How to boost your mindset using powerful positive affirmations
Positive affirmations are powerful statements that are consciously chosen by you to replace the negative self-limiting beliefs and stories you are telling yourself with something more useful, creative and open. But where do you start when it comes to using positive affirmations to boost your mindset and live the life you desire.
Positive affirmations are proven methods of self-improvement because of their ability to rewire our brains. Much like exercise, they raise the level of feel-good hormones and push our brains to form new clusters of “positive thought” neurons. If you believe the phrase you are what you think, then life truly stems from your thoughts. But we cannot rely purely on thoughts; we must translate thoughts into words and eventually into actions in order to manifest our intentions.
Strengthen your mindset through positive affirmations
When we utter a sound, we emit a sound wave into the universe. This sound wave pierces through the air and becomes a real object. It, therefore, exists in our world, intangible and invisible. No words are empty words, as every syllable we speak engages energy towards or against us. This means we have to be very careful with our words, choosing to speak only those which work towards our benefit and cultivate our highest good.
Positive affirmations help purify our thoughts and restructure the dynamic of our brains so that we truly begin to think nothing is impossible. The word affirmation comes from the Latin ‘affirmare’, meaning “to make steady, strengthen.”
Positive affirmations do indeed strengthen us by helping us believe in the potential of an action we desire to manifest. When we verbally affirm our dreams and ambitions, we are instantly empowered with a deep sense of reassurance that our wishful words will become reality. I am a firm believer in the power of positive affirmations and have been using them in my daily practice for the past five years.
Did you know that the things you tell yourself on a regular basis are likely to become your reality? It has been said all that we are is the result of what we have thought. For instance, if you’re in the habit of telling yourself you’re no good at something it’s very likely you won’t be because you’ve trained yourself to be that way by repeatedly giving yourself a negative message. Our beliefs create the behaviour, that creates the reality in which these beliefs come true. Often we hold ourselves back by our limiting beliefs even if they are not based on reality. One of the biggest reasons we don’t succeed in our goals is because we doubt we can. We all face obstacles and our limiting beliefs can prevent us from overcoming them. By using a tool such as powerful positive affirmations on a regular basis, we can change the way we think and the stories we are telling ourselves and boost our mindset for success.
Ditch the negative self talk
Fundamentally, negative ‘self-talk’ is a habit – a pattern of thinking we’ve established for ourselves over time. Using positive affirmations is a powerful way to help break old, unhelpful thought and behaviour patterns and establish new, more desirable and positive ones. In a nutshell, the negative statements we use in self-talk narrow our options, close doors and somehow make us smaller, whereas affirmations increase our options for a positive outcome, open doors and allow us to expand to our optimum potential.
Affirmations should be in the present tense, have a positive tone and ideally start with “I am” to personally connect with the feeling they are conveying. The more you repeat these positive words, the more powerful their effect will be as you grow the neural pathways and collect the cellular memory to take you there again.
How often to use positive affirmations
There is no hard and fast rule here, but as a general rule of thumb, once per day for at least five minutes is recommended, however twice per day is preferable. I like to start the day with some meditation, gratitude journaling and positive affirmations because it sets me up for the day ahead. I know others who like to close the day with affirmations so that they are celebrating their successes and setting themselves up to sleep in a positive frame of mind.
The best thing to do is to keep using your positive affirmations consistently. The more you affirm something, the more your mind will accept it, and the more positive changes you will experience in your life. Repeated use of your affirmations is always a good thing, so you can repeat your affirmations at almost any time.
Here are just a few examples:
While you are walking.
While you are doing housework.
While you relax in the bath.
Some people say affirmations out loud in front of a mirror. Others simply write them down in a journal - I have a few that I write every single day in my gratitude journal as standard. You can also repeat them in your head like a mantra during meditation.
The important thing is to find affirmations that resonate with you.
My top tip is to stand up straight in "power pose", feel the ground beneath you, steadying you, this is your source energy being grounded. I like to have my hands out with my palms raised to the sky and to say my affirmations out loud.
Power Pose by Rachel Letham, Success Coach
I have my affirmations saved in the books part of my iPhone as a pdf but you can have them in a notes app, on a piece of paper, in a frame on the wall in front of you.
The key here is that you don’t have to go through a running list of affirmations every day. Just choose a few that speak to you and encourage you to keep moving forward.
Examples of positive affirmations
Here are a few affirmations for you to try out below. Create some up of your own – it’s better to keep it simple and use words that fit for you
I am enough
I value and love myself
I am grateful for my bright future
I am working at my own pace
I have unlimited power
I trust in the process
I am living to my full potential
I heal and grow every day
I am on my path
Where to find affirmations
You can use the Affirmations Deck available in the Self Care Survival Kit Shop - featuring 52 powerful positive affirmations to help you start your day strong and boost your mindset.
