In the last lesson, you learned what affirmations are and how they differ from practicing gratitude.
Now let's get into crafting meaningful affirmation statements that specifically focus on your desires and start to shift your mindset.
There are a few ways to craft affirmations in general. I will provide you with the two ways that I use most.
The first is the "simple" or "fast" way to craft your statements. To do this simply think of something that you desire, such as a promotion or specific behavior that you want to change, and then turn it into a statement.
Say you desire a promotion. An example of a statement for a promotion would be: "I am so happy and grateful for my promotion, " "thank you for my promotion" or "I am worthy and accepting of a promotion."
Or if you want to change the behavior of your lack of confidence, then you would use a statement such as: "thank you for my self-confidence," "I am confident," or "I am so happy and grateful for my self-confidence."
Be sure that your affirmation is credible and achievable. It needs to be something that is realistic. For example, if you are an entry-level employee, you wouldn't want to say something like "thank you for being promoted to vice president," because there are several steps you need to take to get to a position of that level first.
If you can't believe in the affirmation, it's unlikely that it'll impact your life. It's not a magic spell after all.
It is also important to put the affirmation into the present tense. This helps you to believe that the statement is true right now, which, in turn, will help you to change your behavior on a subconscious level.
The "longer" way to craft affirmations, yet still relatively simple, is to first state your desires, and then write out your fears around that desire. Next, take each of those fears and write them in reverse to craft your affirmation statement.
So sticking with the promotion example, the process would look something like this:
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The desire: I desire to get promoted.
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The fear: I fear that I won't do enough to warrant a promotion.
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The affirmation: I am doing the work required to get to the next level, and I am getting promoted.
For a hybrid approach, choose the longer way of creating an affirmation around your biggest desire and then the faster way for the desires which are smaller in scale.
So what that means is if the promotion was the biggest thing that you desired then you would write it out the long way which is – I desire to get promoted, I fear that I won't do enough to warrant a promotion, I am doing the work required to get to the next level, and I am getting promoted.
Then for the rest of your affirmations, say something like self-confidence, you would simply say, I am so happy and grateful for my self-confidence or thank you for my self-confidence. Basically, you do not go through the process of writing out your desire and your fear for the shorter versions, but rather only go through that process for the one thing that you most desire.
Regardless of which way you choose to create your affirmations, it is important to say them with feeling! Why? Because affirmations are more effective when they carry emotional weight.
You need to want this change to happen, so every affirmation that you choose to repeat should be a phrase that's meaningful to you. For example, if you are worried about the additional works that comes along with a promotion, then you would state, "I am really excited about the new challenges that this promotion brings."
To recap, whether you choose the longer or, the shorter affirmation process, the best affirmations are created with the following guidelines:
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Think about the areas of your life that you'd like to change.
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Make sure that your affirmation is credible and achievable.
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Turn negatives into positives.
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Write your affirmation in the present tense.
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Say it with feeling.
These steps will make the affirmation personal to you, and specific to what you want to achieve or change.
YOUR TASK: Create 5-10 affirmations for yourself. Write them down and either put them on your desk or in a place that you will see daily OR put them into your calendar and set the alarm to repeat them daily.
In the next lesson, you will learn about reducing stress by journaling with intent.
