Research has proven that in order to remove the negative mindset, reprogramming the brain is a must.
Regardless of your personal thoughts on the matter, daily positive affirmations have the power to change the mind frames in our everyday lives.
What’s the big idea?
Skeptics view affirmations as the lies people tell themselves in order to trick the mind into thinking they’ll get what they want.
The thing is–they’re not a trick. Daily positive affirmations actually do work. True story. Did the homework. But they aren’t magic spells or cure-alls and there is a catch.
The idea behind positive affirmations is that the mind can be rewired to overcome challenge, negative thought patterns, and self-sabotage by intentionally saying, thinking, and repeating statements that reflect truths about ourselves and our situations that we’d like to see come to fruition.
What’s the secret?
The secret of affirmations lies in our ability to find evidence to gradually build internal belief in the statement. This may mean the statement changes a bit to something a little more believable right now.
Believe the positive statements you tell yourself no matter how insignificant they may seem! It makes a huge difference.
If I didn’t press “snooze” this morning and actually felt like I slept last night then–hell yes! Maybe I say to myself: “I’m thankful that I feel energized every morning so I can go for a run.”
Do I? Probably not. But over time, I will if I start working on compiling the evidence to prove it.
One day, the positive affirmation may work up to “I’m so thankful I can run a marathon.”
Make it work for you
We give ourselves grace and set ourselves up by trusting that our bodies will catch up with our brains. Most of us are probably pretty good at thinking of reasons to believe the worst, aren’t we?
The challenge now is to find a new focal point from which to pivot into affirming the best. Or at least the best realistic outcome right now.
Those new thoughts will begin to ruminate (in a good way this time!) and our outward perception will be shaped by a new and more positive outlook.
The results will present themselves in ways we don’t even realize.
“Every thought is either an investment or a cost.”
T. Harv Eker
If thoughts are our strongest assets, are yours costing you or are they paying dividends?
The science behind affirmations
After reading the book Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain and further researching into the science behind affirmations, a few theories, studies, and scientific approaches came to light.
- Neuro-linguistic Programming
- This basically means that there is a connection between the processes inside of our brains, language, and our patterns of behavior that are learned through our experiences. In this approach, a person’s “programming” can change as they grow and experience more in life.
- Self-Affirmation Theory
- There are 3 main parts here:
- The self is flexible.
- People are motivated to protect their self-worth.
- People are affirmed by participating in activities that “remind them of who they are.”
- There are 3 main parts here:
The verdict
Simply put, we have a hell of a lot more control over our minds (and therefore our situations) than we think we do.
It’s not necessary to tell anyone of the positive affirmations. They’ll be reflected via our attitudes and actions.
So how do we create daily positive affirmations that don’t make us feel like phonies? Start here.
Leave a Reply