Affirmations – how do I make them work for me?
In my recent Self Love Week, I covered topics chosen by YOU.
I put a shout out on socials and in my newsletter for the topics you’d like me to create content on – and I was asked to talk about affirmations.
People were saying things like “all affirmations are too american sounding and cheesy”, “I don’t know what affirmations I should use” “how should I use them”… so I’m dropping in to give you my best tips on how to use them to transform your mindset.
✨ What are affirmations?
Affirmations are short sentences which you can repeat to boost your mood, increase positivity, and even rewire your brain!
This means you can actually overwrite negative thought patterns and replace them with positive ones.
✨ How does this overwriting work?
You might know that our brains are made up of neurons. Neurons connect to make neural pathways. When you repeat affirmations, you’re strengthening the positive pathways in your brain. This means you can change how you feel about situations, and view things differently.
✨ So they’re a quick fix?
Definitely not – they work brilliantly to change your mindset on things – but without action, they aren’t going to change your life on their own. I can affirm “I am a millionaire” all day every day – but unless I take action in line with that affirmation, a million pounds isn’t just going to drop into my bank (dammit!).
✨ How do I choose the affirmations for me?
I’d say – using or choosing other people’s affirmations doesn’t work brilliantly as they’re not likely to resonate with you.
I remember downloading an affirmations track which was a perky sounding American lady telling me “I am a strong, confident woman” – and listening to it just reminded me of Chandler in Friends (RIP MP) when he tries to give up smoking.
My point is, someone else’s words aren’t likely to work. So the answer is – write your own.
✨ How do I do that?
My favourite way, and the way that’s likely to be most effective in overwriting those negative thoughts, is to choose something I’m struggling with.
For example, I feel sluggish and overweight, and I’m beating myself up for a food I perceive to be “bad” by saying something like “you shouldn’t be eating this, you’ll get fat”.
Let’s flip that to something positive, and try to overwrite me telling myself this. I’m going to choose “I nourish my body with foods that make me full and happy”.
Not only will I make better food choices if I say this to myself, but when I choose to treat myself to something, I won’t feel guilty about it.
Or what if you’re struggling with money – instead of “I’m broke” you could affirm “I take care of my money and it multiplies”.
✨ Some rules that really help…
Make sure they’re positive – so instead of “I do not have any stress” try “I am happy and content with my life”.
Make them present tense – so instead of saying “I will have abundance” I’d choose “I am abundant in all areas of my life”.
The reason for that is, it’s thought that keeping that future tense almost keeps what you’re affirming and attracting just ever so slightly out of reach! So instead you’re speaking as if you are already in that state “I am abundant in all areas of my life”.
✨ Ok, I’ve written some – how should I use them?
Some ideas:
- write them out in a journal every day
- put them in visible places (mirror, phone screen, next to your desk)
- speak them out loud to yourself
- make them part of your daily routine
If you’d like to see the full video on affirmations it’s available here.
