You guys know how much I love my affirmations! SOOO I thought I’d write a post on WHAT a positive affirmation is, HOW to write positive affirmations so they actually work and WHY it’s good to adopt affirmations into your daily routine. Including a little bit of WHY they work.  

The WHAT of Positive Affirmations

Positive affirmations is a statement that you make about yourself. The statement is positive and said or written as if it has already happened. Some people call them manifestations, incantations, or mantras. I suppose it depends on your intention behind doing affirmations in the first place and your own culture as to what you call them. A quick Google search revealed the following definitions or explanations of each one. 

Manifestations – through regular meditation and positive, constructive thought, you can make your dreams and desires become reality. The Spiritual How to (A.I, 2009)  

Incantations – a use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as a part of a ritual of magic also: a written or recited formula of words designed to produce a particular effect Incantation definition (MW,2021) 

Mantra – man,” which means mind, and “tra,” which means transport or vehicle. In other words, a mantra is an instrument of the mind—a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation. What is a Mantra (Chopra, 2021) 

Affirmations – Affirmations the action or process of affirming something. (Google, 2021) 

If your intention is to change your own perception and move towards a different outcome, then (in my opinion) affirmations are the way to go!  

HOW to Write Positive Affirmations

So now you know WHAT they are and the intention behind stating them, what next? The next thing is HOW to write a positive affirmation. The reason I say positive affirmation is because more often than not, we have negative affirmations running through our heads. Don’t believe me? Imagine you’re taking on a new challenge, something out of your comfort zone, what does your mind immediately say? Is it something along the lines of… 

“I couldn’t possibly do that”  

“I wouldn’t be any good anyways”  

“I’d give it a go, but it wouldn’t amount to much”  

“That would be disastrous!” 

We often talk ourselves out of things, before we’ve given ourselves a chance. That’s because you are trying to protect yourself from an unwanted outcome; disappointment, rejection or humiliation… But we know that when we make mistakes, is when we learn and grow the most.  

So let’s write a positive affirmation together!  

First start with what you would like to happen in your life. If you want a new job for example, we’ll start there. Write your intention “To get a new job within a year” but, for this to be an affirmation, we need to make some tweaks.  

Firstly, it needs to be written as if it has already happened. I know! I know! This seems a bit strange. Trust me (Trust the process). Sorry I couldn’t resist! So for a simple affirmation we’ll start with “I am” I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that I am are two of the most powerful words in the English language? They are! Because that is a statement you are making about yourself (true or otherwise) and your subconscious mind is always listening. I’ll explain a little bit about the subconscious mind later.  

Now, think about your ideal situation and how you’d like to obtain this job. For example, I’m sure you want the process to be easy, feel confident and not have to go through 1 million interviews to find the job suited to you right?  

I am perfectly suited to the right job for me 

Once you’ve written your first affirmation, play about with it, if you feel it doesn’t sit right with you.  

I am confident in attracting the best job for me 

You might want to include how you feel, so you have a double effect affirmation 

I effortlessly attract the best job opportunity to me 

This is my favourite personally!  

You may want to change job to career or just opportunity, or collaboration, whatever is best for you. One word of advice! Make them fun! You might have seen a video of me playing about with TikTok sounds and affirmations. If not, see below! I just love them. Strictly speaking, I wouldn’t normally include a negative (don’t) word, but once you’ve mastered the art and are confident that the statement on a whole is positive, then it’s ok.  

 

So you now know WHAT an affirmation is, you know HOW to write one and now the WHY?  

WHY should I use positive affirmations?

Firstly, you can do what you wish with the information presented here. Take it or leave it or take some and leave the rest, it is totally up to you. I will never force my views or opinions on anyone. 

Now that’s out of the way, over the years of you existing on this beautiful planet, you have told yourself stories based on your own views by experiences, what significant people in your life have told you and now you hold them as values or beliefs and more importantly, absolute truths. The way we make sense of the world is through our own experiences. Even if that experience was a one off and would never ever happen again in a million years.

