By Felix C. Veroya
Do you feel like you lack direction in your life? Do you find it hard to see a future for yourself? If so, then self-affirmations might just be the answer. Self-affirmations are positive statements that we tell ourselves to counteract negative thoughts.
Though they may seem like a simple concept, affirmations can have an incredibly powerful effect on our lives. By repeating positive thoughts, we train our brains to think more positively which makes us happier and more confident. As well as this, affirmations teach us how to think for ourselves and help us realize the best version of ourselves.
Self-affirmations can be used to change how you think and act, which leads to better decisions and more optimistic outcomes. For example, we can use affirmations to help us overcome negative thoughts or try a positive habit like meditation.
The power of positive affirmations is that they can be used for all areas of our lives. Use them for personal success or skill development or use them as a tool for self-improvement. In this guide, we will explore how self-affirmations work and what they can do for you. We will look at the different types of self-affirmations that are available today along with some examples of their use. We will also look at some of the best affirmations for success that have been scientifically proven to work.
What are Self-Affirmations?
Affirmations are positive statements we tell ourselves to counteract negative thoughts and feelings. They can be used as a tool for self-improvement or personal development and are an important part of any well-rounded life. Positive affirmations do not require any special skills or knowledge, they can be created from the core essence of our being. The following is an example of a self-affirmation:
“I am confident, competent and deserving.”
What Are Self-Affirmations Used For?
People who use self-affirmations to overcome negative thoughts or feelings can change how they think and act, leading to more optimistic outcomes. Here are a few examples of how affirmations can be used:
To develop new skills, we use self-affirmations to remind ourselves of our past successes and give us the confidence we need to succeed again.
Self-affirmations can be used to achieve personal success by helping us achieve our goals in life. We look at the best way to use affirmations for success here.
self-affirmations can help us overcome negative thoughts or feelings, such as stress or anxiety, allowing us to live a happier and more confident life. Here is how we can use them for stress management and here is a list of some affirmations for stress relief with examples.
Self-affirmations are sometimes used to help us make a positive change in our lives, such as a new career or lifestyle. Here is an example of how to use self-affirmations for positive change.
What Are the Different Types of Self-Affirmations?
When we think about affirmations, we tend to imagine a long list of mantras that we read before going to bed.
Focused affirmations help us achieve a goal by increasing our confidence in an area of life. They are also especially useful for dealing with negative emotions like fear and anxiety, as they work at the core of our emotional experiences. Rather than focusing on a large area of life, we can focus on one specific aspect of our lives and use that to build confidence and knowledge.
Focused Affirmationscover one specific area of life:
- “I am confident.”
- “I can solve this problem.”
- “I am persistent. I can achieve anything.”
Holistic affirmations are used to prevent problems from occurring in the first place:
With holistic affirmations, we make sure that we build positive attitudes on all aspects of our lives. When we use holistic affirmations, we make sure that our thoughts and emotions are positive and effective. By using holistic affirmations, we can train ourselves to be optimistic without expecting problems to occur.
- “I am prepared for success.”
Global affirmations are useful when we need a little extra confidence about our abilities in all areas of our lives. Rather than focusing on specific skills or techniques, global self-affirmations help us develop a positive attitude towards life.
Global affirmations work for all areas of life:
- “I am capable.”
- “I have the power to succeed.”
How Can We Use Self-Affirmations?
There are many ways you can use self-affirmations, but when we initially begin using them we usually concentrate on the “I can” statements as these help us in our daily activities and improve our confidence levels. You can use self-affirmations at any time, during the day or night, for any area of your life.
When we first start using self-affirmations, they usually make perfect sense to us and we feel completely confident about them. But over time we can start to question the validity of them, which is where self-doubt comes in. Self-doubt is a type of self-critical thought that starts to get into our heads, and we begin worrying about what we are saying. Self-doubts can prevent us from achieving our goals, as well as the confidence that we need to fulfill them. Here are some examples of how self-doubt can affect us: “I am not good enough.” “I am stupid.” “I am not thinking straight.” “It is never going to happen.” “What if people think I am crazy?” “People will laugh at me. I have no confidence.”
“I am not going to try. I am not good at that.”
If you find yourself using negative statements and self-doubts, then you should try to counter them with positive and encouraging statements. This is where self-affirmations come in; you can tell yourself repeatedly that you can succeed in whatever it is that you want to do. Even if these affirmations are untrue, if you believe them then they will help your confidence levels and make self-doubt less likely to occur.
For questions, concerns, or advice, please send an email to fcveroya@asklexph.com or visit asklexph.com/courses for free e-learning courses for professional development.