I didn’t really believe in the idea of affirmations when I was introduced to them first. They felt like unachievable dreams put in simple sentences. They felt like something that you tell yourself to believe but deep inside, you know they will never come true.
However, affirmations have become a big part of my life in the last few months. There are days when I miss them (life happens!) but I am always eager to go back to the ritual.
Affirmations should be in the present tense and they should be positive sentences. This is something everyone will tell you, but how do you actually make them work?
Here are four things that helped me make affirmations work for me:
- Trust the process. If you’ve spent years feeding negative talk to your mind, how can you expect to positive talk to show results in just one day? Practise religiously. I started seeing changes within a month of daily practice.
- Choose affirmations that you believe in. Don’t tell yourself an affirmation if you don’t believe in it. For example, if I am struggling while making a decision, an affirmation saying – “I am calm in moments of decision” – won’t help because I am not calm. How about telling myself – “I am learning to be calm in moments of decision”?
- Say the affirmations even on hard days. I know it doesn’t feel right. It feels like you are telling yourself lies. Know that you’ve got to change the narrative of how you talk to yourself and you can do it by choosing the right affirmations. Say affirmations such as – This feeling will pass. Breathing deeply helps me see things from a calm perspective. I invite calm into my life. I have the power to transform my mood. I am committed to my peace and joy. I choose patience over being swift.
- I write affirmations in my journal. You can choose to say them to yourself in front of the mirror. You can repeat them in your head. Or you can even record your affirmations and then listen to them on repeat throughout the day.
Randomness Inked 
You are wise not to make statements you can’t believe. For me, contradicting the Bible would be an exercise in frustration. If I tell myself, “I am self-sufficient,” I am setting myself up to fall flat in my face! But if I confess honestly, “I am utterly dependent on God – and He is utterly dependable,” I am setting myself up to be blessed and to be a blessing. I can’t tell you how many times I have experienced this. (My blog gives a lot of examples.)
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Yes, exactly, you speak wise words here. I use daily affirmations but I admit it is difficult to find the right ones on days when nothing seems to go, or feel right.
It’s a process.
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