You might have come across this buzzword, affirmation( i call it black magic), and might be confused about it, so now you are like, what are positive affirmations? do affirmations work?
Here you are going to know everything about affirmation.
What are affirmations?
Affirmations are the positive statements, that you say to yourself and repeat it over and over again. they are used to re-program your subconscious mind, to create new beliefs, and forget about the old ones.
This follows the law of attraction rules, which says ‘ you get what you believe‘. examples of positive affirmations are,
- I am a millionaire,
- I am smart,
- and I am fit.
read also : how to overcome depression naturally
How to do affirmations?
You can do affirmations however you want to do, but there are some good practices to follow for better results.
- Close your eyes.
- Use the present tense.
- Start with I am.
- The sentence should be positive, avoid negative words( not)
When you close your eyes, you can visualize your dream whatever you want to achieve. plus you can get a better focus on what you are saying, and give it a picture in your mind.
Don’t say, I am not poor! well, that’s because your mind excludes the word not, and converts it to, I am poor.
Instead, say this, I am rich, it’s the right way to attract abundance. Remember! you need to say positive statements.
That’s the whole idea of black magics( affirmations), now let’s understand that, do affirmations work? or we are just kidding ourselves.
Do affirmations work?
Affirmations will work for you if you understand it properly.
There is a number of researches done on this topic, which shows affirmations have positive effects on our lives.
For example, this research shows that affirmations boost our self-esteem. researchers found that, when you do it, this increases the activity in the brain part, which is responsible for our core values.
Meaning that your belief in your core values gets stronger.
Let’s say your core value about yourself is you want to be confident. when you repeat it to yourself ‘ I am confident’. you will believe in yourself that you are truly confident.
According to physiology today, there was another research done for this purpose.
In 2 studies, the participants were given tests, they were told about affirmation and it’s benefits. researchers asked them to affirm before they attempt the tests.
They saw, that failure in the first test did not decrease there performance in another test, so what it means? they concluded affirming gives you the confidence to be better.
From the studies, it’s clear that affirmation works.
Do it the right way!
Ok, so now you know it’s a science, not magic, but if you just start saying I look good, it won’t help.
Dr. Caroline leaf describes her own experience with affirmations.
She was doing it all the time, but she couldn’t see even a little difference until she realized that she is doing it the wrong way.
She says, “I was short, I wanted to look good, and because of my little height I was bullied“. so I would affirm, I look good, but all in vain. I never felt it this way.
Then she changed her perception about beauty and gave her own definition of beauty because it’s different for everyone. if you consider tall as beautiful, and you are not tall, no matter what you do, you won’t feel like you are beautiful.
After this, affirmation worked for her, saying I am beautiful meant something else for her. ( not being tall)
Remember, it’s about reminding yourself not to convince yourself.
Here is what Dr.Carlone leaf suggest to do,
- Know what you want
- Why you want it
Let’s say you want to be rich, Now ask yourself why you want to be rich? remind yourself all those reasons which motivate you to be rich.
Then you can affirm, I am rich ……
How do positive affirmations work?
Every thought we are thinking and every word we are speaking is creating our future. Louise Hay
It’s all about a belief system, you are changing our belief about something.
Let’s go back to your childhood, if we’re born in the middle class or poor family, you will have a hard time to be rich. Because they told you, rich are filthy or we can never be rich.
So from there, you developed a thinking pattern, a mindset, and you strongly believe in it now. Now you don’t work hard at All to be rich because you already believe that you can never be.
The job of affirmation is to destroy this kind of thinking pattern and develop a new healthy pattern. When you say I am rich, are you rich for sure? No, you are not.
But it’s just a way of re-programming your mind, to believe that you can be rich. When you repeat these words, your subconscious mind starts to believe in it.
And its powerful, once your subconscious mind starts to believe something, it gives you enough drive to achieve that thing.
