Positive affirmations are terrific tools that you can use to support yourself, your family, and your co-workers. They help you to develop a healthy sense of self as well as a positive mental-social-emotional mindset. Let’s explore further to answer the question, what are positive affirmations?
What are Positive Affirmations?
Affirmations are short; positive “I am” statements that call you into an intentional way of being. They should be accompanied by a visual image and inspire visceral sensations. When you use an affirmation, you should experience yourself as you are declaring.
Benefits of Positive Affirmations
There are many benefits to affirmations.
- Improve your performance. Anyone who has ever read self-help books knows the benefits of affirmations. They are the key to overcoming stress and anxiety, they help you become more confident and assertive, and they can even assist you in your career by helping you learn from your mistakes. In addition to overcoming stress, affirmations can also help you learn from your mistakes. They promote flexible thinking that makes it easier to spot your errors and form new habits.
- Feel better. If you’re feeling down, it can be difficult to muster up the motivation to get going. While happiness is definitely an inside job, there are things you can say — or think — that will help boost your mood. Learning how to optimize your self-talk can have a positive impact on many areas of your life. Skillful self-talk cheers you up instantly. It’s like giving yourself a hug.
- Enjoy better relationships. When you’re feeling defensive, it’s easy to slip into a destructive cycle. You can’t help but take criticism personally, even when it’s meant as constructive input. It’s natural to want to defend yourself and your position — after all, the person criticizing you probably isn’t thinking about how hard you worked or what you went through to get where you are now. They’re just thinking of their own needs and wants. Affirmations give you a more constructive method for dealing with difficult issues so you can remain open to what others have to say.
- Protect your physical health. You’re probably aware that stress and inflammation can cause serious health problems, including obesity. But what you may not realize is that simply relaxing yourself reduces your risk for many serious health conditions. You may also be surprised to learn just how many simple relaxation techniques are available to reduce stress and help you achieve a healthy lifestyle.
- Draw on your strengths. Maybe you excel as a parent, but struggle with public speaking. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but some of us tend to magnify our faults far more than our talents. While there are a few people out there who have no trouble with public speaking, most of us struggle in at least one way or another when we need to get up and talk in front a crowd. Everyone’s got an “area of improvement”, even if it’s not the same as someone else’s. Affirmations remind you of your most important strengths and help build your confidence in weaker areas.
- Take them everywhere. Taking affirmations with you — everywhere you go, all the time — is one of the most effective ways to keep your goals and dreams alive. Your co-workers may look at you funny if you interrupt a staff meeting to get a massage. On the other hand, you can recite uplifting messages out loud or silently wherever you go.
- Discover more meaning. Most importantly, affirmations welcome more meaning into your life. These statements about your life can help you change your outlook on everything from the weather, your mood, your career and beyond. You’ll be more mindful of your choices and how your actions contribute to fulfilling your purpose.
Suggestions to Get the Most Out of Your Affirmations:
Using positive affirmations are not hard. Just like any habit though it can take some time to get used to doing it regularly. They are not difficult and there is no right or wrong way. Here are a few suggestions to get the most out of using positive affirmations.
- Time it right. Be prepared before you take on difficult tasks. Perform an affirmation before you give a presentation, before a job interview, when you are starting to feel anxious or anytime you need to calm your mind.
- Clarify your values. You can apply specific affirmations to any area of your life, from baking a cake to putting out forest fires. Affirmations have the greatest impact when you tie them to your top priorities and interests, whether that’s your family and friends or world peace.
- Write it all down. Writing your statements in a journal or notebook makes them feel more concrete. Spend about five minutes each day jotting your thoughts down. Establish what matters most to you and figure out the reasons behind your values.
- Take action. Naturally, your behavior needs to match your words. If it’s important for you to be a patient parent, work on your parenting skills. To improve in your career or business, create specific action steps to follow.
- Use a combination of resources. Mix your affirmations in with other sources of mental health or spiritual help and encouragement. Make time for spiritual practices or talking with a friend about issues to get their perspective.
- Develop a strong intention. Take time to self-reflect on your motivational goal and give your full attention to what you’re saying. Engage all your 5 senses to produce a beneficial experience. Be very specific – If you’re trying to grow your own vegetables, imagine how they’ll look and taste.
- Be realistic. Analyze your affirmations to be sure they feel genuine for you. Go ahead and state you’re a top salesperson if you really believe it. Otherwise, you may want to build up gradually by praising yourself with the small accomplishments such as each call or visit you make.
Affirmations can lead to exciting breakthroughs, for your family or work life. Focus on your core values and let them guide your actions and affirmations.
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