The Power of Affirmations
By Karim Hajee
Recently I've had a lot of questions about affirmations and they're real power. I've studied and worked with affirmations for quite some time and I even teach students who take my Creating Power course how to create their own affirmations. For those of you not familiar with affirmations - they're statements that you repeat to yourself to the point where they penetrate your subconscious mind - which then acts on those affirmations by creating situations that mirror those affirmations. In short - they're thoughts that you repeat over and over again until they become beliefs to the point where the subconscious acts on them. Some people even have affirmation tapes that they play throughout the night as they go to sleep - which I will talk about later in this article.
Affirmations have been around for centuries - and I can't think of a single self-help course or book that doesn't touch on the subject in one form or another.
I'm going to talk about the power of affirmations, why we need to incorporate them into our daily lives and why you should recite them instead of playing them back in a tape recorder.
Affirmations are a great tool when it comes to creating change and I can't understand why so many people don't use them. They're power is not only in their ability to create situations and circumstances for you to achieve your goals - but they also help you eliminate negative thinking.
Let's clear up some misconceptions about affirmations before we go any further. You cannot use affirmations to affect somebody else's behavior - that is you cannot use affirmations to get somebody else to do something. For example: you cannot say an affirmation to make someone behave a certain way or make someone love you. You cannot say an affirmation to get somebody to do something that they do not want to do. You cannot say affirmations to control somebody else - otherwise ruthless leaders all over the world would have their cronies reciting affirmations to get people to behave a certain way. It's just not that simple. You cannot say affirmations to change something that has already happened or fix something that is already broken.
Affirmations work best when they are connected to you and your behavior and your goals. What do I mean? Well, let's say you want to improve a relationship with somebody and you want them to understand you better or listen to you when you speak. Based on what I said in the previous paragraph - you can't say ____ is now listening to me or ____ understands me better. Remember you can't change the way somebody behaves with an affirmation. If you've been doing this and not getting results - now you know why.
Instead - you should be focusing on you and your actions. So in the above example you would say something like I'm now finding ways to help __ understand me better. I'm now saying the right things to help ___ listen to me. I'm finding ways to convince __ to listen to me and I'm now convincing __ to listen to me. Two things have happened here - one is you've taken the affirmation and sent the message to your subconscious mind so that you do the right things to improve the situation. Next - you've also instructed your subconscious mind to provide you with the corresponding action to help you obtain the outcome you want. What follows is that you start doing things to create the outcome you want. This is very different than saying ___ is now listening to me. In that case you are doing nothing and trying to get somebody else to do something while you keep taking the same actions - you'll never get the results you want. So - the affirmation should reflect what you can do and what actions you can take to create the outcome you want. Some people - actually a lot of people want to make more money. Simply saying I'm making more money is a good start - but you can also create the affirmation that reflects action - thus saying: I know what to do to make more money and I'm now doing the right things to make more money.
Affirmations should be short and simple - and reflect what you want to happen and what you can do to make that situation happen. They don't have to be long and complicated because if they are - you'll never remember them - and that's one of the main reasons why people forget to say them.
To create affirmations - focus on what you want - not on what you don't want. You should only be focusing on the outcome that you want. You may have to think about it a little bit - but you'll understand once you start the process.
Next - try to say your affirmations in your head to yourself. I know a lot of people like to record affirmations and then play the tape when they're driving or going to bed. This does help - but what happens when you stop playing the tape? Chances are you'll go back to your old patterns of thinking and erase all the positive work those tapes created. Why? Because you didn't train your mind to focus on what you want and create corresponding affirmations - you didn't train your mind to get used to saying affirmations. When you recite the affirmation in your head - you train your mind to stay positive, think positive and more importantly it stops being negative. You also get used to saying them.
At times it may seem like the affirmations are boring or that you're just saying them and they're not having any impact. This is a crossing point. You're going from initial excitement that comes with saying the new affirmations to having them penetrate your subconscious - this is when you need to continue saying them the most - because your subconscious is ready to act on them. Track your results - see if there have been improvements in certain areas of your life for which you've been saying affirmations. Even small improvements are positive signs.
Do you need to believe the affirmations? No you don't need to believe the affirmations. In fact some would argue that it's probably better not to believe the affirmations because when they manifest it's just further evidence to your mind that they do work. Keep your affirmations fresh and have fun with them.
Affirmations are powerful tools that can help you create the life you want. But you have to use them properly and you have to continue working with them regularly - to the point where they become such a habit that you want to say them all of the time. Hey - it's better than keeping all that junk inside your head - you know the stuff you keep thinking about but doesn't really help you accomplish anything - and in many cases may actually push you backwards.
Now over the years I've had a few people say to me: "Affirmations don't work - they help for a little bit but after a while they just don't work." Funny thing is that when I ask them why they don't work after a while they always say they don't know. Then I ask them if they stopped saying them after a while - and most of the time the answer is yes - they did stop saying them. In other cases I try to take a look at the affirmations and see if they are correct - or if they're not in line with what I've been talking about. Hey if you say the wrong thing in the wrong way all of the time you're not going to get the results you want. It's like working out the wrong way - it just doesn't help.
Also understand that some affirmations take longer to have an impact. It really depends on where you are and what you want to accomplish. For example: if you're unemployed and want to be a millionaire or be making a large six figure income with your own office - it's going to take some time. You have to get a job and get into the right place to start making the big money and earn the millions you want. It's not going to happen overnight. So the first step is to focus on getting work that will put you on a track to make that kind of money. It will happen - but it really depends on where you are and what you want to accomplish. Also remember nothing is going to fall from the sky - you have to do the work, and be open to new possibilities.
Now affirmations are just one of many techniques you could use to create the life you want. With the Creating Power System you'll learn how to use all your inner powers to create the life you want. Not only will you learn how to create affirmations properly and get help from me in creating them - but you'll also learn how to use all your powers so that you get your subconscious mind moving at a faster pace to create the life you want.
I've worked with affirmations for a long time - I know they work - but they have to be worded correctly and they have to be in your own voice. Sure affirmations from a book will help - but the most powerful affirmations are those that you create because they are in your own voice and reflect what you want. With Creating Power you'll learn how to create powerful affirmations and work with a number of techniques. Each week you'll learn new techniques to unleash the power of your subconscious mind - plus you'll get the benefit of working with me personally. I encourage you to take give Creating Power a try.
Finally - a new year is about to begin. Take stock of the year you just had - think about where you want to be and what you want to accomplish next year. Make 2004 your best year ever and let Creating Power show you how to do that.
With Creating Power you take charge of your life and create the success and happiness you want and deserve. Creating Power teaches you how to eliminate the negative thoughts and take control of your mind in the very first week -- you'll be amazed at how much power you have in less than 7-days! You'll be on your way to creating a positive thinking pattern that lasts a lifetime.
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