Written by McPotar
QUICK TIP: If you are lazy to read, scroll to the bottom of this blog post and watch the youtube video instead!
In
those days I also read “Think and Grow Rich” and “The Science of Getting Rich”
among many other volumes that spoke on the same subject.
However, as with any motivational material I lost the drive after weeks of attempting what the books claimed was true but still finding myself in no better position than before.
It
was back to old habits and pessimistic thinking for me. I always asked myself,
“Do affirmations really work,” because I was ashamed to be caught by my
room-mates looking into the mirror and saying, “I have abundance, I have
health, I am powerful.”
This
was before I knew myself of course.
What I’ve learnt over the years
Well, I in recent years went back to that material and gave it a second chance and realized that in my early twenties I missed out a lot of valuable information on why it works.
The issue on why affirmations work is important if you are to create a lasting habit of doing them. Assuming that affirmations have no effect at all is already a barrier in ensuring that someone will stick to them. After-all human beings don’t like to bother with things which they are not sure will give them a return on effort invested.
I
will give the tips on how to maintain the habit of affirmations but we have to
begin with the basics.
So instead of “women ain’t shit” or “men ain’t shit”… how about you use #MenCanDoBetter.
Why do we do affirmations?
So as you may already know. 99.68% of your behavior is from your unconscious/subconscious mind.
Some
say 95%, but the first value is the most recent finding by Huawei (the mobile
company).
With
that said affirmations (which are also autosuggestion) are intended at changing
subconscious programming. You already knew this.
Your
subconscious is simply the part of your mind that uses automation to take care
of established routines.
Let’s
take a simple example.
You
were not born knowing how to read English, yet you are reading this and
understanding it almost instantaneously. You were not born knowing how to use a
qwerty keyboard, but you are likely to text your friends or tweet daily without
consciously putting mental effort to find where the letters are.
However, you can admit there was a time you had to do that!
Repetition
is the download button for your subconscious.
It is the same system that grows your hair, your nails, regulates your metabolism,
your heartbeat and so forth. It is like your thermostat.
Sometimes what it has gauged as the standard works to your benefit and sometimes to your
detriment.
Affirmations come in when you want to over-turn certain unconscious decisions it makes that
don’t serve you. They may be about your confidence, your desired physique, your
relationships, your focus, your memory, health or your ability to create and
maintain wealth.
“Mind the company you keep. Associate with excellence.”
How to do affirmations that work!
Combine your affirmations with existing
habits:
Starting a new habit can be tough; however, you can exploit the fact that you already have existing habits such as bathing every day (hopefully). I have found that if you do your affirmations whilst engaging in a fixed daily routine you have better chances of remembering to do them than if you try and create a special time slot for them.
So you could do affirmations during cooking, washing dishes, bathing, walking or
driving to work among many other chores.
Stick your affirmations to your mirror:
This one is self-explanatory, but it does not only apply to mirrors. It applies to any surface you get exposed to many times a day. It could be your desktop wallpaper or your office wall. It could be the space right above your stove so that you see them as you cook.
You may even buy cups that already have empowering words on them. It’s a game of repetition and frequency. The reason people sometimes don’t succeed with affirmations is that the frequency is low.
One raindrop is too little to fill a lake. It is repeated raindrops that make a
difference.
Teach your close friends about them
Whenever you teach about something, you create an opportunity to understand it more. You
are also challenged to apply it whilst reinforcing it in yourself.
Another aspect of this is that it’s always a good investment to build your friends.
I always hear people saying, “Mind the company you keep. Associate with
excellence.”
In reality, that is a two-way street, because let’s suppose you are not already as successful as you want. If those who are successful apply that same rule of only associating with already successful people they may also refuse to associate with you.
I’m not asking you to tolerate negative friends or family. I am simply saying, help build those around you. Build the company around you and your company will build you. If you are trying to buy into good company externally well, who is building those people for you?
That’s the more reason to hare these posts with everyone around you.
Pluck out the weeds
Your mind is a farm and weeds will creep in now and then to suffocate the crop. The music we listen to is charged with affirmations. We may not realize them to be affirmations but they are. Worse, if the melody is good you unconsciously apply the rule of repetition. Social media too
If you keep repeating lines like “these girls ain’t loyal”, “man are trash”, “men ain’t shit”, “women ain’t shit” those are affirmations. Regardless if they are for good causes or not. Rather fight for the causes you want by being pro-what you want to see and not focusing on the anti-.
So instead of “women ain’t shit” or “men ain’t shit”… how about you use
#MenCanDoBetter.
It is absolutely useless to do positive affirmations in the morning then spend the
rest of the day hooked on to hashtags and songs that reaffirm exactly the
opposite of what you prefer to see.
Final word!
Your self-image is important in building the life you want. You may not have control over the irreversible circumstances of the past.
You also may not control certain future events but you can control how you process
them to you ar advantage.
Continue to learn, to invest in yourself and also in others.
Written by McPotar
