Many people claim that self affirmations are really successful in helping bring positive changes to their lives. They say that it is effective and really works. However there are just as many people who say that it does not work. That it is just a temporary fad.
So why are there 2 opposing opinions? What creates the difference between the 2 groups?
First of all, let us understand what self affirmation is. Self affirmation is the practice of repeatedly affirming what you desire to have. This is done in a way similar to reciting to chanting your affirmations. There's no limit to what you can affirm for. You can do self affirmations for almost anything.
Have a look at this example of a positive self affirmation;
- "Everyday in every way I am getting stronger and stronger"
A direct statement is OK too. You don't need to use the "everyday in every way". Just a simple "I am becoming...." will do.
Use 'I am', 'I can' and 'I will' statements to make affirmations. For example "I am healthy" or "I can achieve my goal" etc.
What Makes Affirmations Work?
Practicing self affirmations can work because of the power of intention. Though it seems so, affirmations are not just all talk and no action. Chanting affirmations is a signal of your intent. You are declaring your intention to everyone and everything in the universe.
When we imagine something vividly and intensely, our brains cannot differentiate between the visualization and reality. It will accept it as the real thing. The more intense it is, the more likely it will be accepted as reality. It is the same with affirmations. Practice your affirmations with emotion and intensity and the more likely it will be accepted by the brain. This is how affirmations work.
And the more repetitions of the affirmation you make, the more it becomes 'real' to the brain.
So how comes affirmations doesn't work for some people?
So how come there are many people who say that self affirmations do not work? Is the power of intention real? Does the brain actually feel that you're just kidding yourself? That no matter how much you affirm it doesn't reflect the truth?
Well there are mainly 2 reasons why it does not work for some people.
The first reason is because they are not doing their affirmations correctly. What do I mean by that? As stated earlier the power of intention is displayed when we are repeating affirmations with power, passion, emotion and intensity. When there's no power, no passion, there's no belief. The brain would immediately and completely reject the affirmation when it is repeated in a weak, uninspired manner.
The second reason is because there is no effort made by them to stay congruent to the affirmation. They expect that just reciting the affirmation will be sufficient to change their lives. After doing affirmations, we must try our best to stay as congruent as possible to the affirmation.
We should have this mind-set when it comes to self affirmations. We should not think of affirmations as the solution to all problems. Rather, we must help make the affirmation process effective by working together with it, through effort and the determination to change our lives.