Helping with Affirmations

Guidelines for Constructing Affirmations

1. An affirmation should be short, simple and direct. “ I believe in myself” Is preferable to “ there are a lot of good qualities I have that I believe in”.
2. Keep affirmations in the present tense (“I am prosperous”) or present progressive tense (“I am becoming prosperous”) Telling yourself that some change you desire will happen in the future always keeps it one step removed.
3. Try to avoid negatives. Instead of saying “ I’m no longer afraid of public speaking,” try “I’m free of fear about public speaking” or “I’m becoming fearless about public speaking.” Similarly, instead of the negative statement “ I’m not perfect,” try “ It’s O.K. to be less than perfect” or “it’s O.K. to make mistakes.” Your unconscious mind is incapable of making the distinction between a positive and a negative statement. It will respond to a negative statement in the same way as a positive affirmation (for example, “I’m not perfect” becomes “I am perfect”).
4. Start with a direct declaration of a positive change you want to make in your life (“I am making more time for myself every day”) if this feels a little too strong for you just yet, try changing it to “I am willing to make more time for my self.” Willingness to change is the most important step you need to take in order to actually make any substantial change in your life. A second alternative to a direct declaration is to affirm that you are becoming something or learning to do something. If you are not quiet ready for a direct statement such as, “ I’m strong, confident, and secure”, you can affirm, “I am becoming strong, confident, and secure.” Again, if you are not ready for “I face my fears willingly,” try “I’m learning to face my fears.”
5. It’s important that you have some belief in-or at least willingness to believe in-your affirmations. It’s by no means necessary, however, to believe in an affirmation 100 percent when you first start out. The whole point is to shift your beliefs and attitudes in favor of the affirmation.

Ways to Work with Affirmations

1. Once you have made a list of affirmations, decide on a few that you would like to work with. In general, it’s a good idea to work on only two or three at a time, unless you choose to make a tape containing all of them.
2. Write an affirmation repetitively, about five or ten times every day, for a week or two. Each time you doubt your belief in the affirmation, write down your doubt on the reverse side of your paper. As you continue to write an affirmation over and over, giving yourself the opportunity to express any doubts, you will find that your willingness to believe it increases.

I hope this might help some of you that have certain negative beliefs that you have learned during the time you were younger until now. I believe that all negative beliefs that we have instilled in our subconscious mind can be re-programmed to more healthier and positive views of our selves and what we believe in. I know that a lot of my anxiety and panic is manifested from my low self-esteem and negative beliefs that I was programmed with growing up as a child and when I became an adult they were and are still there. This has helped me lot; I hope some of you find this helpful as well.

Thanks for this.