AFFIRMATIONS

The persistent repetition of an affirmation (idea), especially when coupled with visualization and emotion, conditions the mind to see things differently.

The affirmation eventually becomes installed as a consistent thought. Since our consistent thoughts become our reality, affirmations are the key to changing our reality. Affirmations attract that which is affirmed.

Once an affirmation is truly installed, it is not easily moved. It becomes a permanent part of your subconscious until you remove it.

The key to making affirmations work is to make sure that what you really want is the true affirmation. When we make a statement that is contrary to what we know to be true, our existing belief will speak up and say - "That's not true. Who do you think you are kidding?" In order to counteract this it is important to set up your affirmative statements so that you do not experience resistance (negative statements) from your subconscious.

The most effective way is to do this is to include the word "choose" in your affirmative statement.

For example say out loud to yourself:“I earn $100,000 per year.”

Now say, “I choose to easily and consistently earn $100,000 per year.”

Do these statements seem different? Which one’s do you find more believable? Which of them creates a feeling of contradiction? Which feels harmonious or truthful when you say it? Which of these statements invokes the message, "Who are you kidding?" More than likely it is the first statement.

In general, when you add the word "choose" to the affirmative statement, it feels more convincing and is therefore easier to accept and believe. When you add the phrase "I choose" to the beginning of the statement, notice that you can state it with more conviction because it is believable to "choose" to have.

Making this statement doesn't stretch your imagination because you are not stating that you have what you want NOW. (Even though on the non-physical or Quantum level you do!) You are simply stating that you are going to reach for that desirable state by making a personal choice.

When you include "I choose" in your affirmation it can make a great deal of difference in the acceptability. The end result is that you have a positive mental conditioning strategy that offers no resistance from your subconscious.

Write your goals

When you write down the goal, it becomes an affirmation. It is the deliberate control of thoughts and pictures of the kind of changes we want to make. Change occurs when our subconscious mind accepts the new visual image of the end result.

Change through affirmations is a three-step process:

Step 1 - Affirm Your Goal.

An affirmation is simply a statement of fact or belief that is written out in a personal, positive, present tense form as though the goal were already a reality. When you write out your affirmations, you deliberately control the programming of your subconscious by directing the visual picture to the end result you want.

Step 2 - Picture the End Result

Picture and experience in your mind the accomplishment of the end result. See yourself actively involved in the accomplishment. This is called constructive “synthetic visualization” or “virtual reality”. It works on the theory of displacement. You are displacing the old picture and old self-image with the new. Remember - we will move toward the goal that we picture.

Step 3 - Feel the Emotion That Goes Along with Accomplishment.

The subconscious responds to feelings more than to words. The more emotion or feeling we can put behind an idea, the faster it will manifest. So feeling and emotion are very important for impact. What you want to do is see to yourself accomplishing the end result while feeling the joy and satisfaction of the accomplishment.

If you just read your affirmations you can expect about a 10% success rate.

If you read and visualize the end result, you can expect about a 55% success rate.

If you read your affirmations, picture the end result, and feel the emotion behind the accomplishment of what you are picturing, you can expect a 100 % success rate!

How To Create Powerful Fast-Acting Affirmations

The following steps are designed to create powerful and fastacting affirmations. They are critical because they are the building blocks that will ensure successful results.

Your Affirmation must be in the Present Tense
There is no past or future in the subconscious mind. Even if something has happened in the past, if you replay it in your subconscious, as far as your subconscious is concerned, it is happening all over again, right in the present moment. That's why it is imperative that you don't keep playing your old tapes over and over again. Each time you do that, your subconscious thinks you have experienced the event again.

In keeping your affirmations in the present tense, don't use the words, “someday”, “soon” or “tomorrow”. You want to get into the habit of feeling that whatever you are affirming and imaging is taking place right now within your consciousness.

Ideas are created into form. This means that if you accept an idea in the present tense, that idea will take form or manifest very rapidly because you are accepting it in the present tense. By keeping your affirmations in the present tense, you are accepting it in the present tense and your subconscious will act on it immediately.