You are what you think
Your belief determines your success. Actually there are two kinds of mindsets,
- Browth
- Fixed mindset
And they both lead to different actions and results.
Edvard Briceo in a TEDx speech says when you believe in yourself, you create a growth mindset. So if you are told in your childhood, you can not be rich, you formed a fixed mindset at that time.
But now u can change it. When you do affirmations you will make yourself believe that you can be rich. And this creates a growth mindset. With this kind of mindset, you will not give up on setbacks.
It gives you the courage to try something again and again, and eventually, it will lead you to success.
Think about it
This reminds me of the story, once upon a man was passing by a circus of elephants.
He saw that elephants were tied to a rope, which they could easily escape from, but the elephants were calm and doing nothing.
This left the man surprised! why these elephants are not resisting. when he asked the trainer of these elephants about this. The trainer replied,
When they are kids we tie them with a rope which they can’t escape, it’s of their size and strength. but when they grow up, they can escape this rope, but they are already conditioned to think, that they can’t escape this rope.
So it all comes down to beliefs, what you think of yourself? you may be far better than you are thinking, but it’s only your beliefs that are not letting you be that person.
Related: Change your belief with these stories
List of affirmations
here you are some list of affirmations that you can use.
Affirmations for success
- I am successful.
- I am a magnet for success.
- I am a good person who deserves success.
- I am highly productive.
- I am incredibly grateful for all of my success.
- I find it easy to succeed at everything I do.
- I am surrounded by abundance.
- My goals and dreams always come true.
Affirmations for self-love
- I am worthy of infinite love.
- I love myself.
- I look Good.
- I have a good attitude.
- I am at peace with all that has happened with me.
- I am grounded peaceful and centered.
- I feel pride in myself.
- I am blessed.
Affirmations for confidence
- I am confident.
- I deserve the love I am given.
- I let go of negative feelings.
- I will stand by my decisions.
- I am the best source of motivation.
- I am worthy of having what I want.
How long it takes for an affirmation to work?
On average it takes up to 1 month for an affirmation to really work for you. Remember you have to do these affirmations on daily basis, you can’t even miss a day.
But it can take up to 1 year if your habits are very bad.
And also there are different factors such as
- How far is your goal from current situations?
- How much you believe in your words? ( statements)
So there is no rule of thumb, it depends on you and your goals. Actually the 1 month period is about to Re-programming your Subconscious mind.
what is the best time to do affirmations?
According to physcology.com early in the morning is the best time to do affirmations, but if you can’t wake up early, you may try it right before you sleep at night.
Do affirmations work while sleeping
affirmations work better when you are sleeping.
Because when you are sleeping, your subconscious mind is awake and is ready to be influenced.
How many Affirmations should I say a Day?
There is no limit to this, you can affirm 3 times 5 times or even more, it’s completely up to you.
Can affirmation make you rich?
Well, there are 100’s of videos claiming to make you rich after listening to their Affirmations.
But here is the thing you need to know. Do you mean by only listening or saying These statements will make you rich? if that’s the case. then no Never! because words can’t do anything unless you take action.
Actually affirmation does not make you rich, it helps you reprogram your brain so that can work on yourself. affirmations help you focus better on yourself, to be positive, to be motivated, and to be creative.
And of course, these are the things which you need to be rich.
Final Words
Affirmation sounds like a buzz word, from the world of spirituality and mindfulness. it has been misunderstood by many people.
Some people believe it can change their life, without doing anything, I mean by just uttering some words they think magic will happen.
So they pay for the programs, which don’t benefit them, surely this mindfulness, and Law of attraction programs work, but It works for those people, who believe in actions rather than just words.
While on the flip side some people Don’t even believe that it works, that’s because they don’t know the science behind affirmations.
I myself believe in affirmations, I affirm to get confidence in the situations where I feel less confident. I repeat ‘ i am confident’ and to some extent, it works.
so that’s it.
Which affirmation you are going to try, tell us in the comment section.