The Power of Affirmations: A Complete Guide

I have been doing affirmations for a while now and my life has been changed in a very positive way because of it. At first when I started doing affirmations I felt that there was no way it would improve my mood and mentality. In fact, when I first heard about self-affirmations I thought it was a bunch of hippie non-sense that wouldn't amount to anything. However to much of my surprise I have found that daily affirmations has been something that has had a positive impact on my life.

Just like with almost any skill or technique we work on it takes time to see its effects. I always try to remind myself that progress occurs in the time-frame of months and years, not days and weeks. This is because it takes our brains time to restructure itself through neuroplasticity and literally create a stronger healthier mentality for us. Self-affirmations is an incredibly simple but powerful way of helping us rewire our brain for happiness and less stress. With the power of affirmations we are actually able to sculpt and refine our own minds into exactly the shape we want it to be. As I will discuss later in this guide, we have the ability to choose affirmations that serve our exact needs and address the areas of life we want to work on the most. Self-affirmations are very flexible in what you want to focus on. So let's just jump right into it! First thing first, what are affirmations?

Affirmations are positive statements we say to ourselves that can help us challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts. When you repeat them regularly and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes in your life. They serve as powerful tools for personal development because they:

• Reframe your perspective and serve as the foundation for a more positive mindset: Regular practice of self affirmations can shift your perspective and subconscious beliefs to be aligned with your values and the person you want to be. This allows you to build a strong positive foundation for your life based on positive self-beliefs and perspective that supports you becoming the person you want to be.

• Provide emotional support: During challenging times, affirmations serve as emotional anchors to help support you.

• Allow you to replace limiting beliefs with empowering ones: We all have self-sabotaging thoughts and limiting beliefs about ourselves that hold us back. Affirmations serve as a great way to rewrite the script we have about ourselves. It is an incredible opportunity to get rid of these limiting beliefs that hold us back and replace them with ones that instead empower us.

• Makes life easier: Positive self-talk and empowering beliefs means we are not fighting against ourselves constantly with self-limiting beliefs. Life is more enjoyable and easier when we treat ourselves with love.

As you can see, affirmations are an excellent tool to keep in your tool-kit for happiness. They are a versatile easy to implement way to shape your mind into exactly what you want. It allows you to create a mind that supports you instead of fights you. Let's quickly discuss some of the science and mechanics of how affirmations can positively impact your life.

How Affirmations Literally Change Your Brain

The science behind affirmations is fascinating. When you practice affirmations consistently, you're actually rewiring your brain through a process called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is essentially our brains way of always continuing to adapt and optimize itself. In fact, it is the way that we learn anything. Have you ever thought about how it is that we learn new things? Or how we become better at things over time? Well its all the same process. It happens at the most basic cellular level in the brain where neurons synapse together.

As a doctor, I can understand how quickly complicated this can get so I will try to break it down. Our brain is composed of approximately 86 billion neurons, which are the basic cell type that forms our brain. These neurons contain information and send signals to each other. That communication between each other occurs at the synapse. Our brain has over 100 trillion synapses in it. That is alot! And its why we are capable of so many different things. Individual skills rely on neural pathways in the brain that are comprised of many different synapses that work together. When we are new to something those pathways are slow and inefficient, but over time if we continue to use those same neural pathways the brain adapts. It begins to make those pathways more efficient and when that happens the skill gets easier.

Every time we fire a pathway we are telling ourself that we want to grow this pathway and make it more likely to fire again in the future and to be more efficient. A common phrase thrown around is "What fires together, wires together". This is why its so hard to break a habit, its because your brain is literally wired to choose the pathway of least resistance. Aka the one that is most efficient and refined. The more you act a certain way, the more likely you are to continue acting that way. Every time you act in a way that isn't aligned with the way you want to act, you are training yourself to keep acting that way! Every action you take is you casting a vote to your brain that tells it you want to keep acting this way. That's why its so important to break the cycle. If you don't you will only continue to strengthen the pathways that are causing your life pain and suffering.

This is where affirmations come in. Affirmations are a great and simple way to start building new and more supportive neural pathways in your brain. Its a tool to replace the negative neural pathways you have and create new ones that are more aligned with your goals. We often didn't get to choose the neural pathways we have. Many of our self-limiting beliefs come from childhood and were built long before we became aware of the impact it would have on us. This is our chance to take our lives back. To literally build a brain that supports the person you want to be. Affirmations do this by:

Modifying neural pathways: On a molecular and cellular level, regular affirmations strengthen positive neural connections while weakening negative ones. Through neuroplasticity, our brain begins to literally change to promote the neural pathways we use most frequently. This allows us to build our brain to exactly how we want with the power of affirmations. Overtime this leads to a real cognitive restructuring of our brains.

Self-perception shift: Over time, your brain begins to accept the affirmed statements as truth. Known as Self-Affirmation theory in Psychology, we try to protect our sense of self-worth. Affirmations are practical tools to let us dictate that narrative we have about ourselves, forming an anchor for self affirmation theory to build on. This allows your brain to use these self-affirmations to build a positive narrative about ourself that we end up believing. The whole "fake it till you make it" argument has some credibility to it after all. Affirmations actually do allow us to make it happen.