Our subconscious, like a computer, records this information and makes a file of it for future reference. Then your subconscious plays that experience on repeat and then you react in a certain way and have a behaviour that is also played out on loop as a response. 

Note: This also works in our favour, as well as against us, It’s not all bad! 

So, when we are trying something new, we play out (or remember) a similar experience to it and then respond through a repeated behaviour.  

What positive affirmations do, is begin to tell yourself a new story, which over time will exhibit a new behaviour pattern.  

For example, if you have a presentation to prepare for, and the immediate story your subconscious throws up, is that one time when you froze, then you start to feel anxiety i.e., rapid breathing, elevated heartbeat, sweaty palms, dry mouth and throat as a behaviour response and maybe do everything you can to get out of that presentation. Instead, if you tell yourself that;  

“I am a brilliant communicator and my message is easily understood” it begins to break the patterns of that story. (Your physicality plays a part in this also, but maybe that’s for another blog post.) 

This is because the subconscious mind does not know the difference between a lie and the truth. It may seem strange to talk about yourself in this way, but with repetition, those thoughts become your reality. No matter how far away you might feel from those affirmations said. (Trust the process!)

Another tip: Record yourself saying them and listen to them at night when going to sleep.  

I have overcome many of my own personal barriers through the use of affirmations. In fact! It’s how my journey towards self belief started. My go to affirmation was “She Believed She Could So She Did” and I have developed many since this. As I achieve a certain goal through affirmations or feel comfortable and confident in that area, I re-evaluate my current situation, review where I am in my life and then identify an area I would like to work on and develop an affirmation from there.

Now are you ready to write or say your affirmations daily? Work on what you’d like to change about your thinking or life situation. As time goes on, you can change your affirmations to reflect what you need in your life currently, as I do. 

Here’s a list of affirmations to get you started!  

I am resilient and this shows through the amazing things I achieve daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. 

I am highly valued in my community.  

Worry diminishes as quickly as it arises in my life.  

I easily let go of all the behaviours that hinder my progress . 

I am enough and what I do is enough.  

I have everything I need in me.  

Outside validation is unnecessary to know my self worth  

Obstacles that hinder my progress are quickly removed from my path.

Any challenges that I may come across, I handled with grace and ease. 

Challenges are equal to personal growth. The bigger the challenge the bigger the growth. 

I am beautiful strong, caring and kind and people often tell me this.

I deserve to achieve greatness of unlimited proportions.

I have all the resources I need within me and all they need to do is be explored.  

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it! Feel free to share with a friend or drop me a comment below.  

If this resonated with you, why don’t you subscribe and not only get great informative information like this straight to your inbox, I have a Relaxation Hypnosis Download gift for you when you subscribe. Click here!

Gratitude always…

Written by Serena Bostock D.Hyp  
Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy Practitioner at Seren Therapies  

1. The Spiritual How to (Amanda Isbitt, 2009) http://spiritualhowto.com/spiritual-manifestation-what-is-it-spiritual-information/ 

2. Incantation definition (Merriam Wesbter, 2021) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incantation 

3. What is a Mantra (Chopra, 2021) https://chopra.com/articles/what-is-a-mantra 

4. Affirmation definition (Google, 2021) https://www.google.com/search?q=affirmation+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB942GB942&sxsrf=ALeKk030KgrRxMAE7X0AWXjG_AK5LzX5Hw%3A1617781563168&ei=O2NtYJXCCYHh7_UPj6W68AM&oq=affiramtion+&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYAjIMCAAQsQMQChBGEPkBMgcIABCxAxAKMgQIABAKMgQIABAKMgQIABAKMgQIABAKMgQILhAKMgQIABAKMgQIABAKMgQIABAKOgcIIxDqAhAnOg0ILhDHARCvARDqAhAnOgkIIxAnEEYQ-QE6BAgjECc6BAgAEEM6BwgAELEDEEM6BwgAEIcCEBQ6BQgAELEDOgwIIxCxAhAnEEYQ-QE6CgguELEDEIMBEApQu5sBWPbFAWDj1QFoA3ACeACAAVaIAZYIkgECMTWYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6sAEKwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz