What’s the Bad News about Affirmations?
I write about affirmations a fair bit because, the good news is that I believe that positive affirmations can make a big difference to your life if you use them properly.
So, what’s the bad news about affirmations?
If you use them the wrong way – it backfires!
Find Good News here about your best chance at Total Life Success!
Negative thinking reinforces an internal belief that we’ll never be able to change ourselves and that we’re destined to continue repeating our self-destructive behaviors. When we re-affirm our negative thoughts, we enter into a vicious cycle that leads to even more negative thinking.
How many times in a day do you tell yourself how stupid you are for forgetting something or how fat you are when your favorite jeans feel tight?
As you go through life, you’re constantly affirming your own thoughts and beliefs. Throughout each day, you consciously and unconsciously tell yourself things based on your belief system.
The problem is, much of the time you may actually be re-affirming negative thoughts rather than positive ones. This is bad news. After all, if your affirmations are negative, you can expect only negative outcomes!
Imagine how different your life would be if you began using positive affirmations to reinforce the positive!
Your subconscious mind accepts things on a very literal basis, so for affirmations to work effectively, you need to follow a simple formula.
Affirmations work wonders if you use them properly. By making a few simple adjustments in the way you phrase your inner dialog, you can begin using this powerful technique to change your thinking and change your life.
Here is some great help with Affirmations – Click Me!
Follow these tips to create positive affirmations that can change your life for the better:
1. Your subconscious mind is very literal.
It can’t process the concept of “not.” The statement, “I am not going to lie on the couch watching TV when I should be exercising” won’t do anything other than re-affirm how you should lay on the couch in front of the television.
* “I enjoy exercising in my spare time” is more likely to motivate you to get up and go to the gym, instead of reaching for the remote control and a bag of chips.
Form your intention in a positive way, even if you haven’t made the behavior change yet.
2. Your subconscious needs to know you’re doing something now.
Not in the future. For example, if you state an affirmation as something you want to change, such as “I will quit smoking,” your subconscious cannot distinguish what you mean by “I will.”
* “I am free from the desire to smoke” is an effective affirmation and will begin to program your subconscious mind into thinking as a non-smoker, even before you put down the cigarettes.
It has no sense of planning for the future. In fact, your subconscious mind will accept what you tell it, even if the behavior has not yet happened, that’s why you should state your affirmation as if it’s already a fact.
3. An affirmation must be personal for your subconscious to accept it.
Saying, “You need to eat healthy” won’t help you change your diet. When your subconscious hears the word “you,” it doesn’t interpret it as a statement directed at yourself.
* “I enjoy eating healthy foods” is a positive, first person affirmation that will help you begin making better choices when you reach for a meal or snack.
Instead, phrase your positvie affirmation in the first person. Stick to “I” in your affirmations and you’ll soon notice a strong positive effect on your behaviors.
Make an effort to stop reinforcing your old, negative thinking that keeps you caught in a rut. Try using these three simple techniques today to create affirmations that can change your subconscious programming, your actions, and your life for the better.
Positive, personal, present tense affirmations are extremely powerful in changing how your subconscious affects your behavior.
So, it’s not bad news after all! Now that you know how to use affirmations properly you are on the way to enjoying a much better state of mind!
As a gift from me to you, here is a great (and free!) affirmations handbook for you to download and enjoy!
I have these gorgeous little positive affirmations printed out and stuck up around my office – you can too! – Enjoy! 
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Thanks Ralph!
I totally understand what you are saying!
its like saying I AM a millionaire, when you only need look at the bank balance to see it is not so….lol
I think the way you are doing it is a good one and hey! as long as it works for you – that’s all that matters!
Thanks for your comments – I appreciate you dropping by!
Kymmy
Great Post! I believe in positive affirmations also. I tend not to use the “I am” phrase until I believe the statement that follows. Sometimes when I say “I am” my mind says “no you’re not”.
To combat this, I have the I am statement somewhere I can visually see it and focus on it knowing that I will be that someday. Once I show examples of myself becoming that statement, then I use the “I am” or “I’m becoming” statement.
Glad to read your post