Affirmations have been used for thousands of years by great thinkers like Socrates and the Buddha who believed that affirmations were the key to creating positive change in their lives by changing their way of thinking about themselves and the world around them.

If you’re stuck in a negative thinking pattern and find yourself thinking “you can’t” as your gut reflex to everything, you could benefit from some mindset training. When you get caught in a pattern of negative thinking, your brain is being trained to keep thinking negatively. By adopting an affirmations practice that you do DAILY, you are re-training your brain to drop your limits and develop an abundance mindset. You are what you think.

1. What affirmations are

Affirmations are short statements that affirm something you want to believe about yourself. You can make affirmations as simple or complex as you like, but the most successful affirmations will be those where there is a clear positive feeling in your body when saying them out loud – this way it becomes easier and more natural for your brain to accept what’s being said.

Affirmations should be personal to you and you should connect with their statements deeply. One person’s affirmations are not necessarily going to resonate with you. It’s important for you to seek out affirmations that represent what you want in life and your ideal self, not what someone else wants.

It’s not just about what affirmations you use, but how and when you say them that can make the difference in their effectiveness. Developing an affirmations practice is important – you can’t just read them off for a week and expect miracles. It’s a long journey, but a very rewarding one.

When used properly affirmations have been scientifically proven to change your mindset for the better – they are a powerful tool!

2. How can affirmations change your mindset ?

Affirmations are essentially a type of thought training. They can help you change the negative patterns in your mind and break through any limits that have been imposed on yourself or those set by society.

Affirmations force you to tell yourself “yes” when it comes to things like success, happiness, love, abundance, etc., while telling yourself “no” to negative things like failure, unhappiness and emptiness. You’re retraining your brain to think positively about yourself.

Affirmations will not change anything until you do – affirmations are a powerful tool for self-discovery that can help you find what it is that will make your life the most fulfilling by changing how you see yourself and the world around you.

You are what you think!!

When you tell yourself you are what you want to be, you will start to believe and become it. It takes time but you will find yourself turning into a new version of yourself little by little, and it all starts with your mind.

3. Tips for practicing affirmations on a daily basis

  • Create affirmations that are personal to you and represent what it is you want.
  • Don’t just say affirmations once: affirm, then reflect! Affirm for a few days in a row before changing them around.
  • Practice your affirmations when your mind isn’t already cluttered with other things going on – preferably early morning or right before bed. Say them out loud and let yourself experience what each one feels like if it were true.
  • Say some affirmations throughout your day (I have a great free hack for that here!). This can help you stay focused on your goals and break any negative patterns you may have fallen into.

4. The benefits of affirmations  

Affirmations can change your mindset and help you become a more confident person. They work best when they are affirmations for what YOU want, not just affirmations that someone else wants or thinks will be good for you.

An affirmations practice has been scientifically proven to improve your self-esteem, lower stress levels and increase happiness.

Affirmations can help you change the negative patterns in your mind and break through any limits that have been imposed on yourself or those set by society.

They are a powerful tool for self-discovery! Affirmations allow you to find what it is that will make your life most fulfilling, changing how you see yourself and the world around you.

5. Examples of affirmations to use in different situations

I’m beautiful.

Success is mine.

I am loved.

I am kind.

I am amazing.

I accept myself.

My business is thriving.

My relationships are growing deeper.

Don’t let this list stop you! These are just a jumping off point for you to use to build your own affirmations that are personal to you. Imagine your ideal future – then write down what you see around you and what you see yourself as. Turn those into present-tense statements and there you have it! Your first set of custom affirmations. Revise them as you start to internalize them and add new ones when your goals or dreams change. Make it a quarterly practice to revisit you affirmations list and make sure you still identify with all of them. You’ve got this!

If you need a jumpstart, I’ve got a free download here for a set of affirmations that you can put right on your phone’s home screen. This is a great way to get started on your affirmations practice and help remind yourself of them throughout the day. You should be LIVING your affirmations, not just looking at them once a day.

Do you have a daily affirmations practice? Are you looking to start one? Connect with me on Facebook here and let’s continue this conversation!