Your Affirmation must state what you WANT, not what you DON’T want.
Affirmations must emphasize the gain of something, not the loss of something. Do not describe what you are trying to move away from or eliminate. Instead, affirm what you are moving toward. The point is to keep your affirmations and visualizations on what you are striving toward and not what you are leaving behind or trying to avoid.

Your affirmative statement must be something you want, not something you think you "should" want. For example, is it that you 'should be' a doctor - or do you 'want' to be a doctor?

If you hold a negative picture in your mind about what you don’t want or the things you don't like about your present situation you are reinforcing that negative situation into your memory, and the end result is you will keep experiencing it over and over again. But - if you can imagine a positive outcome that would eliminate your problem, then there is a very high probability that you will attract that outcome into your life. So, if you focus on what you want instead of what you don't want, that will be the likely outcome.

Your Affirmations must be Specific
You must state exactly what you want. It cannot contain a vague comparison like “more” or “better”. Instead, it must state exactly what you want. For example,"I choose to earn ($50,000) this year." Not“I want to earn more money this year than last year.”

The first statement is specific and the other is vague. When you are vague your subconscious doesn't understand the command.

If you earn $40,000 per year and you just say, "I want to earn more money this year than last year" your subconscious has no idea what ‘more’ means so it could interpret it as only a ‘little’ more and you will end up with $40,001!

Also, it is preferable not to words like “prosperity” or “abundance” when programming your subconscious. Your subconscious does not understand those words because they are not specific. Instead, write down the exact amount of money you want to create. In the above example we used a specific amount. "I choose to earn ($50,000) this year."Not“I choose financial abundance and prosperity”

It is important to affirm only as much as you can image yourself accepting. Don't overstate and don't understate. Have a clear picture of the end result you wish to experience; something you can accept without anxiety or stress. Everything works on our acceptance level.

If you want to lose weight, write down the exact weight you desire.“I choose to weigh 150 pounds by (date).”

Saying, "I am a good tennis player" won't do it either. Affirm the specifics of the tennis game you wish to improve - your swing, your follow through, your serve.

Your Affirmation must use words that trigger Feeling and Emotion.

Use words that trigger feeling and emotion. Your subconscious responds to feeling and emotion. It is essential to use words that create these responses within your subconscious. One of the most productive feelings is excitement. Put as much excitement as you can into your affirmations.

Write out your affirmations so that they create a sense of fun, excitement, happiness and joy. Any words or phrases that create a powerful emotion in you will deeply impress your subconscious.

A rule of thumb is the more emotion, the faster the change. There must be some excitement or compelling reason for you statement. What you are trying to do is to "sell” yourself on the idea that is it something you really desire. In other words, you want to "buy into" and truly want what you are seeking to create.

Use appealing and attention-getting phrases and words. Use carefully selective adjectives and superlatives to add excitement and energy to your affirmative statement. It will act like a magnet to draw you to the outcome you seek.

Use words that create movement in your imagery. The result is you will keep moving toward your goal with self-confidence and poise. You want to make your affirmative statement as exciting and pleasurable as possible. In fact, so exciting and so pleasurable that you will want to keep saying it over and over again!

"I choose to find it easy and enjoyable to… When you include the adjective “easy” it literally makes things easier for you. If something seems difficult it sets up resistance in your subconscious mind. But if it seems EASY then you will be more relaxed about doing it and the results will come much faster.

Another word is "fun" -- as in:"I choose to find it fun to exercise every day." Or,"I choose to find it fun to think up new ideas for my business." We all like to have fun. We want to do more of anything that we perceive as fun.

If you use these words or other words that imply the same FEELING, new ways to make your desired goal (what you want) will be drawn irresistibly toward you. Remember, you are the director and producer of your movie, so you can have it any way you want it.

Your Affirmation should focus on the Best Possible Outcome.
Try to come up with the best possible outcome you can imagine. Suppose you wanted a new apartment. If you just affirm a “new” apartment you might end up with a small, dingy, noisy apartment with poor lighting and poorly ventilated rooms. Your affirmation worked because your apartment is "new" to you, but it may not be very comfortable to live in.

