Positive Affirmations: Speak your dreams into reality!

Positive Affirmations: Speak your dreams into reality!

There’s a reason why they say words are sharper than knives, why they can be written, spoken, and heard but not seen. Words are powerful. Thoughts remain thoughts unless they are acted upon. Spoken, they become vibrations. Written, they become visualizable. 

Words can either be a weapon or tool, able to destroy and create, build, and tear down. We’ve been using this weapon all our lives. But as they say, the tongue is a weapon only a few can master. In this article, we will tackle affirmations, how they work, how to use them for your benefit, and more.

“I hold the power to know more about Positive Affirmations.” In the simplest sense, positive affirmations are positive statements. These statements have the nature to instill inspiration, motivation, and focus in a person. They can influence the mind to take the necessary actions to achieve your goals. They are also subjective, as no two persons have the same specific goal. 

The science behind affirmations lies in the fact that the mind cannot always distinguish reality from imagination. Thus, your mind will eventually believe it when you continually repeat something. The belief that develops can, over time, turn into faith. Faith will determine the actions of your conscious and subconscious mind. Your newfound belief and faith will translate your goals into reality.

As Napoleon Hill outlined, affirmations are auto-suggestions that, when repeatedly heard by the conscious mind, will be passed to the subconscious and, coupled with faith, will send it to the Infinite Intelligence. He implied it as if the subconscious would be the one to “pray” to the Infinite Intelligence that will, in turn, grant your dreams. 

Other benefits of positive affirmations include decreased sedentary behavior, increased self-esteem, contentment with life, intention to act healthily, reduced stress levels, etc.

Notice that the subheadings of this article are presented as positive affirmations to help you understand them better. As such, I want you to open your mind as you begin to read the instructions on making and using positive affirmations to change your life. 

“I am an extraordinary individual capable of Making Positive Affirmations.” We’ve been doing affirmations all our lives, but we don’t notice them. This is why some of our life outcomes so far are questionable. We may have been self-programmed to believe in negative thoughts, things that make us less confident, and ideas that bring us down—thus, the adverse outcomes in our lives. Or we may have been self-programmed with positive beliefs—therefore, the good outcomes.

Making positive affirmations is the opportunity for us to attract self-empowerment and do away with self-sabotage. If we want to make them work, there are a few pointers about how to make your affirmations. 

Make your desires SMART. Before going to the writing and speaking part, you must first know what you truly desire. What you desire must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. For affirmations to work, you need these five characteristics of a desire because otherwise, your mind will only reject your dreams. This is not to tell you to limit your dreams but only to specify them and make them foreseeable and believable. When you have SMART goals to base your affirmations on, your affirmations will be more straightforward.

Write them down. Affirmations take time before your mind can register them as beliefs. Thus, it is imperative to have consistency in your affirmations. Since you will repeat them, it is helpful to write them down so that you will not forget them.

State them positively. A positive tone sounds better and more inspiring than a negative one. Simply put, “I won’t skip a workout session this month.” is better when stated as “I am strong, healthy, and committed to working out consistently this month.” Moreover, saying affirmations positively means expressing them with gratitude- as if they’ve already come true.

State them in the present tense. Of course, there is no harm in starting your affirmation with “I will.” However, affirmations will work better if you set them as if you’ve already attained your goals so that your mind will believe them more effectively. Present tense statements could also help your imagination as you see yourself already achieving your goal.

Say them with positive emotion. Feel what you are saying. Emotion has the ability to compel. When your statement is given a feeling, your subconscious mind will automatically manifest it into an action, idea, or plan which you can act upon to achieve your goal. 

“I have faith that I am capable of Using Positive Affirmations.” More than knowing what affirmations are and how to make them, putting them to practice is what truly makes them work for you. Here are a couple of steps you can follow about using affirmations: 

Find your sacred place. A sacred place is a quiet, peaceful place where you can hear your thoughts and talk one-on-one with the divine. It can be your bed, bathroom, living room, garden, or car. As long as you won’t be disturbed, it will do. 

Say them loudly, repeatedly, and confidently. If you want to put emotions in your affirmations, you must say them loudly. Read the affirmations you have composed audibly. Say them at least five times in the morning as part of starting and setting the tone of your day and in the evening as you drift into a peaceful slumber. Remember that repetition is key to affirmations. The more your subconscious encounters your positive affirmations, the more it strives to act upon them. Putting emotions when saying your affirmations displays confidence, making you even more confident.

“I am grateful and fortunate that I have the opportunity to receive wisdom from others.” Sometimes there can be issues with affirmations. You may need to take a deep dive into who you are first to find out what’s blocking you from using affirmations in your favor. Consider seeking external help to ensure that you are appropriately guided in your journey towards achieving your goals. As a part of Quest IV of the Happiness Compass©, affirmations are only part of a more extensive process toward living life to its fullest.

“I am optimistic that affirmations will bring about good outcomes in my life.” As we’ve established, we all have our own goals, and so affirmations can’t be the same for all of us. This is also to say that you should avoid using affirmations already available on the internet or in books as they are. Instead, you can alter and tailor these available affirmations to your desire. I have provided a few examples for you to base your affirmations on if you think you need help as you start.

• I am in a joyous state as my life is in harmony because there is balance and satisfaction in the ____, ____, and ____ aspects of my life.
• I am inspired to engage in physical activities because they maximize my body and mind’s abilities to ______.
• I am proud that I have ______ at this point in my life.
• I am confident that I can _____ because I am courageous, driven, and wise.
• I feel luxurious as I hold in my hand the _____ I earned with my creativity, resilience, and intelligence.
• I am sufficient for myself, and anyone I meet will see my value.
• I am content with the life that I have.
• I am happy in every aspect of my life every day.
• I feel fortunate to be valued, respected, and appreciated at work.
• I am uplifted by the fact that I can stand on my own feet.

Notice that they all possess the pointers I have mentioned for an affirmation that attracts positive outcomes. They contain positivity, emotions, attainability, etc. Also, you don’t need them to always start with “I am.” As you practice affirming yourself more and more, you will get better at it until you can form your own complex positive affirmations.

“My potential is limitless because I believe in myself.” Talking positively to yourself isn’t woo. Don’t let this world tell you otherwise. You have the power to wield words for you to achieve anything you want in life. Now that you know how to make your own positive affirmations, I hope your journey becomes more favorable and that your sense of self-love, self-esteem, and self-assurance becomes more visible. 

So go, grab a paper and pen, ask yourself what you desire, begin to write your positive affirmations, and speak your dreams into reality!

References

Arquiza, L. (2020). The Effect of Positive Affirmations on Self-Esteem and Well-Being in College Students.

Cascio, C. N., O’Donnell, M. B., Tinney, F. J., Lieberman, M. D., Taylor, S. E., Strecher, V. J., & Falk, E. B. (2016). Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 11(4), 621-629.

Harris, P. S., Harris, P. R., & Miles, E. (2017). Self-affirmation improves performance on tasks related to executive functioning. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 281-285.