HOW TO USE AFFIRMATIONS TO CHANGE YOUR BELIEFS
Affirmations are all about changing the way you speak to yourself and reprogramming the beliefs you play on repeat.
Beliefs like “I can’t do that”, “I’m not confident enough” and “who would want to listen to me?”.
Instead of repeating these negative phrases - that have now become our beliefs - we swap them for positive phrases or positive affirmations.
For example:
I can’t becomes I can
I’m not confident enough becomes I am confident in everything I do
Who would want to listen to me becomes my audience need to hear what I have to say
But when we’ve created our affirmations, how do we then use them?
For help creating your affirmations, read this post.
How to use affirmations
Write them
Read them
Repeat them
Listen to them
Write affirmations in your journal
First up, write them.
Using your journal or a notebook specifically for affirmations, write out your affirmations daily.
The more you write them, the quicker you’ll notice a difference but we also need to be realistic. Putting pressure on ourselves to write them 100 times a day instantly makes it feel like a chore and when we can’t stick to it, we fall into the pattern of feeling guilty. This is counterproductive.
Instead, aim for around 20 times per day, depending on how many affirmations you use at a time. I like to stick to 3-5 affirmations at any one time and I normally change these monthly or depending on what my current goals are.
Read your affirmations
I mentioned writing your affirmations in a specific journal or notebook. This is so that you can go back and read through them time and time again. If you mix them with your daily journaling where you’re writing whatever’s in your mind, you’ll end up reading back through negative emotions which we don’t want.
Re-reading your affirmations is a great way to use affirmations and start to reprogram your mind full of positive beliefs.
Repeat your affirmations
If you could peek inside my head, you’d hear me repeating my affirmations all day long. When I’m in the shower, when I’m working, when I’m taking the dog for a walk, even when I’m scrolling on social media.
I like to repeat my affirmations to myself because I’ve found this to be the most effective way to use affirmations for me personally.
When I need a quick confidence boost, I’ll play my favourite songs and shout my affirmations out loud or stand in front of the mirror and repeat them. This definitely feels weird at first and you may feel a little self-conscious but let me ask you this: What’s more important - what people think of you or the success you’re able to achieve in life because of your affirmations?
It’s your decision: repeat them out loud or repeat them in your head.
Listen on a loop
This is the easiest way to use affirmations. Start by writing them out and then record yourself repeating your affirmations with the app ThinkUp. Using the free version, you can record up to 3 affirmations. Then, all you have to do is go to the practice tab and you can play your affirmations on repeat, alongside relaxing music.
I love to do this when I’m in the bath, when I’m putting on makeup or as I’m drifting off to sleep.
It’s much easier to reprogram your mind with your own voice as your subconscious recognises it.
As with anything, we all learn in different ways so it’s entirely up to you how you choose to use affirmations. The most important thing is to be consistent and use them on a daily basis. You might even want to mix it up depending on the day.