A much more effective affirmation might be: "I choose to live in a sunny, spacious, quiet, well-looked after apartment." This affirmative statement will attract a much better outcome.

Your Affirmation must make a Positive Statement
The literalness of your computer-mind makes negative words or phrases something to be avoided if at all possible. We are always better off being as positive as we can when making any statements or commands to our subconscious mind.

“I choose to get rid of my headache.”is not effective, but a positive affirmative statement would be : “I choose to feel calm and relaxed."

Your Affirmation must be Personal
We can only affirm for ourselves. We can't affirm for somebody else. It is impossible to get results by affirming qualities or changes in other people or to correct or alter situations we cannot control. We can't make an affirmation for another person. We can change our behavior and in doing so promote a positive response in others around.

All change must come from the inside out. Life is an inside-out experience. We can't give something we don't already have. You can not change others , but you can change the way you respond to others.

If you feel you want to affirm a positive outcome for another, do it in a way that you do not assume that you know what is best for them. All you have to do is add this phrase at the end of your affirmative statement. - "If this is in (the person's name) highest interest." This would insure that you are not trying to decide what is truly best for someone else, but at the same time you are expressing your desire that they get well.

“I choose to feel that my supervisor appreciates me.” This is something that YOU have control over. It also causes you to look for positive ways that your supervisor may already appreciate you that you have not noticed before. This will allow you to focus on that aspect. Remember, whatever we focus on we create more of!

“I choose to accept that this (injustice or hurtful experience) can no longer hurt me.” Or, “I choose to be free of the consequences of this (hurtful experience)"

When you make these choices you free yourself from the compulsion to seek revenge. The real reason we seek revenge is so that we can let go and recreate or restore balance in our life. If we can restore it by choosing to let go then the balance is automatically restored. Also, that eliminates the need for revenge or to focus on the outcome of THEIR life. The bottom line is we cannot change past events, no matter how painful, but we can always choose how we FEEL about them and heal ourselves.

Your Affirmation must not Make Comparisons
It is important to realize that you are not in competition with anyone. You and I are here to create, not to compete. Competition is a way to trying to prove yourself, to bolster your poor self-image. The only person you want to compete with is yourself. And even here, competition is not necessary. Our goal should always be to strive for excellence.

If you attempt to compare yourself to someone you feel is above you, you will always feel "less than" someone else. If you compare yourself to those below you, you will feel a sense of false superiority and you'll live in fear of those people eventually catching up to you.

You will always find somebody who is better than you are at something, and you will always find somebody who is not as good as you are at something. Either comparison is self-defeating.

I am not concerned about what you do. I am concerned only about what I do. This doesn't mean I don't observe your performance. I can learn from your success. This is not comparison. All I am saying is that I like that particular quality or characteristic in you and I think it would benefit me.

Your Affirmations must be Believable
It is self-defeating to affirm something you cannot accept for yourself at a subconscious level. If you affirm something you cannot accept, you will place unrealistic demands on your performance reality.

You have to be able to see it in the first person, present tense. If you can't see yourself doing that, living like that, looking like that or having that, then you won't.

You must be able to see it experientially, first person, present tense. The idea is to create the experience in your mind without anxiety or stress, since stress and anxiety are counterproductive to high performance.

The key here is balance. Don't affirm goals that are too easy, or else you will not be sufficiently motivated to work toward it. On the other hand, don’t affirm goals that you can't imagine or accept because you will be intimidated by the goal and won't get starte

One way to check the believability of your affirmation is to follow up with this “Believability Test”.

After you state your affirmation ask yourself on a scale of 0-10 (10 being the most believable) “How do I rate my feeling about this statement?” If your answer is 8 or below, then you need to take a look at your negative feelins and work on erasing and replacing it. This is important in order for the affirmation to “work” or “take hold” in your subconscious. Reframe the affirmation so that it passes the believability test.

