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Daily Affirmations are one way to develop and maintain a positive mindset. For awhile, I had affirmations written throughout my house. I used dry erase marker on my mirrors, a magnetic white board on my fridge, and post-it notes throughout my house and even at work! I struggled with accepting myself for who I am, my life’s circumstances/situation, and the fact that I have been alone (aka not in a relationship) for 10 years. I am truly not alone. I have wonderful friends and family that have been my biggest support system and I would not be who I am or where I am without them (but more on that later).
Struggling with depression throughout the years, and being single for 10 years, I have often thought that I do not deserve love. It took years and a lot of personal development to understand my worth. Deep down, I knew I deserved love, and I now know I will find him when the time is meant to be. But, for awhile, I had “I deserve love” written in places that I would see every day.
Other affirmations that I have used in the past usually stemmed around nutrition and/or losing weight. See, for me, exercising is not an issue. I crave workouts. I have grown friendships with those at my gym and I am excited to workout with them on a weekly basis; they make exercising fun! But, I have used food as a comfort tool for too many years. Affirmations such as “When I eat like crap, I feel like crap” were written on a magnetic white board and stuck on my fridge. I have even taken a picture, or found a picture on Pinterest and set it as my iPhone’s wallpaper. We all know how much we look at and use our phones!
Positive affirmations work because of their repetitious nature. I truly believe in a cognitive-behavioral approach to living. Meaning: we are what we think, and we do/behave as we think. You know the phrase: Whether you think you can or you can’t; you’re right. Sometimes, positivity does not happen naturally, but affirmations are one way that we can retrain our brains to think and live positively.
Affirmations help us by making our brains believe in the potential of something that we want to believe in. They are proven to rewire our brains. Much like exericse, they push our minds to for new [positive] thoughts by raising the level of feel-good hormones that we produce. By their repetition, they help us break the pattern of negative thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
So the biggest question might be, “Where do I get started?” Well, that really all depends on what, in YOUR life, are you trying to change. Just think of what negative behavior or self-talk that you have and want to change, and figure out the positive side of it.
Here are 5 affirmations to help you get started
- I am entitled to happiness.
- I am enough.
- Food is for fuel and not for comfort.
- I am perfect as I am.
- I can change the world.
There are so many lists and categories in which positive affirmations can help. If none of these five fit your needs, simply do a Google search of “positive affirmations for _____” (and you fill in the blank with what you need help with. It could be for weight loss, anxiety, depression, self-love, etc.
It’s important to remember to keep this simple. Overwhelming your brain with 500 affirmations all at once will more than likely do more harm than good. Pick one, or if needed, two affirmations and focus on them for at least 2 weeks. Maybe even longer. Some affirmations I have had in my house (or at work) for months because they are a daily/constant struggle for me. Saying an affirmation out loud, at multiple times in the day is also very beneficial; especially as soon as you wake up and right before bed.
So, I challenge all of you to pick one, or two, areas in your life that need some work. (Refer to my post “October 2017 Goals” for a list of areas that I assess each month). After you get that one (or two) areas, find an affirmation that switches your thoughts to positive and PLASTER IT EVERYWHERE! On your phone, your mirrors, your fridge, computer, etc. And, if it will help, leave me a comment stating one or two affirmations/ areas of life that you will work on! Remember, we are all in this together!
And, as always, let’s Grow & Grind!
Megs
In case you are interested, here are some products to help you get started with plastering affirmations everywhere!
Magnetic White board
Dry Erase Markers – Colors