Now, I'm sure some of you may think that this may sound good but what does the actual scientific research say?Let's take a brief look into what the research shows us about affirmations.

Research evidence to support affirmations

Research from functional MRI studies suggests that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks. Self-affirmation has been shown to activate the brain's reward centers, the same areas that respond to other pleasurable experiences. During these fMRI studies, it was shown that affirmation activates brain regions involved in self-processing and valuation, such as the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum (1). This neural activity correlates with positive behavior change.

According to research, affirmations have been shown to have the following behavioral and psychological benefits: (2)

• Decrease health-related stress and improve problem-solving under pressure.

• Increase positive health behaviors, such as exercising more and eating more fruits and vegetables, when compared to control groups.

• Reduce resistance to threatening health messages, making individuals more open to positive behavior change.

• Improve academic performance and buffer against declines in GPA among students facing social exclusion.

• Lower stress and rumination, contributing to better mental health

There is research evidence to support the claim that affirmations have real appreciable benefits to ones health and life. Let's go into how to actually do affirmations correctly. There are some tips to help make it more useful for you.

How to Do Affirmations Correctly

Affirmations aren't just about saying nice things to yourself. The way you go about it is important too. Just like when practicing any skill, there are more efficient ways to practice and harness your time. Here are some simple tips to make the most out of your affirmation practice.

1. Be consistent: Practice daily. I found morning to be an easy time to get them in.

2. Speak in present tense: Say "I am confident" rather than "I will be confident."

3. Make them positive: Focus on what you want, not what you don't want.

4. Add emotion: Feel the affirmation as you say it. The more we feel as we do it the more we are activating those neural pathways. The emotions increase dopamine release which facilitates greater neuroplasticity.

5. Use first person: Start with "I" or "My" to personalize the statement. You are telling your mind that this is who YOU are, not just some random person. The affirmation applies directly yourself. Use first person.

6. Be specific: Target particular areas of improvement. It's best to focus on one theme at a time. The affirmations you choose should relate to each other. It allows building adjunct neural pathways that support the overall message you are telling yourself. Focus on one thing at a time.

7. Keep it realistic: While stretching your beliefs, ensure they feel attainable. It's important for the affirmations be at the edge of your comfort zone. Just like going to the gym and staying consistent, use of affirmations will allow you to continue to push the limits of your comfort zone and keep growing.

8. Pair with visualization: Imagine yourself embodying the affirmation. Visualization is another tool to further increase the effectiveness of the affirmations. Visualize what the affirmation would look like when translated into your life.

9. Speak aloud: Hearing your own voice amplifies the impact. The act of speaking requires more cognitive effort than just thinking and also helps facilitate greater building of those neural pathways.

10. Write down your affirmations: Having your affirmations visible in a place that you frequently see them serves as a reminder to do them but only continues to help reinforce their integration into your life. Printing them out works well. Even just having them somewhere on your phone or computer that you see often is helpful.

Keeping these tips in mind will help you make the most out of your own affirmation practice. Now you might be wondering how do I go about choosing which affirmations are best for me?

Choosing the right affirmations

The most powerful affirmations are those tailored to your specific needs and aspirations. We are all different and in different stages of our life. I recommend tailoring your affirmations to your specific needs and areas you would like to work on. Its about creating your own affirmation practice. Creating your own affirmations makes them more personal to you and thus you are more likely to do them. It also means its highly targeted towards helping you with your own goals. Find a list of affirmations online (like from my website) is a great place to start too. You can pick a general topic , like being more confident, and then select the affirmations you like the most from there and start using them while applying the tips from above. I do recommend eventually creating your own affirmations and updating them over time with your own journey. Affirmations are not something that are rigid, they are something we continually adapt to our needs. This is why they are an important part of our tool-kit. Let's go over some tips for helping to create your own personal affirmations.

How to Create Effective Personal Affirmations

1. Identify your insecurities or limiting beliefs: What negative thoughts do you frequently have about yourself?

2. Flip them into positives: Transform "I'm not good enough" into "I am worthy and capable."

3. Connect to your goals: Align affirmations with what you want to achieve.

4. Make them meaningful: Use language that resonates deeply with you.

5. Keep them concise: Short, memorable statements work best.

6. Use power words: Incorporate energizing words like "confident," "powerful," "abundant."

7. Address different life areas: Create affirmations for various aspects of your life.

8. Update regularly: As you grow, your affirmations should evolve.

Here are some examples:

• If you think "I'm terrible at public speaking" and want to improve, create the affirmation: "I communicate with clarity and confidence in all situations."

• If you believe "I never finish what I start" and want to complete a project, try: "I am committed to my goals and follow through with determination."

