Awesomeness Affirmed - The Impact of Daily Affirmations

I mentioned affirmations a few weeks ago as part of my daily routine.  That's actually pretty new.  I read another blog that was describing how the author used affirmations to make more money.

Now that sounded pretty BS-y to me.  I don't believe that saying something out loud gives you the power to adjust how the entire world works.  I don't believe that you believing something can change a hard fact.  But I do believe you have control over your own brain.  So by saying things like, "Wealth comes to me in a variety of ways" maybe you're rewiring your brain to think about obtaining money and seek alternate ways to do so.

With that in mind, I didn't want to recite some silly thing that I didn't believe was effective.  I wanted to focus on things about myself and my personality that I knew I could change and focus my brain on working towards that goal.

I thought about all the things I'd like to change about myself.  I'd like to exercise more.  I'd like to cook more and clean more.  I'd like to waste less time and goof off less at work.  It all boiled down to one thing: discipline.  Even the personality things I wanted to change, like being more positive.  I'm already capable of changing all these things - I just need the will power to follow through.

With that in mind, I made this list of affirmations to saw every day:

Affirmations

1. I am a happy person.
2. I am in control of my mental attitude and focus on positive thinking.
3. I have the willpower and discipline to follow through with my goals.
4. I complete my tasks even when I don’t feel like it, because I know it will make me feel better tomorrow.
5. I will be happy with what I’ve achieved today and try to achieve even more tomorrow.
6. I will be nice to [Significant].

I've been saying them for about a month now.  Have I seen any major changes?  Not really.  But it does make me feel good to say them, and there have been a couple times that I didn't want to run or fold my clothes, and I thought about them and did it anyway.

I have noticed that I thought about the meaning of them more at first, when I wasn't used to say them everyday.  Now that I have them memorized, I have to force my brain to think about it, and it's easier to ignore them at other times during the day.  So maybe they lose their effectiveness over time.  Or maybe belief is a huge part of it.

I read an interesting article that discusses potential negative effect of affirmations.  Hard to believe right?  When they're such a positive thing.  The gist was that reciting things when we actually disbelieve them can make us feel even more hopeless and insecure about it, because we feel like we're lying every time we read or speak our affirmations.  This especially rings true with someone trying to overcome issues with insecurity.

I feel lucky.  In that the biggest obstacle I have to overcome is my own laziness.  And I feel comfortable continuing with the affirmations, because I don't see any negative impact they could have for me, but I'd strongly recommend anyone struggling with mental health or confidence issues to see a specialist, or even a friend, who can help you find the best solution and remind you how awesome you are (because you are, whether you see it or not).  Evidently even widely recommended practices can have a negative impact if done carelessly.

With that in mind, I might change "I complete my tasks" to "I will complete my tasks" because saying I currently do is not true, while "I will" could absolutely be true.  I just have to make it so.


Note: Another great resource for those interested in affirmations or seeking self confidence is Gala Darling's radical self love philosophy and classes.  I'm really curious about these and I think I'm going to sign up just so that I can see what it's all about.  Self love?  Yes, please!

What do you think about affirmations?  If you had to make them, what would they be?