5 Powerhouse Tips for Using Positive Affirmations

 

You’ve probably heard that affirmations can help you be more motivated and successful in meeting your goals. But did you know that there are some ways you can supercharge your affirmations to make them even more powerful, even transformative? 

Say you want to lose weight and get fit. If your affirmation is “I will lose weight and go to the gym every day,” how does that make you feel? If you’re like most people, it probably feels like a chore. It’s not inspiring or motivating.

It focuses on the negative aspects of your goal (the need to lose weight and the obligation to go to the gym) and pushes the goal out into an indefinite future. 

Here are 5 tips to make your affirmations work better for you:

Make your affirmations active and present tense.

Instead of saying “I will lose weight,” try “I am losing weight.” This simple change makes your affirmation more believable and therefore more effective 

Make your affirmations specific.

Again, using the weight loss example, instead of saying “I am losing weight,” try “I am losing 10 pounds in the next month.” This gives you a tangible goal to focus on and measure your progress 

Make your affirmations positive.

Instead of saying “I will not eat junk food,” try “I am eating healthy foods that nourish my body.” Focusing on what you want (healthy eating) rather than what you don’t want (junk food) will help you make better choices 

Write them down

Writing is more beneficial as you are really engaging the brain in the process. Writing by hand is a slower process, but you end up digesting what you have written. This will also enable you to create a stronger mental picture of your desired outcome.

Keep it Short

Make your affirmations brief and memorable. Concise, focused statements are easier to remember. 

The more often you say your affirmations, the more likely you are to believe it and take action on it. Stand in front of a mirror and repeat them!

Affirmations alone won't get you to your goal, but even if it gives you an extra 1% chance, then I think it's worth doing. 

The British Cycling team led by Sir Dave Brailsford won Olympic Gold by believing in a concept called "aggregation of marginal gains". He and the team broke down everything they could think of that went into competing on a bike. They then improved each element by 1%, which achieved them significant improvement. 

If you get a chance, read 'Atomic Habits"by James Clear. This is a great book to help with mindset!

Try these tips the next time you create an affirmation and see how much more effective they can be!

Credit: Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Visualize, Affirm & Achieve Any Goal - John Assaraf

 

Here John Assaraf discusses how important it is to focus on your goals every day. He also show you a few specific affirmations that will help you create a brand new neural pattern in your brain that will help you towards achieving your goals.

Train Your Brain To BECOME LIMITLESS & Achieve ANY GOAL You Have | John Assaraf

 

The No.1 Habit Billionaires Run Daily

 

This is a 'must watch' and will definitely make you think!

5 Reasons You're Not Achieving Your Goals | Brian Tracy

 

Goal Setting and Your Reticular Activation System

 

Have you ever noticed that when you really begin to concentrate on your goals, or a dream of some kind, you start to notice various cues to finding the way all over the place? There is a portion of our brain that focuses solely on survival and basic success, and it filters out extraneous information. Once you begin to teach your brain that helping you achieve your dreams is important, it will respond by recognizing what's significant in that pursuit. It will literally point things out to you. Things that were there all along suddenly appear far more often. This is your Reticular Activating System or RAS.

Wouldn't it be awesome to teach your children and yourself how to actually program your RAS to behave like a magnet; attracting opportunities and data that can accelerate your goal achievement? As a parent and a school counselor here in Nashville, I have spent a great deal of time with students addressing the area of goal setting. As I've said in class and at home many times, "You've got to have a plan about where you're going, or you could wind up anywhere". I often tell my students that I just bet the people now in prison didn't say as kids, "I want to be in jail when I grow up". However, I'd also bet they didn't have a plan either, because with goals and plans, one rarely has time for foolishness that isn't helping them grow in their dreams and life mission. With a little practice and effort, you can trip this RAS switch and enhance your life in a few short days.

First, you must identify your goals - be specific and don't shoot any of them down as impossible - ask the question "What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?" You've heard this before. For the next few days, you will focus on:

Personal development goals, which lay the foundations - What do I want to learn or master? What kind of person do I want to become? 
Career or business goals regardless of whether or not they involve great financial gain -What do I want to achieve in the work world? How much money do I need, or want? 
Adventure goals; things you want to experience before you die - Are there adventures I simply must have? Is there a place I simply must visit? 
Contribution goals; your legacy - What do you want to leave behind? What do you want to be remembered for? How would you write your own epitaph?

Choose a day to ponder deeply each of the above areas of goal setting. The simple act of meditation and focus is excellent practice. For each one, take the first few minutes of your contemplation to brainstorm every possibility. Make no judgments here - just imagine. Ask the child inside of you what you've always wanted; it knows, and it still believes.

