Proverbs 18:21 says that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.”
What you are speaking over your life, you will behold.
What are Affirmations?
Affirmations are positive statements you declare over yourself based on where you want to be, not based on where you currently are.
It takes the focus off the present and puts it into the future you are creating for yourself.
If you’re not happy with where you are right now, you have to get a vision of where you want to be in order to make change happen.
When you repeatedly recite positive affirmations, it tricks your brain into believing those things are already true.
Eventually, these statements will become true.
This is because your brain registers what is important to you, and consistently declaring positive affirmations will do just that-register your positive affirmations as important to your brain.
Your brain will then receive a signal any time an opportunity related to your affirmation comes about.
What you think about, you bring about.
Recommended Reading: Pep Talk by Terri Savelle Foy
The Consequence of Your Words
“I’m so fat.” “I’ll never get out of debt.” “These are just the cards I’ve been dealt in life.” “I just wasn’t meant to be successful.” “I’ll never get pregnant.” “Men/Women aren’t interested in me.”
Sound familiar?
It’s easy to make negative statements when you’re struggling and can’t see past the struggle.
A bad habit, really-you’ve programmed your mind to think these things, so, it believes what you are saying.
But you have to train your brain otherwise, because everything you say will become true.
You’re tricking your brain into believing what you say, so if you are repeatedly telling yourself and others, “I’ll never get out of debt,” guess what?
You won’t.
You’re telling your brain you don’t believe in yourself enough to get out of debt, and your brain will block out any opportunities to help you.
You know the law of attraction? It works that way with your brain, too. It will attract the thoughts you feed it.
The voice inside your head controls everything.
My Struggle
If you’ve read my story, you might already know this, but I was bullied growing up. I manifested what was being said and done to me, and drug it around like a ball and chain.
It transitioned into my adult life as well, and fueled the depression I struggled with for years.
After I came to know the Lord, I started seeking Him for the answers, as opposed to the world.
My First Victory
You might be reading this now and think what I’m telling you is crazy-that repeating positive affirmations won’t do anything to help someone improve their life.
I have personally experienced all the proof in the world to know that it does.
Story Time
I’d like to share something I wrote in early November, 2014.
(Side Note: This is me really putting myself out there right now. But I’m doing this in the hopes of helping others understand the power of positive declarations.)
“It’s crazy how much power we all have but don’t realize it. Last night in small group our chapter was about how God WANTS us to expect and WANTS us to demand. This is news to me, someone who grew up with oppressive religion and manipulative relationships, which led me to believe lies about myself. So this morning for the first time ever, I said out loud, “I DESERVE and EXPECT to be loved.” It sounds corny, but the more you proclaim positive statements the more you believe them. And it’s about time I started even stating these things because for 32+ years, I couldn’t even do that!
I no longer will allow myself to feel not worthy or not good enough to be loved. As a result of believing all my life I didn’t deserve love or marriage, I basically let myself believe I couldn’t do any better than I was doing and walked on eggshells, scared the other person would abandon me. Told lies to myself for years…I refuse to live this way any more. I DESERVE and EXPECT to be loved. And only a person who is of MY worth will dare to love me the way I deserve. And I deserve to be treated like a Queen.”
That same month, I met my husband.
Takeaways
You see, for the first 32 years of my life, I had talked myself into believing I was not worthy of love or marriage based on the way others had treated me, the things I was told, and worst of all, the things I was telling myself.
I completely brainwashed myself.
When I finally, truly believed I was worthy of those things, I met my husband!
It took transforming my mind to queue the right man to walk into my life.
This is why I have no doubt this practice works.
Why You Need Affirmations to Succeed
It’s about more than just reciting sentences and wishful thinking. It is a process of reprogramming your brain and your attitude so you can attract what you desire.
You are not going to get anywhere with a negative attitude and no vision for your future.
Similar to goal-setting, it’s a way of “checking in” with your dreams daily-to keep your mind fixated on the vision you have of the future, so don’t lose sight of it in the throes of day-to-day living.
How to Create Your Own Affirmations
Make a list based on the different areas of your life.
I want you to get out a piece of paper and a pen, and write out the key areas of your life-Family, Career, Finances, Faith, etc-and write one positive affirmation for each negative thought you’d like to counteract.
Use “I AM”, not “I will.”
It’s important to use present tense as if the affirmation has already happened.
For example: My husband and I are believing in a baby. I have positive affirmations I recite every morning including:
“I achieve pregnancy easily.” (I clearly don’t, so I’m training my brain to believe I do, so that my body follows suit!)
Whatever that negative statement is in each area of your life-write out a positive declaration of what you want to see happen. What you’re believing for.
Recite every morning with conviction.
The first few times I recited my list of affirmations, I felt unsure of myself and crazy.
But after a few days of this practice, I started to develop confidence and could already feel those declarations taking root in my heart.
I recite my affirmations while staring at my vision board, which has pictures of dreams that pair with many of my affirmations.
Do you recite positive affirmations? What was your biggest success story as a result of putting positive affirmations into practice? What do you want to see in my next article? Inquiring minds (mine!) want to know. Comment below. ?
Read Next:
How to Set Goals and Achieve Them
5 Self-Discipline Tips for Success
Latest posts by Lisa (see all)
- How to Break Bad Habits - April 10, 2022
- 5 Tips for Self-Motivation - April 3, 2022
- 4 Thoughts on Creating Your Future - March 27, 2022
- How to Eliminate the “Noise” of Life - March 20, 2022
- 6 Phrases to Eliminate from Your Life - March 13, 2022
[…] The Power of Positive Affirmations […]