Self Talk for Success
Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t say anything about yourself, that you don’t want to come true?“ Affirmations, positive or negative take hold.
I am a firm believer in the above statement, but that hasn’t always been the case.
There was a time when I didn’t really give much thought to the things I said about myself or my life. It wasn’t like I was going around putting myself down on purpose, but I wasn’t speaking words of self-affirmation either.
Some children are raised hearing praises and being encouraged all the time, however, some, like me, heard it only once in a while like report cards or holidays, and others don’t get much if any at all. As we grow up, the natural state of the world and all its negativity come reigning down.
Feed Your Mind Positive Affirmations
Let’s just say some of us have better armor against that battle than others. As a parent, I personally make sure I tell my kids every day how much I love and appreciate them. I admire their individual talents and abilities. We talk about the areas they struggle and I offer encouragement.
I don’t ever want my children feeling like they are perfect and don’t need to grow and adapt, but I also don’t want them ever questioning that they are capable or worthy.
I have worked in a day job that allows me to see the damage that comes with adults that were raised in a manner leaving them feeling lacking and unworthy. Furthermore, I have actually had people ask me why I am being nice to them? Breaks my heart. They see themselves as undeserving of even the simplest of courtesies.
An Evaluation
So how do we improve our self-worth and talk to ourselves in a way that creates good outcomes? We want the things we say about ourselves to come true, but only if they are good things right? If you were scripting a movie for your life how would you write it?
Law of attraction coaches talk about it all the time. Self-fulfilling prophecy maybe. The movie Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler cracks me up. When he realizes that his crazy stories are coming true he really starts evaluating what he wants so that it will come about. I think the same can be said for what we don’t want.
Back to me, as I said before, I wasn’t always thoughtful about what I said about myself or my circumstances. Many years ago when I felt my life had hit a pretty low point I went through some serious soul searching, seeking answers. I wanted to know why so many of the dreams and goals I had set out for myself in my youth, seemed flat unobtainable at the current juncture.
I started connecting some pretty scary dots. I had been getting exactly what I had been focusing on. And what I was focusing on at that time was all the things I feared most and didn’t want to happen. My thought patterns were so attached to what I didn’t want that I was getting more of it day and night.
Instead of focusing on the positive and what I did want, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And boy did it. Kicked me in the face is more like it.
And lying in the dirt staring at me was a heaping pile of everything I was trying so hard to avoid.
Enter Affirmations
I have a gift for learning. That said, I knew I would have to engage in some way of retraining my way of thinking if I ever wanted to change my habit of negative thinking. A habit, by the way, I was in denial of having for quite some time. I have learned a few techniques but the one I will share today is affirmations.
I know, some of you are eye-rolling and making comments about new age blah, blah, blah. Hear me out. At first, I was super skeptical and was thinking, “I am not going to write a post-it note for my fridge that says I’m successful and poof! Done.”. Yeah not buying into that.
This is not how I chose to go about this.
Instead, I searched YouTube videos for hours and bookmarked a few longer videos about positive affirmations. I put in the ole earbuds and listened to them as I drifted off to sleep. (Jason Stephenson is the one I like best. His voice doesn’t annoy and the background music is decent.)
I thought to myself, “Well maybe they can talk to me while I’m sleeping and reprogram my garbage thinking at a subliminal level while lulling me to sleep”.
Proof Affirmations Work
Only a fool can deny that subliminal messages work. For example, McDonald’s, Nike, and thousands of other Fortune Five Hundred companies have been using them for 50 years and they aren’t exactly denying they work.
Furthermore, these guys are raking in millions and have made a household name for themselves because all of our beliefs reside in the subconscious mind. It’s like a supercomputer and the programming we download is the software it runs.
[bctt tweet=”creating a master mindset and strengthening your resolve to make it happen.” username=””]
After about a week, I noticed that I was waking up in a slightly better mood.
No miracle cure but definitely was helping my morning attitude. So I searched for another shorter video that I could listen to while getting ready for work in the a.m.
The night videos are calming and make me sleepy, which is great after struggling with insomnia, while the a.m. videos are much more upbeat and peppy. Honestly, the word I used at first was cheesy, but I stayed the course.
This list below is some of the affirmations that I think are most useful. When used daily, affirmations can,
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- Make a major shift in mindset and help us better cope with the daily bombardment of nonsense.
- Help you recognize when you are being negative toward yourself or others.
- Affirmations define your focus. When you focus your thoughts on the things you want: crushing your goals, the positive, uplifting + good, you are creating a master mindset and strengthening your resolve to make it happen.
- They open you up to possibility. Too often we get stuck in the ‘impossible’ mindset, but affirmations make us believe in our dreams again. When you begin to positively affirm what is actually possible, a spark of hope ignites and fuels a can-do attitude.
Just a Few Affirmations I Love
Start with these or make up your own. You don’t have to believe them from day one. But you need a desire to want them to be true and the motivation to stick with it long enough for them to really sink in. Repetition is key!
- I choose to have an Awesome day.
- Miracles big and small are coming my way.
- I turn melodrama into mellow.
- I have unlimited potential.
- I am thankful for all the people I love.
- I am powerful and create the life of my dreams.
- I am intuitive and intelligent.
- Amazing opportunities are a regular part of my life.
- I am unique. What I offer and who I am is special.
- My possibilities are endless.
- I am healthy and strong.
- Every day I am improving.
- I deserve to be prosperous.
- I am wealthy.
- My relationship is full of joy.
- I forgive myself and others easily.
- I respect myself, therefore others respect me.
- I can solve complications with ease.
- I am motivated.
- I am accomplished.
- I am capable.
- I am optimistic.
- I am spontaneous and passionate.
- I am beautiful.
- I am lovable.
- I am seeking a better life.
- I inspire others.
- I am in my own corner.
- I am courageous and astonishing.
- I am a great friend.
- I am better than I used to be.
- I am impressive and inspired.
- I am attaining all that I wish for.
- I am progressing and achieving.
- I am honest and trustworthy.
Conclusion. Just Give Affirmations A Go
If you consistently feed the subconscious with what you desire for yourself, it will eventually absorb it.
When the belief is strong, your actions will match your intentions. Whatever explanation you give yourself, it’s undeniable that a change in thinking results in a change in circumstances. Do it because you’re worth it!
[bctt tweet=”If you consistently feed the subconscious with what you desire for yourself, it will eventually absorb it” username=””]
I chose to start with the night time playlist because hearing them in my own voice wasn’t convincing at first. Now I chatter along with them, and my kids love them too. My thirteen-year-old runs around singing, “I believe in myself, yes I do.”, in a great Australian accent. Funny stuff but so encouraging.
-xoxo
Deanna