Transforming Your Life By Using Affirmations

Affirmations Explained

An affirmation is a statement made to oneself that has either a positive or a negative value. Affirmations are generally purposeful, planned out and meant to make a positive change in our lives, although some affirmations are impulsive, reactive to sudden changes in our environment. Our lives and actions will align with our affirmations the more we use them. Affirmations work much like a ripple effect. When the wind blows against the water, it causes ripples that develop into waves that later on can cause a tsunami.

The way affirmations work

People lead their lives in accordance with their beliefs and their emotions. For example, if you grow up being led to believe that life is hard and unbending than your belief system throughout life will be bleak and pessimistic.

Our beliefs are stored in our subconscious minds. Difficulty finding or staying in the "ideal" romantic relationship, for instance, could be due to a subconscious belief that you don't really deserve to be loved. Clearly, such negative beliefs as "I don't deserve true love" or "I don't deserve to be wealthy" can have a very strong impact on our lives. If we want to change how we think, we are going to have change our minds on a subconscious level.

You're probably familiar with the old adage, "One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel." We tend to reflect the things and people around us, so that when we keep company with highly goal-oriented people, we tend to become goal-oriented ourselves. It's a chain reaction. Our subconscious beliefs are based on our perception of reality, and if that perception is suddenly flooded with positive things, our subconscious beliefs will slowly shift to reflect that new reality. Being around negative people - pessimists who expect the worst of everything, for instance - will cause you to start believing the worst of everything and everybody, and then you'll start infecting others with that same negativity.

You'll be able to think positively and achieve more of your goals once you've changed your core beliefs. Here are some tips on changing your subconscious mind to benefit using affirmations to help manifest your desired outcome.

* Always seek the best in things and people. Negative affirmations don’t work. This sort of convoluted approach doesn't work in the subconscious, which thinks in terms of what is, not what isn't. Your subconscious mind cannot process the negative affirmation. If you try to affirm to yourself "I am not broke," the word "not" gets filtered out.

* Keep your affirmations in the present, not in the past or the future. Affirmations like “I will be rich” or “I will live in an over-water bungalow” will only forever be in the future! Your subconscious mind is very literal and will only try to bring out what you ask for it to do. You'll achieve much better results using affirmations like "I choose to be wealthy," or "I'm the sort of person who enjoys spending time doing things to help other people." Indeed, some psychologists hold that including the concept of "choice" in your affirmations helps reinforce the idea that you're really in control of your own life.

* Repetition is very important when using affirmations. The most effective way to use affirmations is to set aside some time for them several times a day, every day. Affirmations are like taking vitamins - in order to be effective, you must follow your schedule every day, not just for a couple of days. Like anything worthwhile in life, positively changing your core beliefs is going to take some effort. Don't give up on it because results aren't coming immediately!

* Affirmations can be either be a thought, spoken out loud or written down. Repetition, as already pointed out, is a crucial element of successful affirmations. Thinking and writing your affirmations are for times when you can't repeat your affirmations out loud, which is the best. Try to repeat your affirmations ten times each at least twice a day. Writing your affirmations helps you to see them as well - try to write your affirmations several times daily, especially before going to sleep. The reinforcement on your subconscious mind of writing your affirmations is especially efficient. "Think and Grow Rich," a book by Napoleon Hill, describes an approach to written affirmations called the "card method," which is said to be very efficient. Carry an index card with you on which you've written down your affirmations. Every day, several times, take the card out and review the affirmations.

* Another very effective method is the Mirror Technique. Simply stand in front of a mirror, look yourself in the eye and repeat your affirmations forcefully. This is one of the best ways of connecting with your subconscious mind. Do this everyday, whenever you see your reflection, at home or out and about, make sure you say it with all the passion you have. Make sure that you understand about affirmations before using the Mirror Technique, though - it's a very powerful tool, and if your affirmations are couched improperly, you might delay or undo your progress!

If some of the guidelines here appeal to you more than others, that's fine - do what you're most comfortable with. The only mistake would be not to do anything at all! Don't expect life-changing results in a single day or week, though. Regular, repetitious and frequent practice and visualization will help speed the process, though, and produce results in your life.