Our words and thoughts have the power to shape our lives, as what we think and speak becomes our reality. Since our minds are wired for survival, around 80% of our thoughts focus on the negative. But that’s ok, because we also have the ability to re-wire our brains to increase our positive thoughts simply by practicing affirmations.
What are affirmations?
Affirmations are positive phrases we repeat in our mind or out loud. We can also write them down in a notebook or journal. Affirmations help shift our emotional state and reduce our anxiety.
Now, you’re probably familiar with the polar opposite of affirmations - that self-sabotaging voice in your head that habitually repeats negative phrases over and over; so consistently that you actually start to believe it.
Positive affirmations flip the script on that bully living in your mind. By committing to practicing them daily, you can reduce the negative thoughts holding you back from living a fabulous life filled with love, joy, freedom, passion, and purpose.
The science behind affirmations
Positive affirmations work because of a scientific principle called neuroplasticity. Simply put, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and form new pathways and connections.
Neuroplasticity gives you the chance to change the way you think, and powerful positive affirmations can help you make that change.
How do I use positive affirmations?
The first step is to spend some time thinking about, and then creating your positive affirmations. You can write them down in a long list, or scribble out a few new ones each morning or evening.
Next, practice running them through your mind at specific points in your day. You can do it in your car on the way to work, when you’re showering, or whenever works for you. The best thing is it doesn’t cost you a dime, and you can never really run out of affirmations.
Honestly, I find it a lot more fun to practice my affirmations out loud with conviction and passion. I also save affirmations on my iPhone and each day, they pop up and remind me. Sometimes my kids see them on my phone and they are like “What is that?” LOL!
While practicing affirmations takes just a few minutes a day, they have the most impact when you do it consistently, and you add emotion to the affirmation.
A real life example
I’d been working with a client for some time, and had shared the idea of using positive affirmations to help her diminish her patterns of negative self-sabotaging thoughts.
With commitment and consistency, she soon began noticing that when a negative thought sprouted, she would immediately replace it with a positive affirmation. In effect, she didn’t allow the negative thought to take root.
It was such a pleasure to watch this client’s transformation over time. She has been so successful in diminishing her negative thoughts and increasing her positive ones. As a result, she secured a new position with a higher salary, and has been pursuing a passion she never felt confident enough to do previously.
She also shared a recent experience with her young child. He’d been struggling with sleeping alone in his room at night time. She taught him the affirmation, “I am safe. God always has my back”, and then laid down with him for a few nights repeating the affirmation until he fell asleep. About a week later, she went to help him get ready for bed and noticed he’d already gone to his room, got into bed and turned the lights off. She was surprised and asked, “Honey, how are you feeling?” He responded by saying, “I’m a big boy Mommy. I am safe and God always has my back”.
And there you have it my beautiful friends – the perfect example of the power we hold to conquer that bully in our mind.
Try it – what have you got to lose? Just those negative thoughts!
Perhaps you can take some time today to practice a few positive affirmations. I’d love you to have a try and see where it leads, because I know you have the power to create the life experience you want. Why not take that step and make it happen??!!