Next, give yourself a timeline for achievement; anywhere from a day to 20 years, but be realistic. Now decide on the top goal in each category. Create a timeline of one year then write yourself a paragraph stating why you are dedicated to the mission of making this specific goal a reality within one year.

Make one small step or positive action at this moment. Imagine how you will feel when you have mastered all or most of the objectives you have written on this day. What will your life be like? You should have four top goals after this four day process. Review them daily, think about them often as your thoughts become your actions, and then take notice of all the things that just "show up" to help you along the way. You will be intrigued as you become aware of your RAS beginning to work for you, and you will know that you are on your way to the future you've always dreamed of.

"And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." 
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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Goal Setting: A Quick Guide

Let's talk about goal setting; how you go about setting Purposeful goals, and making sure those goals actually get achieved.

How do you make goals work not only for New Year's time, but throughout the whole year? How do you make them actually changing your life, transforming your life for the better?

Personally, I've struggled with goals for a long time. That's because they seem simple. They seem obvious; you need to go in there and start to look into what actually makes goals work so that you can set proper, powerful goals to achieve your Purpose.

If you're like me, then you have big dreams for your life. You know you're capable of so much more. What that means is that you have some sort of dream. You have some sort of vision.

What your career could be like, how your business might be growing, what your health might be like, how your lifestyle is like. All of those areas in your life, to achieve big things in those areas, you need to have some goals to get you there.

Let's talk about how to do this and where people make mistakes with the goal setting process, because I've made these mistakes, and I still make these mistakes, even though I've studied this stuff. Let's take a look at that.

There are a lot of people who work hard at achieving a goal, but when they eventually achieve such goals, they do not derive any joy or satisfaction from achieving such goals. The main reason for this is that what you have accomplished is not suitable for your inner values. This shouldn't happen to you. Clarification of your values is an act you need to perform in each area of your life.

Your true goals are your objectives you intend to achieve. It starts with developing your visions and values into tasks that you can easily accomplish each day until you achieve the main goal.

The master skill to success is to set goals and make plans to achieve such goals. Without mastering the skill of goal setting and developing action plans, you may not be able to fully utilize your potential or achieve any goal in life. All major accomplishments involve a sequence of steps.

Through planning, your major definite purpose is turned into a multi-task project with step-by-step details, clear deadlines and sub-deadlines. The good news is that with practice, you can learn and master this skill. The more you practice, the better you become. Hence, you will be one the most effective and influential people.

Always organize your thoughts on a sheet of paper. There can be sub-lists for every list. Until you're comfortable with your plan, keep updating and revising it. Any skill can be learned and planning being a skill is not an exception.

Over the years, there have been many studies into the reasons why some people achieve more than others. In an effort to determine the common denominator of success.

The common denominator was "action orientation." Those who achieve success take immense action. They make their moves very fast and their hands are always full.

Every great success you achieve is an indication that you've overcome one challenge or another. The critical determinant of your success is your ability to make a decision on what you want. Then, taking action steps and holding on in the midst of challenges and difficulties until you accomplish your goals.

So, if we all have the ability to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable and realizable. Why is that a lot of people find it difficult to set one. Here are 4 reasons why I believe people find it difficult to really set goals.

YOU DON'T REALIZE ITS IMPORTANCE 
For most people, they don't have the basic understanding of setting goals, hence, they don't realize its importance. If you grow up in a home where no one sets goals let alone seeks to achieve them, you won't see the need to set goals as well.

YOU HAVE NO GUIDE ON HOW TO SET GOALS 
People are unable to set goals because they don't have the guidance they need on how they can set goals. Worse still, there are a lot of people who have wishes or dreams which they term as goals.

Example of such wishes or dreams are, "be happy", "make a lot of money", or "have a nice family life".

Of course, we all have wishes and dreams, but a goal is completely different from a wish, it is specific, measurable, and even time-bound.

If you are like me and you didn't have any idea about goal setting until you became an adult, then, you won't realize its importance.

YOU ARE AFRAID OF FAILING 
The truth is nobody wants to fail. Failure is painful and distressing both emotionally and financially. We all have failed at one time or the other. While we resolve to learn from our experience to forge ahead, we allow these failures to 'cage' us and make us 'play it safe'. Hence, we don't maximize our potential to the fullest.

YOU ARE AFRAID OF CRITICISM 
These are people that feel that by setting a goal and not achieving that goal, they will receive criticism from others. If you fall into this category, I have a simple solution for you, ensure that your goals are confidential. There is no need to tell anyone your goals. Let your results and achievements speak for you.

I'm Hussein Taleb, the founder of SuccessGrid

SuccessGrid

Goal Setting An Ultimate Guide

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