Choose Your Affirmations

Write it down. Take a piece of paper, a few hours of your time, and write it all down - as an affirmation of you, your life, and your ability to choose. Then let it go. Melody Beattie

Sometimes positive affirmations are no match for the overwhelming emotions that many of us can be feeling. We try to be disciplined and write them every day, only to begin to feel that they really are not creating the desired outcome. Yet we know that many successful people affirm the process and even go so far as to demonstrate how they have created the manifestation desired.

Doctor Joe Pace, a recognized performance psychologist, in his video 'Affirm Your Way to Success' talks about how to use Reticular Activity System (RAS) within our brains to help attract the things and experiences we want in our lives. He also gives us an understanding of how we can actually help them show up more often using tools like affirmations.

Some of the key take-aways from the video can be don't give up too quickly on your affirmations and be more mindful of events that are being delivered up to achieve your goals. If you need a check list of activities you can do to enhance your success with affirmations and to reduce the self-talk negative cycle, consider some of the following suggestions...

1. Personal: Ideally, affirmations are written with the word "I" in them. You can only affirm for yourself. The desired change will come about because of something you do, and it is your own inner picture that will change because of your affirmation. This is why we encourage your goals to have action steps, otherwise they appear to be only wishes.

2. Positive: Always describe what you want in your affirmation. Describe what you want to move toward, not what you want to move away from. Checking your mind chatter and negative thoughts is an important first step.

3. Present Tense: Affirmations are written as though they are happening right now. This requires using your imagination and becomes easier with practice. This present tense also helps you break down your affirmation and goals into smaller bits attached to what is really possible.

4. Indicate Achievement: Eliminate words such as, "can, will, should, and want to" etc., from your affirmations. Include phrases such as, "I am, I do, or I have." It is important to give your subconscious a clear picture of the end result as though it is already accomplished. If the achievement is too big for the mind to consider all at once, try describing your goal in increments to make it achievable in your own mind.

5. No Comparisons: Comparing yourself to others is ineffective. The technique of affirming is a personal process. Your measurement of growth is based on yourself. So affirming that you will be number one suggests comparison and may need rewording so that it is your goal.

6. Action Words: Use terms that describe and trigger action pictures, such as "easily, quickly, thrive on, energetically, confidently," in your affirmations.

7. Emotion Words: These are of critical importance. The more positive emotion you feel when picturing your accomplished goal, the faster your affirmation will work for you. It has also been suggested that physical pictures supporting the affirmation help with the emotion and visualization.

8. Accuracy: If an affirmation is written in general terms, the picture may be too vague, and it gives you too many escape routes. For example; if your goal is to exercise regularly, what kind of exercise? Is it jogging, walking, swimming, aerobics, or something else? How regularly? Three times a week? If so, on what days? What time of day and for how long? This is how accurate your affirmations must be.

9. Balance: Set goals, and write affirmations in all areas of your life. You never know if a goal around mental health or physical health can somehow create the synchronicity of the financial goal.

10. Realistic: After you have written your affirmation, close your eyes and picture it. Can you see yourself there? You need to be able to see it, visualize it, and imagine it. So if you want the 2.5 million dollar house in a warm destination, try the $300.0K house first and sell it profitability to then keep moving up the housing market to the $2.5 million dollar property.

11. Confidential: Most of your personal affirmations need not be shared. Share your affirmations only with those you are certain will support and help you achieve them. These are personal and do not need judgement by those that may want you to play small with your dreams and goals. Research seems to support that people who use affirmations successfully manage to bypass their conscious mind so it doesn't reject the new thought. The subconscious mind gets programmed with repetition. So, if you keep at affirmations, eventually the awkwardness stops. These people also keep up with the process and are mindful of negative self-chatter, as well as the synchronicity of events building to our accomplishing our goals.

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