Positive affirmations are statements, phrases, and sentences affirm your belief in your capabilities, skills, and value. They are commonly used to fight negative thought patterns and can change lives. These phrases can be a powerful tool in improving how you see the world. Usually, these sentences are repeated in a mantra-like fashion for a short period every day.
How can simply saying some phrases repeatedly be so effective? This is desirable because the human brain tends to latch onto what it is told and manifest it. The brain isn’t great at figuring out what’s real and fake, so even the act of faking positivity works by slowly getting your brain to believe the words you say, even if you don’t believe them at first.
Of course, not everyone fully believes there’s a point to positive affirmations, and some roll their eyes at the concept. But these affirmations, as simple as they are, can work so many wonders that they’re worth trying, at least for a little while! Still not convinced? Here are six ways positive affirmations can help change our lives!
1. They Make You Kinder To Yourself
Self-compassion is a simple concept in theory but a complex trait to properly achieve. It involves the act of being kind to yourself with understanding and patience. For many, achieving this characteristic is tough and almost like a skill.
- You see yourself at your most flawed and worst.
- The only people you can compare yourself to are those you usually see the best sides of that they present to the world.
- You are more likely to have high standards for yourself than for others.
- It is much easier to be cruel to yourself than to another individual.
- Your inner voice is affected by your struggles and circumstances, so the more negative your situation, the less likely you are to think well of yourself.
- Many people are conditioned to view self-compassionate acts as selfish or self-centered.
Due to all these reasons, it’s not surprising that self-compassion isn’t a common trait. But positive affirmations may be able to help with that, or so say studies. This is because affirmations can be used to remember your good qualities and capabilities and remind you that taking the time to care for yourself is okay.
Being kind to yourself is one of the most important steps to living a healthy life. While you also need to be responsible and hold yourself accountable, you shouldn’t neglect the need to be there for yourself. At the end of the day, you are the only person you can guarantee will be with you forever – so you’d better start being your best friend! Your life will change for the better when you intrinsically value yourself and your happiness.
2. They Reduce Your Need For External Validation
For many, it’s a significant struggle to stop desiring external validation from others. Seeking this kind of validation or “needing” it to feel better about yourself can lead to several problems, such as:
- Constantly comparing yourself to others.
- Doing things you don’t want to do solely for other people’s approval
- Neglecting to focus on your journey in life
- Viewing life as a race with finite resources
- Burning yourself out to compete with others
- Playing to other people’s strengths instead of your own
- Believing every single bad thing said about you
- Relying on other people to decide what’s best for you
- Hinging your self-worth on what others say about you
- Creating a false idea of those around you
- Damaging your relationships with the people around you
- Feeling depressed or anxious whenever you don’t receive external validation
- Increasing your risk of being taken advantage of by those who can see your desperation for validation
- Being too afraid to go against the grain and carve your path; sticking to the status quo, and stifling your creativity and innovative thought
This isn’t to say that being praised, rewarded, or recognized for your efforts by others won’t still feel good to you! No one can deny that it’s nice to see yourself appreciated. But relying solely on these extrinsic sources of validation to feel good about yourself is an unhealthy way to live your life.
Positive affirmations provide an internal source of attention and validation, so you don’t need to rely on extrinsic sources. You’ll be comfortable doing what makes you happy and forging your path, and you won’t let other people’s words get you down. It’s a state of personal satisfaction coveted by many in life!
3. They Boost Self-Esteem
A brain is a powerful tool. The more you bolster yourself by saying good things about yourself, the more likely you will internalize those good things into genuine positive thinking. This is why affirmations work; studies show they’re a good and workable tool for improving confidence in yourself.
Self-esteem is vital to your understanding of your worth. A lack of self-esteem can cause you to:
- Settle for less than you deserve because you believe you aren’t good enough for more
- Talk down to yourself negatively and damage your self-worth via a critical inner voice.
