We all talk to ourselves . . . Yeah, you do - maybe not out loud, but we all have that voice inside our heads that speaks to us and frequently it isn’t very nice to us. Maybe you aren’t even aware of it. Maybe it’s not even your own voice - maybe it’s a parent’s voice or someone else significant in your life giving you a running commentary on how you aren’t good enough, or you aren’t capable of something, or that something won’t work.

Notice how all of those were negative things. Frequently, it’s those negative thoughts that loop in our minds. That can be really damaging. If you hear it enough times, you’ll start to believe it.

We can take that same thing “If you hear it enough times, you’ll start to believe it,” and make it work for ourselves by making sure that we are hearing positive things. You can gain control of your thoughts, and by extension your actions, by taking control of your self-talk using daily affirmations.

Daily affirmations are short positive statements that you say aloud to yourself that can help you believe good things about yourself - changing your thoughts and, as a result, changing your feelings and your actions for the better.

Sound awesome? Wondering where to begin? Read on. . .

HOW TO GET STARTED

PICK YOUR AFFIRMATION

One way to do this is to start with a negative thought you have about yourself and turn it into a positive. For example, if you frequently think “I mess things up all the time,” maybe use “I am capable” as your affirmation. If you aren’t used to consciously hearing and paying attention to the negative things you tell yourself, it may take a while of paying attention to your self-talk and finding one of the negative things you tell yourself to counteract. Just be aware of how you are talking to yourself and you should be able to find something.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

After you find your negative thought that you want to counter, here are some things to consider when creating your affirmation.

Make sure that your affirmation starts with you - Use “I” or “My”. “I choose to be happy” is much more powerful than something like “Happiness will fill my day”
Make your statement in the present tense - Use the present tense, not the future tense. “I am. . .” not “I will be. . .” If you phrase it in the future, even if you start to believe it your brain will never react to it as if it is true in the present.
Avoid the negative - Avoid words like “don’t” or “can’t” “won’t” in your affirmation. Using those negative words will put the focus on the negative thought that you are trying to avoid instead of the positive thought. For example, “I won’t have negative thoughts” puts the focus on the negative thoughts. Instead, go with something like “I choose to be positive.”
Make it unconditional - Your affirmation is about now. It does not dependent on getting a promotion, or graduation, or anything else you are working toward. Make it something that exists now, regardless of any future condition.
Make sure it is well defined and simple to begin with - My first official affirmation was “I am enough” which was a little too vague. It did end up working after I worked through “What does enough mean?” (I think that is another post all in itself.) But it was tough to start with. Be sure that you keep it simple and have a specific idea of what it means for you.

Once you have created your affirmation, repeat it to yourself multiple times a day - when you look in the mirror in the morning, when you get in your car, whenever you catch your reflection in a window or mirror, when you brush your teeth at night.

Once you hear it enough you will start to believe it. However, be prepared - your brain is most likely going to try to fight you on it. We are so used to hearing and believing those negative things that it can take a while to believe something positive that our brain is telling us.

I will have some tips on dealing with that and making your affirmations successful in my next post.

Follow me to be sure not to miss post number two in this series (coming soon).