Affirmations

I feel like everyone knows what affirmations are but just in case you need refreshing lets ask the question. What is an affirmation?

So, the short answer is affirmations are short phrases you can repeat to change the way you think and feel about yourself. It will usually be a sentence of powerful words put together and this sentence is designed to tap into your conscious and unconscious mind to motivate you, to challenge you, to help you to reach your full potential in life.

As you are probably aware if you have already read some of our blog posts, or have listened to our podcast that we love affirmations, we really do feel like they motivate us to become the best version of ourselves! It really does start your day positive and keeps you in check when you are having a difficult day. Affirmations are free and easy to practice anywhere, anytime, so they’re a really accessible tool for everyone.

Affirmations are used all over the world, even celebrities have said how amazing affirmations are, for example, Michelle Obama said in a Twitter post in 2021 that her daily mantra is:

“Am I good enough? Yes, I am.”

Even Denzel Washington said he is indebted to affirmations for his success. He beat his alcohol issues and all other problems that were holding back his mind and body from achieving greater things with the help of his positive mindset. He started to believe in himself, thanks to the help of affirmations.

So where did affirmations start from?

The man considered by many to have, I guess you would say, invented affirmations is French psychologist and pharmacist Emile Coue.

In the early 20th century, Coue noticed that when he told his patients how effective a potion was as he gave it to them, the results would be much better than if he said nothing at all.

He also observed that ideas that fill our minds exclusively become reality, and so he invented a form of autosuggestion, asking his patients to repeat the words, ‘Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better’ to themselves every day. Over the course of his life’s work, Coue achieved many remarkable cures with his techniques – but he also failed.

You see Coue discovered that his methods didn’t work if his patients made an independent judgement about their affirmation, and so he established that you really needed to believe what you were saying for it to come true.

Why are affirmations are not working for me?

Well, as you have probably guessed from the last paragraph that you need to believe that what you are saying is true! If deep down you really don't believe what you're saying then why will it manifest into your life? You really are the creator of your destiny, believe! Know that these things are already waiting for you and remember to repeat your affirmations every time you engage in an negative thought or any kind of negative behaviour that you want to overcome.

Choose affirmations that you feel some sort of connection too, they don't need to be complicated, sometimes the issue in choosing an affirmation is that it doesn't connect with how you may be feeling right now, it can manifest the opposite of what you wanted. So instead of feeling more empowered and taking positive steps towards your rightful state, you instead give up, feeling as if what you want to be is SO far from where you are and that you’ll never get there. So, what’s the point of even trying?

So what do you do? You decide that affirmations are a waste of time. But actually, no, there not. Used properly, affirmations can be incredibly powerful and will genuinely help you to achieve the results you want. The trick is to find the right affirmation for you, at this point in your life.

Choose an affirmation that works for you!

So, how do you choose the right affirmation for you?

Dont be too ambiguous and this may be confusing but dont be too broad too, so repeating something like 'I have a great job' doesn't really give your subconsious mind much to grasp onto. Alternately think about a situation that is close enough to your current situation to be practical, realistic and achievable, and write an affirmation around that, here are some examples:

• I enjoy and am appreciated for the work that I do.

• I am on a journey to owning my own business.

• I respond to stressful situations with calm and wisdom.

• I am relaxed and confident in my job interview.

• I am convincing and successful in my business pitch.

All these affirmations are could be a step up from what you are feeling or experiencing at this moment. They depict a desired state, but not one that is unattainable.

They also help you to take a much more realistic and appropriate action to achieve them.

When you have achieved them (because you will achieve them), you can create a new affirmation for the next step on your journey. If you have a huge, overly-ambitious affirmation, it’s hard to believe to your very core that you WILL get there (and that is exactly what you need to do for affirmations to really be powerful and to work). And it’s just as tricky to understand exactly what you need to do first to start making the change. This makes your goal of achieving what you desire much easier for your subconsious to jump on board with.

We really do believe that affirmations are a powerful tool to help you achieve the goals you want achieve in your life. There is so many affirmations online, we even do them everyday on our Instagram, but remember to only adopt the ones that genuinly fit into your life and your current situation, and that you REALLY DO BELIEVE! Once you have done this, there is no doubt that what you want will manifest for you!

We would love to hear what your favourite affirmation that you use daily and we really hope you picked up some interesting information today and we look forward to hearing what affirmations you have been using!

Love & Light

The Spiritual Mamas x