How To Use The Power Of Positive Affirmations to Change Your Life
Can repeating positive affirmations on a daily basis change your life? It may be difficult to believe, but many research studies back up this claim. Studies have found that regularly using positive affirmations rewires your brain. That means that you can fundamentally change the structure of your mind, often within just a few weeks.
Imagine what you can do and how you will feel when you hold a more positive outlook. You'll be able to overcome any challenge, meet your professional deadlines and enjoy more peace and prosperity. Get started now to learn all about how positive affirmations can change your life.
What Are Positive Affirmations?
To put it simply, positive affirmations are short, declarative sentences with a decidedly optimistic tone. Affirmations are stated in the present tense. That's the case even if you don't believe what you're saying when you begin this journey.
This is because it is the act of making a statement deliberately and repeatedly as if it already exists that helps to transform your perceptions and your brain.
For instance, one of your affirmations might be, "I am strong, and I am confident." Perhaps you'll feel anything but strong and confident as you give voice to these thoughts initially but stick with it. You'll soon find that you have more strength and confidence than you ever suspected.
How Do Affirmations Work?
When you engage in positive affirmations over a period of time, you make new and stronger neural connections and chemical pathways. Many scientists refer to these changes in the brain as neuroplasticity.
As Dr. David J. Hellerstein of Columbia University points out, "In brief, we have realized that ‘neuroplasticity,' the ongoing remodeling of brain structure and function, occurs throughout life. It can be affected by life experiences, genes, biological agents, and by behavior, as well as by thought patterns.”
This means that everything people do, from other individuals they meet to the environment they occupy and the thoughts that they have, actually changes the structure of the brain. These changes happen throughout the human lifetime, so it is never too late to start trying positive mantras or affirmations.
Here is another secret about your brain and why daily affirmations work: Your mind does not know the difference between what is real and what is made up. The more frequently you repeat the phrase "I am strong, and I am confident," the more your brain will believe it. Soon, you'll notice a far more positive bent to your thinking, and that will bring you closer to achieving your hopes and dreams.
How Can Affirmations Help You?
Negative self-talk is an unfortunate reality of the human experience. For most people, it starts young. An abusive or negligent parent, a careless teacher or an unthinking coach may say just one thing that becomes a harmful and recurring theme in the child's life.
It may relate to the child's appearance, to their personality, to their intelligence or any other aspect of their being. The result is the same: An avalanche of negative self-talk that never goes away.
- "I'm fat."
- "I'm just not smart."
- "I don't have any talent for this business."
- "If something bad has to happen, why does it always have to happen to me?"
Do any of these sound a little like you? Negative self-talk happens all day, every day. Frequently, people aren't even aware of when they are allowing negative thoughts to influence their actions and feelings.
A good program of self-affirmation is precisely what is needed to combat all of those negative thoughts.
Daily positive affirmations can cover entirely any aspect of your life. From health and fitness to finances, affirmations can work for you. People have successfully used affirmations to improve their self-esteem, get a promotion at work, enjoy healthier personal relationships, find love and attract abundance into their lives.
How will your life change as a result of affirmations? That is entirely up to you. If you want to experience more joy, greater peace and a general sense of well-being, it may be as straightforward as putting affirmations to work for you.
How to Use Positive Affirmations More Effectively
Expert opinions vary widely regarding when affirmations should be practiced. It's agreed that daily practice is essential to gaining results, and many people swear by starting their day with reciting their affirmations.
Here are some tips for how you can ensure that your affirmations practice is effective and starts getting results in the least amount of time.
1. Write Down Your Affirmations
This is the first critical step toward ensuring an active practice. The act of physically recording your affirmations on paper connects the sentences to your mind and body in a way that typing cannot replicate.
This is why journaling with traditional paper and pen also is considered more effective than electronic journaling. Writing is a slower and more deliberate task than typing. This gives your mind and body a real chance to absorb the meaning of each word in your affirmations.
Additionally, many people who use self-affirmations find great value in repeatedly writing down their current affirmations. Making this a part of your practice on a weekly or even more frequent basis may help you to achieve faster results.
2. Use Your Affirmations Every Day
Each morning, spend a few moments in front of the mirror. Breathe deep and slow as you recite your affirmations in a confident voice. Speak each affirmation at least five times, and let the power and the meaning of the words soak into your mind.