Your Affirmations must Create Balance
The power of using affirmations is not to be taken lightly. When used correctly you will be driven, almost obsessively, toward your goal. It is important to select goals that are positive and beneficial. Balance is

the key. If you just affirm for your business or career, your relationship with your family or spouse may suffer. Plan your affirmations so that you grow in ALL areas of your life at the same time. You are capable of making many affirmations at the same time as long as they are not in conflict. To create balance, be sure to check to see if you are leaving out, underemphasizing or overemphasizing one portion of your life.

Strive to be balanced as a total person, not just one who excels in one area of your life. If you have balance, you have everything. You don't want to achieve one thing and lose everything else. You can have it all, so program each area of your life to create balance.

Your Affirmations must conform to the “Secrecy Principle”.
The Secrecy Principle means keeping you goals to yourself. If you tell other people, most likely they will either discourage you or try to stop you. People tend to get upset when you start to grow and change because your “aliveness” makes their “deadness” seem more real! If you reveal your goals and affirmations to others, it gives them an opportunity to work against you. They will tell you that it is nonsense and it won't work.

Since we have a tendency to think others are smarter or wiser than we are, due to our poor self-image, we end up believing them. Think of how many times you have been talked out of doing something you wanted to do because you listened to someone else. Think also of how many times you were sorry for not listening to yourself.

Only reveal your affirmations and goals to people who need to know or can help you realize your goal more quickly. We are talking here primarily about personal goals, but you can share your goals if they are team goals.

Cooperative goal setting is essential in a group because you are sharing a common goal.

Many of us were told to set a goal and tell everyone what we were going to do. This way we would be embarrassed if we backed out. I don't believe this is helpful. If you do that, your goal becomes a "have to". If I “have to” do something, I will resist change even if it is for my benefit. "Have to's" cause pressure, stress, tension and anxiety. If you keep your goals and affirmations to yourself, people are less likely to try to stop or advise you.

Of course, they will tell you that they are giving you their “advice” for “your own good." Don't you believe it! Their advice is based on their present level of Awareness – not yours! The time to tell them about your goals is after you have achieved the goal. Instead of saying, “This is what I am going to do” say, "This is what I have done." Doing this will free you to use your affirmations to focus on the accomplishment of your goal.

How to use the “Affirmation Insurance Policy”
Earlier we discussed that affirming for others is inappropriate because we have no way of knowing what is “best” for others. We can also apply this to our own affirmations. Sometimes we think we know what is best for us, and we are correct. Other times we can do more harm than good. Keep in mind that affirmations are powerful and they will bring into our lives whatever we focus on with repetition and emotion.

What if the affirmation you are affirming is not in your best interest? Perhaps there is something else that you should be affirming that will produce a more positive outcome for you. With this in mind, I like to use the Affirmation Insurance Policy.

When making an affirmation I like to add the following -

“I accept this or SOMETHING BETTER. Please make whatever takes place for the highest good of myself and everyone else involved.”

This adds a little extra “insurance” that what you are affirming, or SOMETHING BETTER, will come into your life to fulfill your desires. Also, that what you are affirming is in your best interest and the best interest of everyone else involved. It can’t hurt and it often will bring a pleasant outcome that you never considered.

Why not Advertise to yourself
Advertisers spend billions of dollars on advertisements designed to get our attention and have us take action (buy their products). Advertisers know that if they repeat something over and over again with repetition and emotion they will get our attention. They will literally condition us to demand a certain product or service.

If they are willing to spend billions of dollars to advertise and get your attention, wouldn’t it be wise for you do the same thing for free? And, the best they can hope to accomplish is to get your attention for a few moments at a time. But how many times can you do it in a day?

Why not “advertise” to yourself. Choose your own "ad”. Adjust you own repetition and emotion. You can do the Imprinting yourself with great success. Only this time you get to choose the end result or what you want to “sell” yourself on!

Most people try to change a habit or an attitude or create a result without consciously changing their un-intending affirmations - even though this process is what made each one of us what we are today.

In the past we have tried to change our performance or our end result before changing our picture. Now through the effective use of affirmations you can make the exact changes in your life that you desire in an easy, relaxed and controlled manner.

Try it! you will be delighted with the results.