Positive Affrimations are becoming one of my favorite things to do. I wasn’t sure at first because I always in my head on if I was doing it right. Affirmations are slowly becoming my favorite part of my morning routine or when I need a little pick me up. Positive Affirmations are a great reminder of who I am and who I want to become. Once I focused topics/themes/purposes that meant something to me I embraced affirmations.
Visualization helped me find and embrace affirmations. I would think about who I wanted to become. What did that look like? Goal setting also has helped me come up with affirmations as well. I saw someone post about this on social media that she changed her apps on her phone with affirmations. For example, all her social media apps instead “Social Networking” it would say “I Am Connected.” I thought that was interesting, I think about doing it from time to time.
What are Positive Affirmations?
Positive Affirmations are phrases repeated to change negative thoughts and habits. Affirmations have also associated with decreasing anxiety and nervous behaviors. Affirmations can be said outloud, to yourself, written. Whatever works for you. It’s only suppose to be for you anyway, which is why it’s so hard for me to do because it’s for me. There is no wrong or right way to do them.
Affirmations help us to create a more positive image of yourself. By doing affirmations it is creating new pathways to the brain. Our brain naturally goes to survive mode. Our brains are also lazy so it will take the path of least resistance. Creating a new pathway is tough because we are creating a something new, but the more and more we do something it will be a natural habit. I don’t remember where I saw it but it says our body needs to be told something 1000 times before it becomes a habit.
One example I heard that I really liked is to think of your brain as a meadow. You have taken the same path over and over. You know the route. The other path is still covered because we haven’t taken that way before. We don’t know what’s on the others side. Eventually that new path will look like the first path, and that first path will be nonexistant because the grass grew over the path.
How to Start Positive Affirmations
I feel like starting positive affirmations are a lot like starting goals or starting something new in general. You can either find an affirmation that resonates with you or make up your own. My main positive affirmation right now is “I Am Enough.” I have struggled for a really long time on believing that I was enough. But while working with my therapist it was am I enough for everyone else. I didn’t think about am I enough for me? So, my daily affirmation is I am enough that I either write or say it to myself. There are somedays that I need a different affirmation based on something bothering me or that came up. Then I change the negative thought to a positive thought.
From researching about affirmations, it’s suggested to decide on a purpose or theme, make it simple, and authentic. We all have something we want to work on or improve. Start there with the most important thing you want to change. Make it short and simple so it can easily be repeated. It should be authentic to you and who you want to be. I learned this the hard way, so learn from me.
Finding affirmations that work is a lot of trial and error, which I think is another reason I didn’t like them for so long. I had a horrible mindset and that the error was wrong or I failed or I can’t do it right. Instead of thinking error is redirection. I still struggle with going to the bad headspace, but I have tools and know my triggers so that has helped keeping me a good space. Instead of looking at the bad, I ask myself why it didn’t work. Then I ask myself why and why over and over again to get to the root of it.
I try to align my affirmations with my goals. It has helped me stay focused towards my goals, and stay in a good mindset when things get tough. This has worked for me, but it may not work with you.
My Positive Affirmations
For me right now, I try to have my affirmation be “I Am” statements. I have learned through my affirmations journey that I am more likely to do my affirmation if they are personal to me. My theme is focusing on myself and my mental health. My affirmations are helping me have more self trust in myself. The other themes I want to work on is money and business related. I have always thought I am bad with money. I am actually not bad with money. It’s other things in my life that contributed to that thought process. I have a few affirmations about money and financial freedom. Business related are more focused towards action. Putting things out there because I tend to wait until things are perfect. I know that things will never be perfect and I am not perfect, but it doesn’t stop me from trying.
I personally like to write mine out over saying them. Some times I do say them outloud, but it’s not very often. I would say my preferred order is writing, saying to myself, and then outloud.
Mindset
I have noticed a positive change in my life when I use my affirmations. Even if I don’t use them daily, I have a bunch saved incase I need to pull from them. When I am setting up my car camping or unloading my kayak by myself, I say I can do tough things. It’s not that either are extremely heavy (they’re just awkward) but I know myself and I can get down on myself. I use the affirmation to keep myself from going into a bad mental space.
Examples of Affirmations
- I am enough
- I am successful
- I am powerful
- I am confident
- I am getting better and better everyday
- I have all I need to be successful
- I wake up motivated
- I am filled with focus
- I am grateful for everything I have
- I am independent
- I am not defined by my past. I am focused on my future
- I can do tough things
- I chose me
- I deserve good things
- I prioritize my wellbeing
- Money come easily and frequency to me
- Opportunities are always available to me
- I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing
- I am content
- There’s plenty of room at the table
- My body is beautiful
- Failure is part of my success