To get even faster results, complete this same exercise around midday and in the evening before bed. You may discover that you get better sleep thanks to the positive drift of your thoughts that arises with repeating your affirmations aloud.
If you meditate or are hoping to adopt this practice, then you also may use your affirmations in conjunction with your meditation time. Just repeat your chosen affirmation in your head throughout the session. Try coordinating your breathing with your affirmation to make the connection with your body even more profound.
3. Repeat Your Affirmations Whenever You Notice a Negative Thought
Using self-affirmations is a dynamic practice. You don't have to restrict the use of your affirmations to those moments when you're reciting them aloud or writing them down.
Whenever you notice that you have had a negative, self-defeating thought, counter it with one of your positive affirmations. Be diligent with this aspect of the practice, and you will soon discover that your usual negative thoughts crop up less frequently and that they have far less power to dominate your mind.
Examples of Powerful Positive Affirmations
The affirmations that you use are entirely up to you. Like you, they may be unique. However, there are many affirmations that millions of other people around the world have found effective. Using this list of positive affirmations below may help you to begin your practice.
Also, consider that you can modify any of these affirmations to suit your needs. Just be sure that you keep to the present tense.
- I feel joy and contentment in this moment.
- I awaken with feelings of happiness and enthusiasm.
- My happiness inspires others to be happy.
- I love my partner precisely how he/she is.
- I am fully myself and wholly authentic in my relationship with my partner.
- I communicate my needs and wants in a clear and confident manner to my partner.
- I expect success in all aspects of my life.
- I quickly find solutions to challenges, and I move past them.
- I see fear as the fuel for success.
- I am smart, powerful, confident and capable.
- I am becoming more successful every day.
- I learn from my mistakes, and I am better for them.
- I'm enthusiastic about meeting strangers and do so boldly.
- I have a confident personality.
- I am self-reliant.
- I live in the present with confidence for the future.
- I attract positive circumstances and positive people.
- I thrive on self-confidence.
- I see the good in others and in every situation.
- I approve of and love myself.
- I have integrity, I am reliable and I do what I say.
- I trust my inner wisdom to guide me.
- I am proud of myself.
- Every day I increase in confidence, self-esteem and inner wisdom.
- I enjoy exercising my body.
- With every exhalation, I release stress from my body.
- I eat healthy foods, exercise regularly and breathe deeply.
- I listen to what my body needs to be healthy, strong and whole.
- I sleep peacefully and soundly.
- I work in an environment of calm and peace.
- I am focused and engaged on the task at hand.
- Calmness fills me with each deep breath.
- I am energized by feeling calm and relaxed.
- I release the past and live in the present moment.
- I am grateful for this moment, and I see the joy in it.
Notice that in addition to being written in the present tense, not one statement in this positive affirmations list contains a negative word like can't, don't, won't or shouldn't. As you begin to write your affirmations, ensure that you avoid these words too.
Use a Planner to Keep Your Affirmations with You at All Times
As you can see, there is a tremendous benefit in keeping your positive affirmations in your thoughts as often as possible. One of the most comfortable and most convenient ways for you to do this is by recording your affirmations in a planner.
The Clever Fox Planner is designed to help you succeed with your daily affirmations and all of your other goals. Each planner comes equipped with a dedicated space in which you can record your affirmations.
This planner is designed to be light and easy to carry wherever you go. It slips easily into all sorts of bags, totes, and backpacks. There's even a loop for a pen so you'll never be without the means to update your planner as you go.
Having your affirmations with you at all times is an excellent way to remind yourself to keep saying and writing down your affirmations on a regular basis. This may be especially critical as you strive to adopt this new, helpful habit into your daily routine.
Make Affirmations a Habit
Another feature that makes the Clever Fox Planner the ideal tool for helping you to make affirmations a part of your life is the habit tracker.
Acquiring new habits is no easy task, but the Clever Fox Planner makes things simpler by helping you to examine whether or not you are working toward an even better version of yourself that gets things done, lives without fear and goes the extra mile to achieve your dreams.
Building a new habit starts with a goal. Maybe it's about something that you want to learn or something that you want to become. Whether you're looking to improve your self-esteem, get a raise, find the love of your life or finally get healthy, you can tailor a goal that will help you to realize your dream.
Once you have a goal in mind, use the specially designed pages in the Clever Fox Planner to get into the details regarding how to reach it. This planner has layouts for recording your goals for the year in every aspect of your life. Then, choose the five goals that resonate the most for you at this moment.
