.
One of the best ways to use positive affirmations is to put some in place for others to read. You could ask someone you know who needs help with mental health issues if they would let you read some for them! Or you could look up “positive affirmations for X” where x is depression, stress management, career success etc. and pick one or many that apply to them.
By sharing these thoughts with others, they will also benefit from hearing them. Even just posting the affirmations online can have a lasting effect for other users. People will share their experiences either by commenting under the article or writing their own stories using the same tools.
[something else something else]
Does anyone else here like taking good care of themselves? I bet most of you do! Well then why not create a new habit today by adding at least two more sentences including a positive affirmation about your self-care routine.
Happy ending: My personal favorite is simply saying things like ‘I am leaving work on time every day’ or ‘I made my lunch myself today’. The first makes sure you are getting home before you run late, the second means you prepared yourself what you needed for food which helps you feel better about yourself.
Use them with the help of a therapist
While it may be fun to say your favorite color is pink, saying things like “I will always make enough money for my family” or “My house will never fall into ruin because of me” can actually hurt you.
Thinking such thoughts puts more pressure on you as a person to succeed, which can become increasingly difficult as days go by. You feel obligated to keep up this mental state even when you are asleep, which creates stress.
This adds to the already high amount of stress in your life that you have been putting forth effort to reduce. In turn, your body begins to produce more cortisol — a hormone linked to stress.
Cortisol levels rise during times of stress, but too much of it can impair sleep and weight regulation and contribute to symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Use them with your family
Let’s look at some examples of how you can use positive affirmations with your loved ones. First, choose a time when everyone is able to be in a good mood.
Next, find a place where everyone can sit together. You can do this anywhere—at home, at school or work, or even outside!
Now, have someone take a few minutes to read one of our success stories out loud. Then, after each sentence, add an affirmation like “I am strong and confident” or “My dreams come true.”
After that, repeat the new affirmation as a phrase. For example, say the original statement was “my dreams come true” and then your affirmation would be “my dream of being rich comes true.”
Repeat these steps until you feel more relaxed and connected to the new thoughts. By doing this, you will enjoy the effect more.