Affirmations – Using Affirmations for Success.
The
Collins English Dictionary defines affirmation as: “A statement of
the truth of something; assertion.”
Affirmations are a powerful
ingredient in positive thinking. They are not statements that you
wish
to be true; they are statements that you must believe are
true.
Affirmations are positive
statements describing a desired condition in your life. That
condition may not yet exist, but the affirmation is spoken as though
it does. A simple example might be: “I am at peace with my life.”
This is repeated several times on a daily basis, out loud or
mentally, the aim being to program the subconscious mind into
producing the desired outcome.
They must be sincerely felt, and spoken in the present tense with conviction and enthusiasm.
They must be sincerely felt, and spoken in the present tense with conviction and enthusiasm.
We carry out such mental
programming every day whether we know it or not; the trick is to make
this programming conscious and positive. The alternative is to be
unaware that we are issuing negative affirmations to ourselves. If
you have ever made a mistake and muttered “I am such an idiot”,
you have given yourself a negative affirmation. The problem is that
any negative affirmation you give enters your subconscious mind and
has a harmful effect – it creates your reality.
Positive thinking as a popular
psychology can be traced back to 1937, with Napoleon Hill's
bestselling Think and
Grow Rich. This book
remains important today, although there have been countless similar
guides written in the years since on the subject of positive thinking
for personal success.
Many books on positive thinking,
like Think and Grow
Rich, focus mainly on
the financial benefits to be gained from altering your thoughts. The
reason for this is obvious: it taps into the desire of so many people
to become wealthy. Whilst this may be geared to capturing the public
imagination, it may also give doubters and newcomers the wrong
impression. People buy these books expecting some incredible
revelation, and
do not expect to be told that all they have to do is start thinking
positively.
The answer is so simple it is
easy to dismiss it, but simple does not always mean easy.
Reprogramming a mind that has suffered negative thoughts and
affirmations for years can be tough.
Despite the plethora of Think
and Grow Rich-type
books, positive thinking is infinitely more than trying to make
yourself rich. The people most likely to get rich off such
financially-oriented books on positive thinking are the authors. The
rest of us can be left feeling a little cheated, and therefore
disillusioned with the whole notion.
This is a great shame, because
positive thinking has the power to transform your life, and
affirmations are the cornerstone of beginning and maintaining this
successful transformation.