Positive Affirmation: 3 Tips for Better Results

If you've gotten into the habit of creating positive affirmation statements to support your desired results in life, you're probably noticing some changes already. Yet sometimes at first your feedback comes in fits and spurts. Something great will happen, and then things will taper off for a bit. It can get frustrating. Fortunately, there's usually something else to tweak. Try these 3 tips for intermediate "affirmers."

1. Keep tabs on your everyday language. Sure, when you started out it was great to have a couple sentences to call on when things began to feel rough. Maybe you even got into a habit of beginning or ending your day with affirmations. Or you taped them up on the bathroom mirror, on the cover of your journal, or on the dashboard of your car. Those are all great ways of keeping a planned statement present in your consciousness.

Yet everyday language counts, too. Remember that any firm statement is an affirmation. Begin to monitor your day-to-day conversation, both inside and out, for statements that conflict with the positive affirmation you've chosen.

Let's be clear:

* If your planned statement affirms abundance, but you spend a lot of time telling the kids "we can't afford it," then you've got a conflict. Try this instead: "Let's get some other things today and put that on our list for another time."
* If your planned statement affirms comfort in your body, yet your inner conversation routinely says "My back is killing me," then you've got a conflict. Try this instead: "As I breathe deeply, the muscles in my back relax."
* If your planned statement affirms a happy relationship with your spouse, yet you secretly criticize his evenings spent zoning out in front of the TV, then you've got a conflict. Try this instead: "I appreciate how hard Jim works all day. It's great when we find ways to relax and unwind together."

2. Expect your behavior to change. The language of an affirmation is extremely powerful. Yet the words themselves are not magic. It's more about the context they create. No matter what your inside conversation, if you rigorously continue doing the same old things, you will continue to produce the same old results.

The positive statements are meant to inspire you to come up with fresh solutions and follow through on them. Some of the ideas that "pop" into your head may seem strange. They will surely be different from the old ideas you entertained in the past. That's because you are now moving into a slightly different world -- a world of great possibility!

Build some credibility with yourself by trying out a few of the crazy ideas you get. As you do, you'll no doubt find that some work better than others. No matter. Follow through as best you can on the the ideas that begin working for you. Once you start to see results, take notice. Your affirmation is taking on material form. It's also becoming more believable.

* You begin to believe that you will one day be able to buy the kids that gadget they asked about because it's already becoming a bit easier to manage the essentials. Didn't you just get to payday with cash left in your wallet? Darn tootin' you did!
* You begin to believe your back will relax as you exhale tension because after the massage therapist finished with you last week, you felt great for two whole days. It's possible!
* You begin to believe that you and your spouse will enjoy the benefits of a closer relationship because last Tuesday after work, you spent some time on the couch watching TV with him. And then didn't he say that it had felt nice? Yep. Well, it's a start!

3. Consider affirming your state. State means how you "are." When you "are" abundance, or health, or connectedness, you make choices that match your experience. Of course when you "are" scarcity, or illness, or separation, then your choices match that experience as well.

Observe a role model to see how they are being. Let's say your role model is confident and charismatic. Fine. Affirm that you are confident and charismatic. Better yet, affirm "I am confidence and charisma." Using language, bring yourself into the same state of being that your role model enjoys.

You will not turn into your role model. But before you know it, you are likely to begin making the same type of choices that they would make if they were in your situation. The most likely outcome of that strategy, of course, is that your situation will begin to look a little more like theirs. If you've chosen wisely, that's bound to be a very good thing!