- Develop a negative view of yourself that prevents you from achieving your full potential
When you have healthy self-esteem, you’ll be able to tackle negative thoughts and unlearn them until you truly believe in yourself. This doesn’t mean you’ll become arrogant. Instead, you’ll see yourself for the great person you are, know your strengths, and be confident in them!
Seeing yourself in a more positive light can dramatically change the way you look at the world, the opportunities you seize, and the way you let yourself be treated. Positive affirmations are a great way to rewire your brain naturally so you genuinely believe good things about yourself.
4. They Remind You About Small Good Things
It’s easy to overlook the little details in life when you’re stuck in negative thought patterns. Bad things can feel big and overwhelming, especially when they’re outside of your control, and during bad times, any good things at all can be hard to come by.
But positive affirmations can help you find the silver linings in all bad situations, even if they seem bleak at first.
They change lives by doing the following:
- Finding small things to be grateful for in dire circumstances.
- Reminding you to look for lessons you can learn from in bad situations instead of letting you dwell on negativity.
- Providing insight into the temporary state of negativity, positive and negative situations alike will come and go, but your innate positivity will always remain.
- Letting you spot all sorts of small good things in your everyday life, even when you’re dealing with bad times.
Learning to be more aware of small good things in life can permanently rewire your brain and rewrite your natural thinking patterns. You’ll learn to be more grateful, and gratitude increases with time the more you practice it. Living life with gratitude will bring you much inner peace and genuinely change your life for the better.
5. They’re Good For Your Health
Positive affirmations are commonly used to manage the effects of anxiety and depression. While they certainly aren’t cure-alls and don’t magically fix mental disorders, they certainly help you cope with some of their worst symptoms.
On top of being good for your mental health by increasing positive thinking despite disorders, these affirmations can also help physical health. This is because when your mental health improves, you’re under much less stress and strain from your daily life.
Many problems, like anxiety, depression, and high stress, are commonly linked to cardiovascular disease and blood pressure imbalance. These issues can also decrease motivation to make healthy choices and make one less interested in taking care of themselves.
Combining all of these factors means that by boosting mental health and emotional well-being, positive affirmations also help you stay healthy physically. That means that all aspects of fitness are well looked after through these affirmations!
6. They Can Help You Find Success
The very concept that using positive affirmations may improve your chances of finding success sounds far-fetched, but studies prove it! This is because:
- When you have high regard for yourself, you gain more confidence.
- With gains in confidence, you have more belief in yourself and your capabilities to reach your goals.
- When you are confident, you are more likely to be able to take complex situations in stride.
- Positive affirmations can motivate you to stick to commitments and overcome challenges.
- Positive affirmations can help you pick yourself up and recover from failure.
Many people prefer to use defensive pessimism when gunning for success, which the previous research looks into as well. People want to “manage their expectations” by cautiously talking down about themselves. They think that by believing they may fail, they’re preventing themselves from facing disappointment. In reality, the only thing they’re preventing is their success.
While having reasonable belief in yourself and setting fair expectations is essential, it’s also crucial to believe that you can find success and be committed to putting in the work required for that goal. With positive affirmations, you’ll be able to coach yourself towards success – which can significantly change your life!
Final Thoughts on How Using Positivity Affirmationsaff Can Change Lives
Positive affirmations are incredible tools for improving your life. While they may not work to their most significant point for everyone, they almost always help people somehow and are worth giving a shot.
Not sure where to begin? Start by picking a specific thing you’d like to gain confidence or motivation in. For example, let’s say you want to be more focused on your tasks. You can then create a phrase or statement that speaks positively of your ability to achieve this goal, such as “I remain focused on my tasks,” “I complete my to-do list every day,” or “I am capable of completing what I set out to do.” You can even use more specific phrases, like “I will be living in my dream city by 2025”, or terms for more comprehensive concepts like “I am happy.”
The important thing is to speak with positive energy and positive language and use present tense when you do so. Positive affirmations will help you improve your self-esteem, boost your motivation, and improve your wellbeing as you gun for success!
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