You can use affirmations to program your future!
One of the biggest things we all have to deal with when trying to make changes in our lives is the constant barrage of negative and self-defeating thoughts that we subject ourselves to on a daily basis. We all tend to be much harder on ourselves than we are on anybody else, and that can have a very detrimental effect on our ability to follow through with our goals. Figuring out how to silence our own inner critic can be a challenging task, but it’s a critical step if we want to see real change happening in our lives.
One of the best tools I’ve found for making permanent changes to my own inner dialogue is the use of affirmations. They’re the best way to reprogram your subconscious mind; putting an end to all that sneaky negative thinking, and replacing it with more positive and helpful thought patterns.
What are affirmations?
Affirmations are basically just a set of positive statements that you repeat to yourself, in order to change your ingrained ways of thinking and shift yourself from automatic negative thoughts to automatic positive thoughts. In effect, it really is kind of like brainwashing yourself into a more positive frame of mind.
How to use affirmations
Affirmations can be used to help you with just about anything you want to achieve or manifest in your life. The key is to figure out what’s at the heart of whatever it is that you want, and then to use affirmations that will help you in those key areas. So, if you’re trying to become more optimistic, you might use the affirmation “I look for the positive in every situation”. If you’re looking to become more successful in business, you could use “I am successful in everything I do.” The point is to change the way you feel about whatever it is you are trying to achieve, because it is not just our thoughts that shape our experiences, it is the feelings associated with those thoughts. By shifting the way we feel, we shift the energy we are sending out into the Universe, and we change the future itself because what we give out is what comes back to us, every time.
When to use affirmations
You can use affirmations anywhere and everywhere, as often as you feel is right for you! I like to use them at night, before I go to sleep because I like the idea of my subconscious mind mulling over my new positive thoughts all night long while I’m asleep. I also sometimes use them first thing in the morning, as a way of programming how my day is going to go. 🙂
Aside from first thing when you wake up and last thing before you fall asleep, you can even use affirmations throughout the day, either repeating them to yourself silently, or even out loud when you want to remind yourself of all the awesomeness you’re planning for yourself. You could even write some of your favourite affirmations on Post-It notes and stick them all over the place where they’ll “surprise” you with positive thoughts throughout your day.
No matter how often you choose to use them, affirmations are one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal for shifting our vibes. By using affirmations you rewire your thought patterns, changing all the negative self-talk into positive self-talk, and effectively silencing your inner critic. Do this often enough, and you will reset your vibrational set-point to a higher level, making it easier for all the wonderful things you want for yourself to manifest in your life.
This is so vital when I’m experiencing bouts of messy moods. I far too often forget to do it though.
Hi Kim — Isn’t it weird how, when there’s something that would be really useful for us in a particular situation, it’s usually the time when we’re most unlikely to remember to do it? And then the thing you were dealing with is done, and that’s when you remember you could have tried something that might have made it easier. Happens to me, too! You might want to give the post-it notes technique a try. Stick your affirmations on your bathroom mirror, on the inside of the cupboard door where you keep your favourite snacks, in your wallet… wherever you’ll come across them most often. That way you don’t have to remember to use them… they just become a part of your day! 🙂
I believe in Affirmations and sometimes, I think they’re what keep me motivated on especially tough days. Wonderful post! Glad you visited my blog – so nice to meet you!
And great to see Kim here 😀
Hi Vidya, and thank you so much for commenting! 🙂 I also find that affirmations are particularly useful on those tougher days… they help to re-ground me and remind me of all the wonderful things that already are, and those that will be. I also find that when I make it a point to use them regularly, those tougher days don’t actually seem as tough as they used to.