The key with affirmations is making them serve you. You know you have created a strong personal affirmation practice when they target your insecurities and are highly personalized to what you want to work on. I would say it is important to also add in some general affirmations as well to build that strong mental foundation. Think about what kind of characteristics you would like and the kind of mental foundation that would support you the best. Choose affirmations from readily available list of affirmations that resonate with you and add it to your practice. I find it easy to try affirmations for a one month period of time and then reflect on them and see how I feel after a month. If I feel I still need to use them and can benefit from them then I will keep them in my affirmation practice. Or if I feel that I have graduated from needing that affirmation then I will replace them with a different affirmation that is more aligned with my needs for that time. And once again I do recommend affirmations being similar to each other to not overwhelm yourself. If you are to focus on fear of public speaking then I would recommend choosing 2-3 affirmations that support that goal and maybe 1-2 affirmations about some general aspect you would like to improve about yourself (confidence, self-love, etc.).

Here are some affirmations to get you started and to draw inspiration from. Feel free to use them as a base for your own personal affirmations or to copy them and add to your own personal list of affirmations.

Lists of Affirmations Based on Goals

Self-Confidence

• I trust my abilities and judgment completely.

• I approve of myself and feel great about who I am.

• I am confident in my unique talents and gifts.

• I handle new situations with ease and confidence.

• I am becoming more confident and stronger each day.

• I believe in myself and my capabilities without doubt.

• I radiate confidence, certainty, and optimism.

• I am worthy of respect and acceptance.

• My confidence grows when I step outside my comfort zone.

• I am proud of my achievements and excited about my potential.

Happiness

• I choose happiness and joy in every moment.

• I attract positive energy and experiences into my life.

• My happiness comes from within and is not dependent on others.

• I deserve to be happy and live a life full of joy.

• I find joy in the simple pleasures of everyday life.

• Happiness flows through me and radiates from me.

• I am grateful for all the joy and happiness in my life.

• Each day brings me new opportunities for happiness.

• I release all negativity that blocks my happiness.

• My heart is open to giving and receiving joy.

Gratitude

• I am thankful for all the abundance in my life.

• I appreciate the small wonders that surround me daily.

• Gratitude transforms my perspective and enriches my life.

• I acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of others.

• I am grateful for the lessons in every experience.

• My life is filled with blessings that I recognize and cherish.

• I express gratitude for my health, wealth, and happiness.

• Every day I find new reasons to be thankful.

• I appreciate my journey with all its ups and downs.

• Gratitude opens my heart to receive more goodness.

Courage

• I face challenges with courage and clear thinking.

• I am brave enough to pursue what truly matters to me.

• I have the courage to be imperfect and authentic.

• Fear is just a feeling; it cannot stop me from moving forward.

• I boldly step out of my comfort zone to grow and evolve.

• I have overcome difficulties before and can do it again.

• Courage is my natural state; I am fearless in pursuit of what I desire.

• I am stronger than any obstacle in my path.

• I embrace uncertainty with confidence and courage.

• Each act of courage makes me stronger and more resilient.

Relationships

• I attract healthy, loving relationships into my life.

• I am worthy of love and respect in all my relationships.

• I communicate openly and honestly with the people in my life.

• I forgive others and maintain healthy boundaries.

• My relationships are based on mutual trust and respect.

• I give and receive love freely and unconditionally.

• I am surrounded by people who support and care for me.

• I contribute positively to all my relationships.

• I appreciate the unique qualities of each person in my life.

• Love flows to me and through me in all my interactions.

Strength

• I am strong in mind, body, and spirit.

• My inner strength is unwavering and unlimited.

• Every challenge reveals my inner strength and resilience.

• I draw on my inner strength in all situations.

• I am stronger than I think and braver than I believe.

• My strength grows with every obstacle I overcome.

• I have the strength to make it through any challenge.

• My body is healthy, strong, and full of energy.

• I am mentally and emotionally strong and stable.

• My strength is greater than any temporary weakness.

Final Thoughts

Affirmations are an incredible tool to have in your happiness tool-kit. They have the ability to change your life by literally changing your brain. Remember that affirmations are a long term tool that requires consistency to see real changes. This is why it is a practice, not a quick fix. Be patient with yourself as you integrate them into your daily routine. Over time your brain begins to build and optimize the neural pathways that support you becoming the person you want to be. As you continue to do your affirmation practice you will find that it becomes easier to accept these positive statements and with this you'll notice improvements in your mindset, emotions, and behaviors.

The most powerful affirmation practice is one that you maintain consistently. Start with just a few affirmations that resonate deeply with you, and gradually expand as you become more comfortable with the practice. I'm so happy for you and can't wait for you to change your life with this amazing tool.

If you found this helpful, please share with someone you think would benefit from it! Let's spread happiness and joy to all we can. I greatly appreciate you. Let's shine brightly together.

Until next time friend,

Wil

References:

1. Cascio, Christopher N., Matthew B. O’Donnell, Franklin J. Tinney, Matthew D. Lieberman, Shelley E. Taylor, Victor J. Strecher, and Emily B. Falk. “Self-Affirmation Activates Brain Systems Associated with Self-Related Processing and Reward and Is Reinforced by Future Orientation.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 11, no. 4 (2016): 621–629. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv136.

2. Schoenwald, Seph. “Positive Daily Affirmations: Is There Science Behind It?” PositivePsychology.com. Last modified November 8, 2023. https://positivepsychology.com/daily-affirmations/.