Record those goals on your "My Focus" page, and then use the weekly and daily layouts to track your progress.
Choose at least one affirmation that is in line with each of your five goals. Take a closer look at the weekly layout of the Clever Fox Planner. It has a habit tracker that's just waiting to be used. Each day that you practice your new habit of saying or writing your affirmations, color in the circle.
When you look back over the last few weeks, you'll be proud to see how much you've accomplished. Hopefully, you'll be engaging in your positive affirmation practice every day, and the habit tracker will reflect that.
Look at How Far You've Come
Remember when you were plagued by negative self-talk and self-doubt before you began your affirmations practice? How has your self-talk evolved in recent weeks? Can you feel that your positive self-affirmations are starting to take effect?
This may be reflected in your newfound self-confidence and in the way that you enter a room with your shoulders back and your head erect. You may feel it when you've given a challenging new project at work, but you don't shrink away from it. Instead, you meet it with enthusiasm because you know that you can get the job done.
Perhaps you'll finally have the confidence to ask for that raise that you deserve. Maybe you'll ask that cute guy out on a date or decide to try a new class at the health club.
On the other hand, you may just be enjoying an enhanced moment-by-moment awareness that lets you get the most out of life. You're feeling less stress, and you don't make the little things get you down.
It sounds like your brain is well on the way toward a positive transformation.
Step-by-Step Guide to Using the Clever Fox Planner for Affirmations
On the same page where you will find a dedicated space for recording your affirmations are areas for skills to learn, a gratitude list and a place to name your passions. These four sections enjoy a close relationship because they are all about the things that you value most in life. You look to the future with the skills you'd like to acquire, and you also can take some time to recognize all that you have to be grateful for. You can even reflect on what drives your passion in life.
Having all of these sections on a two-page spread will give you plenty of ideas for affirmations. Think about what you hope to have, be or achieve in the future. This is the perfect place to get it all down in writing.
Will you finally open your own business? Perhaps you'll learn to leave worry behind for good. Maybe you can see yourself enjoying the deep, meaningful personal relationships that you've always desired. You may even envision a future in which you are financially secure.
It can all start with daily affirmations.
Take your time as you fill out these initial sections. Schedule some vital "me" time when you aren't likely to get interrupted or distracted. Play some soothing music, and have a cup of tea. It's time to think about what you want from life and how to make your dreams come true.
The Clever Fox Planner is your guide and ally as you make your journey. Also included within its covers is a vision board. As you craft your first affirmations, record them on your vision board too. It's just one more way to help you solidify your goals and set your intentions.
In the back of the planner, you'll find several pages of dot-grid layouts. One of the most productive ways that you can use these pages is by repeatedly writing your affirmations to ensure that they are deeply seated in your conscious and unconscious mind.
You can write down your affirmations on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. It really is up to you. Typically, this practice evolves as you experiment.
If you're looking for even more ways to practice affirmations with the Clever Fox Planner, then look to the weekly layout where you can write your affirmations in the "Notes" or "Personal To-Do List" sections. The Monthly layouts give you another place to record your most crucial affirmation for the month.
Also, don't forget to use the daily pages to schedule the time to recite or write your affirmations. The daily layouts can support your practice by ensuring that you do not forget about these important affirmations in the midst of a busy day.
From Affirmation to Action
The truth about affirmations is that they are only one part of the equation. Real change comes with action. With conscious self-reflection and a bit of planning, you can make the alterations in your life that you want to see.
That's why using the Clever Fox Planner following your affirmations practice is such a brilliant idea. Not only does the planner stimulate you to craft meaningful affirmations but also it helps you to plan the concrete steps you need to take to support your aspirations.
From a vague concept to the actual, real-world steps that are needed to realize your dreams, the Clever Fox Planner sees you through every part of the process.
Can a routine of positive mantras change your life? Science declares that it is possible. Deliberate recitation and writing of positive thoughts about the self are proven to foster new and positive connections in your brain. When you add to this intention, planning, and action, then you have a recipe for achieving even your wildest dreams.
Whether it is your goal to become financially independent or to finish your first marathon, positive affirmations are equally as important as any concrete steps that you take to reach your goal. Not just believing, but knowing, that you can accomplish what you set out to do will make all the difference.
