Beginners’ Guide to Positive Affirmations
How often have you told yourself, ‘I can’t do it’ ‘I will never make it’ or anything of sort. Honestly speaking I am not able to form any other instance of negative talk in my mind right now.
Well, I have had my own little journey to discover the self help strategy of positive affirmations and their power to turn my life by 360 degrees. If you are new to this concept or just venturing over the periphery of this habit of harnessing positive self talk, this is the place for you.
Here are some key (and brief) facts about positive affirmations:
What are they?
Positive affirmations can simply be defined as short phrases (in present tense) that you can repeat to train your mind into believing about, for instance, the things you are grateful for in life, strengthen your beliefs and boost your confidence. You would not want to think of them as ’ wishful thinking’. There is a little science behind it.
A key theory behind the impact of positive affirmations is that our self integrity and self concept is built over time. It can be shaped, nurtured and maintained based on our mindset which in turn can be reframed through positive self talk or repeating affirmations.
Tell me what would you honestly prefer? Someone telling you ‘You are incapable of achieving success’
OR would you rather like someone assuring you ‘You are capable of achieving everything you want’ ‘You are worthy’, ‘You are blessed’.
Now would you just replace the ‘You’ in these sentences with ‘I’. Say these in first person….affirm these to yourself.
‘I am capable of achieving everything I want’
‘I am worthy’
‘I am blessed’
The power of positive affirmations comes from their very essence of being ‘positive affirmations’. They are positive and they are affirming what is true.
I mean darling, you ARE blessed.
How to practice them?
They work like magic. However, they are NOT magic.
You need to be consistent with them. Say them the first thing in the morning, right before bed or even during work…keep repeating them to yourself. Make your own cute rap. But BE CONSISTENT.
Also, the key here is to have conviction. You may be having the toughest day, a difficult phase or having doubts with reference to anything in life. Practice positive affirmations to get your mindset back to its original form — the positive, intelligent, optimistic and capable form! Repeating them and hearing them over and over again would allow you to start believing in them.
Your reframed beliefs in turn will help you, consciously or subconsciously, to take actions that are in alignment with the affirmations you are saying. Eventually, with time, patience and conviction, they help you create the reality you want, the reality you deserve.
How long will they take to actually show results?
Now this is a trick question. There is no definite time frame. In fact you may not realize it at a particular moment but you may wake up one fine day and while you start to say the affirmations, you suddenly recollect ‘Oh god, I am feeling what I am saying, I know what I am saying, and I have always been blessed!’
Excuse me if I sound all fantasy-like but that is how it worked for me. The condition is your energy, the condition is your consistency, the condition is your desire to do better for yourself.
You HAVE to believe that, regardless of your current situation, you are made for bigger things and you deserve the best that the world has to offer.
Positive affirmations are simply tools, powerful ones of course! but it is YOU who will make its magical results find you.
Well, I guess, it was more like a heart-to-heart conversation than a descriptive article. The entire intention, however, is to inspire you to start practicing positive affirmations and start attracting the realities you want. The reality that is better, worth your time and energy and the reality that is in alignment with your goals in life.
Say it out loud or quietly for only you to listen, write them down or listen to them on some podcast. Just make sure to BELIEVE in them…in yourself!
