Affirmative Actions
Do you remember back to your school days when your teacher used to make you write something out fifty times as a form of punishment. It usually went something like this: “I will not talk during class” or “I will not fight in the schoolyard.” These would have worked much better and probably had the intended effects if they had been formed in the positive.
An affirmation is a positive phrase that you write over and over again or say to yourself every day in order to effect positive change in your life. You can use a certain phrase that has meaning for you and write it out 10, 20 times a day or you can write it down on sticky notes and place it around various locations in your house to constantly remind yourself.
The theory says that after a while your brain becomes convinced of this and your reality will change to align with your affirmation.
“When you realize that the subconscious works accurately to externalize whatever suggestion is most greatly impressed upon it, you then understand the necessity for concentrating and for constantly repeating one single suggestion.” Claude Bristol, The Magic of Believing
I have used affirmations in the past with some success. I found that affirmations I was really excited about were the ones that did come true. The excitement coupled with the belief tends to supercharge the affirmations.
Books that I would recommend in this regard would be Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization and Claude M. Bristol’s The Magic of Believing.
But if you cannot lay your hands on these books, you can make up your own affirmations. The key is to make it as simple as possible and not to use any negative words as the brain tends to eliminate those. For instance, if you were to write out, “I do not have writer’s block”, the brain would automatically eliminate the “not” and what you would be telling yourself over and over again is “I do have writer’s block”.
Some possible affirmations are:
- I am a published writer.
- I write wonderful fiction.
- I sell my stories easily.
You will know what affirmation is for you when it feels “right”. And by that I mean, the phrase you choose elicits enough excitement and belief that it will manifest in your reality. The most important thing is to keep your affirmations short, simple and positive.