Do Affirmations Work?
Written by Steven Griggs | thefreedomcoach.com
An affirmation is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: a: the act of affirming; b: something affirmed, a positive assertion.
The definition here refers to positive affirmations, but in truth most of the thoughts you have are an affirmation, one way or the other.
You can tell yourself “I am abundant and money flows to me” all day long, but if you aren’t in alignment with what I call your “under programing”, that is your subconscious mind’s programming (limiting beliefs), nothing will change. You will keep getting the same results.
If you have issues around money, which usually means issues around not being good enough or not having value, your inner voice will answer the affirmation with a cancelling negative response.
“Yeah, so and so makes a lot of money because he has connections” or “So and so is just lucky ”or “I’m too old to make a lot of money”, or “Money is hard to make” etc. etc.
Some people believe that you can cancel or override these limiting beliefs with continued positive affirmations.
I’m not so sure.
I think that, unless you first address the underlying beliefs, the more you repeat the affirmations, the more you activate resistance which can actually make the limiting beliefs stronger.
The negative or “unwanted” result you receive is not the conscious affirmation but the underlying limiting beliefs that you unconsciously respond with. The belief or vibration you are sending out is that of the contradictory or negative belief.
There are techniques you can use to address and remove your limiting beliefs that are very effective and I will address a few of them in future posts. I will also talk about how we acquire limiting beliefs.
I believe that a good place to start in aligning your conscious and your subconscious mind is in strengthening the internal dialogue you have with yourself. Getting more connected with your unconscious self.
This is not as straight forward as you would think, but a good place to start is creating alignment with what you say and what you do.
Most of us have trained our minds to allow us to say one thing and then do something else. I’m not saying you’re lying, but in a way you are, to yourself. Your mind gets used to being flakey and not keeping its commitments. It knows it doesn't have to keep its promises.
A good example: keeping New Year’s resolutions. Have you kept all your resolutions? See what I mean. We all do it.
But try this: agree with yourself to do exactly what you say. If you can’t or aren’t ready to do something, don’t do it. If you need to go on a diet, don’t lie to yourself and promise to go on a diet soon, instead tell yourself I’m not going to diet yet, I will when I’m ready.
Affirm to yourself that you are “not dieting”. Whenever you eat something you think you shouldn’t, don’t berate yourself, tell yourself this is part of “not dieting”, when I’m ready to diet, I will.
This is a bit of an extreme example and I’m not advocating eating yourself into oblivion but you get the idea.
Get used to keeping your word and being honest with yourself. This applies to any situation in your life, if you aren’t ready or can’t right now, don’t commit. Commit to not committing: "I’m not ready right now”.
When you are ready, you will. Practice using this. Do small things at first.
The idea here is to "train"your mind to know and believe, that what you say, you do. It will strengthen the connection between your conscious and subconscious minds.
The idea here is to "train"your mind to know and believe, that what you say, you do. It will strengthen the connection between your conscious and subconscious minds.
I have made a habit of completing anything I decide to do. Nothing is too small. For example, if I think about having some delicious Baklava for desert, I make sure I pick some up on the way home. I try to meet most, if not all of my desires (within reason!). There are some things that I want that I know I'm not ready for right now, so I put them out for future delivery. I have to be watchful about this sometimes....
Try it. You’ll see a change in yourself. Treat yourself well, do not berate yourself or be self-critical.
If you make a commitment and fail to stay on course, don’t get mad, start again.
Get in the habit of affirming yourself to yourself.
