Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Use Daily Affirmations

Daily affirmations are simple statements, but they can be powerful enough to change your entire attitude and outlook on life. Repeating positive mantras allows you to reprogram old, unhealthy and ineffective thoughts with new, empowering ones. It only takes a few steps to use daily affirmations effectively and make positive changes.


Instructions


1. Use daily affirmations when you first wake up in the morning and right before you go to bed at night. When you are sleepy or not yet fully awake, your inner critic is usually turned off and you're more susceptible to suggestions. Take advantage of this by saying your affirmations at the most effective times of the day.








2. Write daily affirmations for the morning based on ideas that you want to reinforce and on moving closer to your goals. For example, you may want to build your confidence. A typical affirmation to reinforce your self esteem might be, "I am a worthwhile person and I have full confidence in myself," or "I won't question my decisions because I have faith in my ability to make the right choices." A goal-based affirmation might be, "I deserve a promotion, and my job performance today will demonstrate that." Repeating these affirmations in the morning will set up the right mindset for the day.


3. Write before-bed affirmations that reinforce the positive parts of your day and that embrace challenges as learning experiences. For example, typical night affirmations might be, "I lived to the best of my ability today, and I congratulate myself for my successes," and "I may have made mistakes today, but like any other human I am not perfect. Instead of worrying about those mistakes, I will use them to help prevent similar incidents in the future." A nightly affirmation might also prepare you for restful sleep: "I will allow the stresses of the day to melt away. I am ready to rest and restore myself for the new day ahead of me."


4. If you're having difficulty writing your own affirmations, buy a general book of daily and nightly affirmations. There are a wide variety of affirmation books available online and in major bookstores. Some are general, while others follow a certain theme like enhancing spirituality, reducing stress or building self esteem.








5. Change and rewrite your affirmations as needed. Life is a fluid process, and our moods, goals and attitudes are constantly changing. Your affirmations should change, too, to ensure that they are always relevant to what you need at any particular time.

Tags: affirmation might, affirmations morning, daily affirmations, self esteem, your affirmations