It is no secret that thoughts are extremely powerful. They can even produce a stronger attracting force once translated into words.
In a nutshell, that is basically the science behind affirmations.
Uttering and telling the world these positive phrases is one step further than just feeding your mind with positive thoughts. These affirmations will help you empower yourself and conquer any self-sabotaging and self-limiting patterns you may have.
Affirmations can also be considered as positive conditioning for your subconscious mind. This can be correlated with human’s need for rewards and recognition. Intended to boost one’s self-worth and value, affirmations elevate your personal competence and give you a wider perspective of your capacity and power as a human being.
In addition, affirming yourself also aids in your adaptability. Converting negative thoughts into positive ones exhibits your skills in terms of dealing with the realities of life and tactically creating solutions to surpass those. At the same time, it magnifies your resilience or your ability to bounce back from difficult situations.
Psychotherapist Ronald Alexander of the Open Mind Training Institute suggests that daily affirmations can be done thrice to five times a day to effectively reinforce positive beliefs.
According to Alexander, writing them in a journal and saying them out loud in front of a mirror are great methods to amplify the strength of the practice.
However, to be the life-changing habit that it is perceived to be, you must learn the art of ideating and verbalizing affirmations the right way.
Affirmations must be clear and concise
Similar to goal-setting, you must be definite about your affirmations. To be able to fully manifest these, you have to say it clearly and concisely from the beginning. By doing this, you instantly position your mind to distinctly map out plans and actions to achieve your intentions. Focusing on direct statements will help you avoid distractions and hindrances towards your projections too.
Focus on the positives
Use positive statements instead of negative ones. Lean towards optimism rather than pessimism. For affirmations to be transformational, you have to be careful in choosing each word you say. Speak only words that will drive you to your highest good and nothing less. Negative self-talk will only translate into negative actions.
Affirmations must be credible and achievable
Effective affirmations need to be realistic as well. Regardless of how you can exaggerate most phrases, choose to verbalize statements that you can translate into achievable outcomes and results.
Your trust and faith in your affirmations will also depend on their credibility. You may not be able to fully believe and embrace words that are too dreamy and ambitious. Speaking highly is different from speaking impossibly. Stick to what you think and know is attainable and start manifesting them through concrete plans.
Repetition is key
Mastery comes after practice. To steer yourself towards sustainable and lasting progress in the way you think, feel, and act, you will have to affirm yourself on a daily basis. All must be anchored on consistency, as any practice should.
Training your mind to affirm yourself increases its capacity to lead you to success. Doing this regularly also encourages your brain to register these affirmations as facts. Remember, it all starts with the mind.
Affirmations only start turning into actuality when you begin claiming them and pronouncing them to the world using your words. Soon enough, your actions will translate into reality.
Hero image by Carlos David on Adobe Stock
