How to Effectively Use Positive Affirmations (Without Feeling Like a Liar)
"I believe in myself and my abilities."
"My future is completely under my control."
"Every day of my life is an opportunity to get closer to the dreams I desire."
These are three of my favorite affirmations that I created for myself. I keep them on Post-It notes in my room, my work space, and on mirrors (a la - Being Mary Jane) so that I can see them and repeat them as often as possible.
But do I always feel like "my future is completely under my control?"
Absolutely not.
When I am sitting in traffic, waiting in a long line at (insert any establishment in the Atlanta area), or confronted with negativity, what I really wish I could do is suddenly have the magical powers of Samantha Stephens in Bewitched and wiggle my nose to make it all disappear.
But since I am a mere mortal, I've found another way to use my "magic" to help create a peaceful, positive, and abundant lifestyle.
Positive affirmations are sayings or phrases that can be used to remind ourselves of what we have to be grateful for, what we desire to experience in our lives, and as confirmation that we have the power to do, have, and be anything that we can conceive in our minds.
However, most people are a bit leery of the benefit of positive affirmations.
I found this out after I wrote a 394 page book on this very topic.
(It's okay...you can giggle)
Because affirmations require you to believe in something BEFORE it actually happens, it can be difficult to see the benefit in doing this. Some people feel like they are lying to themselves by saying all these positive quotes and attempting to believe them, when their lives are actually in stark contrast to the affirmations.
But believe it or not, that is EXACTLY why affirmations are so important!
The key to manifesting all of your desires into real and tangible experiences in your life is that you have to start feeling the feelings of having what you want RIGHT NOW. And affirmations are the quickest and easiest way to elicit the happy feelings of having what you want before it arrives.
Here's a quick Affirmations 101 cheat sheet to bring all of the desires of your heart into your life like a magnet.
Make a list of things you most desire, or of the things you want to change.
You will be surprised by how excited you become from writing down what you want. There is something very powerful about seeing your desires on paper, and it begins to bring them to life. You have to actively think for this task, so it also encourages you to dream of what having what you want will feel like. It works the same way with your list of things to change. Thinking about having undesirable traits, situations or people out of your life, instantly creates feelings of peace and relief and those feelings will help the affirmations you use feel more authentic.
Create one sentence phrases that affirm your desires
Once your list is created (I say created because it will never be complete, as your needs and desires are constantly evolving), use your words to create simple sentences that reinforce your desires. Ex: I want to marry the man of my dreams and have a life filled with love and romance. AFFIRMATION: I will meet the man of my dreams and have the life I've always desired. It's okay if the affirmations seem far-fetched at first because what you want is not currently in your life. But the more you repeat them, the more they will become a part of your belief system, and the more you will begin to see the things you want show up in your life.
Repeat your affirmations on a DAILY basis
Just as it is with anything you wish to create as a habit in your life, consistency is key. Doing affirmations daily allows positive thoughts to become a regular part of your everyday activities. There are worse things you could force yourself to do on a daily basis than to have positive thoughts about yourself and the life that you want, right? It will take a little while to get into the groove, but once you do, particularly once you begin to see the tangible benefits of positive thought that relates directly to YOU and your experience, you will effortless begin to create the lifestyle that you once thought eluded you, simply because you may not have believed in your own power. But I assure you, every single person reading these words has the EXACT same power to serve as a co-creator in their own life and to manifest every single desire that can be conceived.
BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE!!!!
Once you've got the hang of repeating daily affirmations, either your own, or from the wonderful daily affirmations that have already magically been created for you in a little book called Jeanette's Jewels: Positive Affirmations for the Spirit (Please pardon the shameless plug), you can relax your mind to believe that what you are affirming can and WILL become a part of your life.
Whatever you believe to be true in your mind will be automatically drawn into your life experience. There is nothing special that you need to do except to believe that this is the case and to allow the happy feelings of having your desires to become a daily practice. Each time you recite or meditate on an affirmation, take a moment to think of how your life will change once these desires come to fruition. Don’t think of it as something that will happen way off in the future after 30 years of hard, laborious work. See, think and feel how it would feel to have them right NOW, in THIS moment, and this energy you are creating from your positive affirmations and thoughts will serve as the catalyst to turn your dreams into your direct REALITY.