I strongly believe our journey is shaped by our innermost beliefs; our beliefs about ourselves, about life, and the world around us. One technique to change a belief is working with affirmations. Today I am going to be talking about affirmations and how to best utilize them to positively transform your reality. At the end of this post I will include a dowloadable freebie for you to begin your own journey with affirmations. Anyway, let’s begin.
1. WHAT ARE AFFIRMATIONS?
2. LIMITING BELIEFS
3. THE POWER OF I AM
4. WRITE YOUR OWN
5. PRACTICALITY TO ENHANCE YOUR REALITY
6. DISCOVER
7. FINAL THOUGHTS
Photo by Lisa Fotios
1. What are affirmations?
Affirmations are statements that affirm something to be true. They are often encouraging and positive, utilizing specific word choices to evoke an emotional response (well the best ones are).
Affirmations are used to change the belief currently held by the one reciting them. By stating them regularly, the person will eventually believe it. I am sure you’ve heard that if you hear a lie enough times, you will eventually being to believe it.
Constant interaction with a belief whether by reading, writing, or speaking it aloud will eventually leave an imprint within our unconscious mind. It will be truly accepted by us as truth that we continue to reinforce moving forward in our journeys.
2. Limiting beliefs
The narrative we tell ourselves has a significant effect on the reality we face daily. From the time we are born we are told things by our parents, family, friends, media ect, and they are affirmed by us on a conscious and unconscious level.
We may want to believe on a conscious level that we should be the one to win the lottery, that we deserve to be rich. Deep within, however, the unconscious mind may hold a limiting belief instead. For example, instead of :
‘I AM WORTHY OF GOOD THINGS. I DESERVE TO FEEL FINANCIAL FREEDOM. I LOVE MONEY’
the unconscious mind may instead believe,
‘I AM NOT WORTHY OF GOOD THINGS. I DON’T DESERVE TO FEEL WEALTHY. MONEY IS EVIL‘.
The belief above limits the opportunities a person can attract in their reality. The concept of the unconscious mind is that people attract as many opportunities, all varying in quality, in direct reflection of our unconscious beliefs. Today I am here to tell you that one has the power to change these beliefs.
3. The power of ‘I AM’
There are a lot of spiritual/self-help books that talk about the power of I AM and using this phrasing to construct perfect affirmations.
The idea behind using ‘ I AM ‘ or ‘I HAVE ‘ is that including this phrasing in your affirmations makes them so that they are that much more powerful.
I AM is described to be a sacred, timeworn phrase used by accent cultures and in ancient scriptures. Essentially, there is immense energy and power embedded in this phrase. When you use it, followed by whatever words you choose, there is great manifestation potential (Shumsky 88).
Take this as a cautionary advice and avoid saying things like:
I AM ugly, I AM overweight, I AM broke, ect.
There is undoubtedly an energetic difference between these words and:
I AM beautiful, I AM healthy, I AM rich.
As you read, could you feel the difference between the to lines of text?
Photo by Lisa Fotios
4. Write your own
Now that you can identify a limiting belief, its time to identify and re-write your own beliefs. Take out a sheet of paper and start a simple list.
SIMPLE LIST
Write down things you would like to have or experience in your life. Pick 3 to 5 things For example:
I WANT TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY.
I WANT A HEALTHY BODY.
I WANT TO GO TO A MUSIC FESTIVAL.
I WANT TO BE BETTER AT DANCING.
Now examining your list, make cross out limiting words such as want, don’t, no, ect. Next, re-word your beliefs, changing them into the present tense.
For example, want to be a better dancer → I am a better dancer.You can even do one better: I am a great dancer.
I WANT TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY → I AM MAKING A LOT OF MONEY
I WANT A HEALTHY BODY → I HAVE A HEALTHY BODY
I WANT TO GO TO A MUSIC FESTIVAL. → I AM GOING TO A MUSIC FESTIVAL
I WANT TO BE BETTER AT DANCING. → I AM A BETTER DANCER
Trying working on beliefs you have created for the next week, repeating them and writing them down as often as you can.
5. Be practical
I’ve come to believe practicality works best to change your reality. What I mean is, not everyone is ready to hear that they are rich and famous, that they are beautiful, that they are loved or that they are a great dancer. I touched on this notion in a previous article about mirror work.
It can be difficult to have someone who’s chronically depressed to believe everything is simply amazing, sunshine and rainbows. This is what turns many off in regards to affirmations and techniques alike.
For this reason, I believe to use affirmations more effectively it is best to tailor them to where we are currently in our journey. Perhaps it is a bit difficult to believe:
‘I AM PAID 1 HUNDRED THOUSAND A YEAR’
Taylor it, so that you have something more believable. Maybe you make 40 thousand a year and its more believable to affirm:
I AM PAID 50 THOUSAND A YEAR
Pick a statement you have less resistance to, one that isn’t hard to say or tug on your heart as you recite. Your affirmations should feel easy. What you are affirming is true after all 😉
Regularly work to change your affirmations as you begin to feel more assured by what you recite. If now you feel worthy of 50 thousand a year, raise the number. Raise the reward as you feel more worthy of receiving it.
6. Discover
Whether you feel like writing your own affirmations, I encourage you to search the internet for affirmations that resonate with you. Here are some things to look for in affirmations:
- Phrases that speak in present tense.
- I AM, I HAVE, I ATTRACT, I TRANSFORM
- Uses positive terminology. Avoid:
- I need, don’t, bad, fear.
- Phrases that “spark joy”. Words that feel good and speak your soul
Photo by Lisa Fotios
7. Final thoughts
Earlier, I mentioned how hearing lies enough times will eventually have you believe them, but I want to emphasize something. The point of utilizing affirmations regularly is to help you realize the positive statements you are affirming are not in fact lies.
They are the truth. You really are beautiful. You really do deserve everything you desire. You really are worthy of love.
I don’t expect that everyone incorporates this practice into their lives immediately or even religiously. If anything I hope that you begin to re-evaluate your self-dialog. Do you refer to yourself as ugly or broke? How can you begin to change that?
Recreate the narrative by beginning to self-correct. Everyone is worthy of hearing positive words that affirm their authentic identity, however, we must start with hearing it first from ourselves.
I can say affirmations have helped me on my personal journey. Maybe this technique will serve you in manifesting the life you desire. Consider it as you move forth on your adventures!
As I promised above, here is your downloadable freebie for you to print out and write your own affirmations, using this post as your guide. I hope you find it useful and that you continue adventuring towards your dreams.
References:
Shumsky, Susan G. Miracle Prayer: Nine Steps to Creating Prayers That Get Results. Celestial Arts, 2006.
Disclaimer: I only write from my personal experiences. I, in no way, claim to be a professional or guru of any sort. Just a woman writing about adventures.
