Contrary To Popular Belief

DO AFFIRMATIONS WORK?

“Impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation which "clicks.

- Florence Scovel Shinn

Affirmations are simply thoughts you say over and over again in an attempt to create a new belief, thereby creating a new experience. They are positive statements intended to elicit change, to put you into a better frame of mind and to manifest desires. Affirmations are very important for keeping you focused; increasing the positive feelings and energy around a topic, reminding you of the direction you are heading and reinforcing already healthy beliefs. Affirmations work to influence both the present and future outcomes. One of the benefits of using affirmations is their ability highlight negative self-talk, indicating where resistance is present. If the positive statement is in conflict with your subconscious beliefs, programming or cellular memories, you create a tug a war; a conflict between the conscious thought, the affirmation and what you desire, and the subconscious mind’s stored beliefs. Repeating the affirmation without addressing the underlying belief or what you are experiencing in your present reality is akin to putting flowers on top of your garbage can with the hope that they will mask the growing odor. The kicker here is that most people do not know what the subconscious programming is. You take right action, you think positive and you follow the plan, but for some reason you are unable to manifest, create or change the areas in your life you are dissatisfied with. Have you ever noticed that you start a healthy eating plan and start losing weight and then suddenly an emergency, stress, family issues or a trip appears and you are right back where you started? Quite often there are saboteurs in place that create roadblocks on the path you were following. The faulty beliefs about losing weight were more powerful than the affirmations and actions and were feeding your conscious mind with unhelpful thoughts. Your subconscious mind is one million times more powerful than your conscious mind and it will always win the tug-of-war.

I THINK I CAN! I THINK I CAN?

So, what do you do about it? Well, that is where awareness, presence, persistence, energy work, affirmations and visualization can materialize lasting change. The first step is awareness, which means paying attention to where “patterns” show up in your life. Patterns are simply repeat experiences, health problems, people or challenges, that despite your best efforts you have been unable to transform. This is a good indication that you have an outdated belief or block that is running the show. Be present with it and use the power of good questioning to source the information from your subconscious mind. Ask: What would I have to believe for this to be happening? What would I have to believe for things to be different? For instance if money is the issue, start to examine what you believe about having, keeping, earning and spending money. What did your parents say about money? It is important to note here that even if you consciously know it is ridiculous, outdated beliefs are generally formed starting in childhood and you have been "proving" and reinforcing their truth for awhile. The stronger the emotions, the experience and the level of reinforcement and repetition, the stronger the beliefs will now be. If you find yourself saying affirmations and following them with, “Ya right or like that will happen” or they make you feel worse or you see little to no change or you stop and start, it may be time to get support to free yourself from your limiting beliefs. Life coaching, combined with energy psychology techniques, creates a profound and lasting change and allows for the formation and integration of empowering beliefs. In my experience the most dramatic results happen when energy techniques, such as Emotional Freedom Technique and Mind Detox are used to release old thought patterns. Become conscious of what you want to change, pay attention to patterns, resistance, and negative self-talk. Beliefs and cellular memories can then be released at the level they are created and stored; in the subconscious, the cells and the energy system of the body. Affirmations work, either for showing you the outdated beliefs you need to shift or for reinforcing new, healthier beliefs. They are an important piece in the life changing and reality shifting puzzle.

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” - Claude M. Bristol

WHEN USING AN AFFIRMATION IS NOT EFFECTIVE:

1. You say an affirmation and you immediately hear yourself thinking of all the reasons why that will never happen. Change the language of the affirmation or root out the limiting beliefs.

2. Saying the affirmation keeps you in a feeling of want or lack – every time you say them you feel bad or are reminded or what you do not want in your life.

3. You do not know what you want, so you say random or vague affirmations.

4. You do affirmations that are so far removed from your reality they throw you off balance. For example you make 28k a year and you want to make 1 million and retire in two years. I am for dreaming big! Just watch that your subconscious does not give you a plethora of reasons why it will not work.


5. You are doing affirmations with an issue that is a common theme. You must take out the garbage to enjoy the flowers.

“Any thought that is passed on to the subconscious often enough and convincingly enough is finally accepted.”

- Robert Collier

If you would like support at creating vision and purpose, removing limiting beliefs and designing affirmations that support your purpose, please contact me at, onpurposelifecoaching@hotmail.com