How To Write Impactful, Positive Affirmations
Pumping yourself up may feel cheesy, but it’s also powerful
Have you ever wanted to rewire your brain to approach life with more optimism?
That’s exactly what positive affirmations are designed to do. When used over an extended period of time, we begin to believe what we tell ourselves, changing our patterns of thought and previous notions about our lives.
The hardest part for most people is getting started.
The positive affirmations you use every day should feel authentic to you, which is where a lot of us begin to see a positive affirmation as a bumper sticker rather than a powerful tool to change our mindset.
I choose to believe that I can show you how to use positive affirmations to your advantage.
See what I did there?
#1: Pick A Dream Or Goal You Have
This can be anything, big or small. Don’t think too hard about it, just settle on the first thing that comes to mind.
For example:
- I want to go live on a remote island where my only access to the internet is dial-up
- I want to nail my presentation at work next week
- I really want to ask that person out
- I want to own a goat farm one day
Take a minute and settle on one goal/dream.
#2. Write A List Of Beliefs You Have About Yourself
More specifically, write a list of beliefs you have about why you can or cannot achieve said dream or goal. Your beliefs can be negative or positive.
What are you afraid of? What do you think will happen if you go for the dream/goal? What do you think you have going for you?
Take a minute and write your beliefs down, and if you’d like you can use these categories as a guide:
- Money
- Friends and Family
- Self
- Society/Societal Constructs
#3. Turn Your Beliefs Into Affirmations!
Go through your list and tweak the wording.
If your belief is negative, you can start by changing the statement to a positive statement, but be aware that this can sometimes feel inauthentic or forced.
- Example: I’m not enough → I am enough → I choose to be enough
I flipped my statement and tweaked the wording to make it feel more true to me.
A positive belief will look a little different. My goal may be to publish 5 stories this week.
- My belief: I can write 5 stories this week
- I can write 5 stories this week → I empower my choice to write 5 stories this week. I meet myself where I’m at with grace.
- Affirmation: I empower my choice to write 5 stories this week. I meet myself where I’m at with grace.
I changed the wording to make my affirmation seem less forceful, and I added an extra affirmation to encompass days where I may not be feeling up to writing. This fits me.
Take some time to do that with your beliefs and figure out what fits you.
Here are some action verbs for affirmations:
- I can
- I choose
- I am
- I empower
- I believe
- I meet
- I trust
- I accept
- I feel
#4. Put Those Affirmations To Work
However you choose to use your affirmations, the most important component of using them is using them consistently. This will rewire your deeply held beliefs about yourself, your life and your capabilities.
Here are some ideas about how to use them:
- Print off the list you made and hang it up in your space.
- Make gorgeous artwork that includes your affirmations
- Read them each morning before you do anything else
- Keep a pocket version of your affirmations in your car or somewhere on the go
Final Thoughts
Positive affirmations are one of several powerful tools we can use to bolster our image of ourselves and catch negative self-talk. It can feel unnatural at first to say positive things to yourself.
It can feel almost cheesy, which is why a lot of people tend to struggle with this exercise.
Many of us simply aren’t used to complimenting ourselves or lifting ourselves up, and positive affirmations are a pathway to begin to change that.
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