Insert Your Mental Reprogramming System of Choice Here: Affirmations, Visualization, Hypnosis, Meditation, Self-talk, Brain-wave Synchronization, and on and on the list goes…
There are so many ways to reprogram your mind these days that I’m beginning to wonder if we’re all just running around in a brain-wash induced state of self-imposed denial.
OUCH! That came out a bit more harshly than I had intended! However, in truth, there is a slight grain of irritation here, because, much like the Law of Attraction, there is so much confusion about how to use some of these tools that their meaning is starting to get lost in the shuffle. This post is my attempt at setting the record straight on one of the most popular systems: Affirmations.
To cut right to the heart of the matter, the question on the table is “Do affirmations work”? The answer to the question is “Yes, if your affirmations really work”. Confused yet? Allow me to clear the fog a bit.
As Karen Lynch points out in her post “Words,” the end result that you are after with an affirmation is a feeling. That’s it. That’s all you get.
You can’t manifest a new house or a new car with affirmations. You can’t bring forth a huge pile of money with affirmations. You can’t conjure up a rewarding career, nor magically create a loving and loyal romantic interest.
Affirmations, do not do any of those things. In fact, affirmations don’t “do” anything – not in the 3-dimensional world anyway. The job of an affirmation is not to conjure up the things that we want to have in our lives, but rather to conjure up the feeling that having those things will create in our lives.
Then, once you have that feeling, you Law of Attraction junkies will recognize that the feeling will then create the vibrations which will speed the house, the car, the job, the money, the mate – whatever – directly to you at a rate that is proportionate to your level of allowing and belief.
However, for those of you who aren’t so sure about the whole LOA thing, don’t despair! You can use affirmations just as effectively to generate feelings of happiness and success.
You see, by feeling what it will be like to attain your goal, what you are doing is building something.
Oh yes, Grasshopper, you are building something truly wonderful. You are building something as large as the tallest building, as far-reaching as the infinite dreamscape, and as real to you as anything ever possibly could be.
You are building Belief.
By constantly creating the feeling of having something that is not (yet) physically in your life, you are creating a new belief system from scratch. This belief system will allow you to “know” what it is like to have the things that you desire because – in your mind – you already have them.
By continually reaffirming the feeling of having the things that you want, you will find ways to bring those things into your 3-dimensional existence. This may be through a burst of inspiration, a sustained motivation to take action, or it may happen by you actually coming across the method needed to bring you what you want.
So, the question of whether or not affirmations actually work, and if so, how to create affirmations that really work for you, is answered simply by asking yourself the following question:
“What can I tell myself that will create the feeling of having {insert the thing that you are affirming for here}?”
Here are a few examples from my own life, and I use them to reaffirm whenever something actually happens, so that the feeling that the thing generates is clear and present in that moment in time:
“Money comes to me easily and frequently.” – Stolen from ‘The Secret’, I say this every single time I get money in any amount. Since I “work” on the Internet, I receive revenue from many different sources, and every time I get a check or a deposit into my PayPal account, I say this affirmation – no matter what the sum of money is.
“I am so grateful for…” – Gratitude is one the keys to success, and I practice it all day, everyday. From saying “I am so grateful that I don’t have to get out of bed yet” to saying “I am so grateful that today was a good day with my family,” not a day goes by that I don’t actually say some rendition of a gratitude affirmation several times throughout the day.
“Since I live …” – One of my primary life goals is to own a house on the beach in St. Augustine, FL. I live in northeast Florida already, so anytime anything “beach-like” crosses my mind – even in a visualization – I reaffirm it. “Since I live on the beach, I can spend my upcoming day off there.” “Since I live on the beach, I can run along the shore as the sun is rising.” “Since I live on the beach, I can hear the surf from my window as I am working in my home office”.
These are just examples, and are obviously specific to my lifestyle, but that is also why they work! If I ran around all day affirming things that had nothing to do with me, or that were so far out of my belief system that it would not be possible for me to take my affirmations seriously, then those affirmations wouldn’t do me much good.
If you try to affirm “wild and crazy” success into your life with off the wall affirmations, the only feeling that you will be creating is one of disbelief, and that will get you nowhere.
So, if you want affirmations that really work, think of affirmations that work for you. Once you have done that, it is just a matter of repeating them as often as you want to feel that feeling of success!
Wow! Very Good! You very clearly described a confusing concept! I admire how you can always say it so well!
Thank you for referring to my post “Words”.
It reinforces one of my own affirmations.
“I am so happy and grateful now that my writing and my words are having a positive influence throughout the world”
Thank you, Aaron!
Karen,
How cool is it whenever you see one of your affirmations taking form out here in the 3-D world? I love when that happens, and I’m glad I was a part of making it happen for you! 🙂
Thanks for writings ‘Words’ – it was part of the inspiration for me to write this post to begin with!
I really appreciated this post. I’ve gotten away from affirmations and such over the last (hectic) month, and this was a good reminder to pick a few and focus on them. I really like the idea of using the affirmation in conjunction with an actual thought or event, rather than always just pulling them out of the blue. One affirmation that has worked really well for me in the past: “I enjoy cleaning and derive immense satisfaction from keeping a tidy home.” Funny, no? Still, it has helped me get over the hump and keep a cleaner house, which was the main goal!
Lorna,
Yes, attaching the affirmation to an actual event really helps to “cement it” in my opinion. I’m sure it will work out well for you, too!
Congratulations on attaining success with the tidy house. Being someone who doesn’t like clutter, I totally see the value in keeping things picked up, and your real-life example shows people that affirmations can be used for anything. That’s great stuff – thanks for sharing!
Love the way you clarified this topic! My favorite affirmation these days is “I’m 30 years old and have my whole life ahead of me.” It has nothing to do with trying to look 15 years younger or slow down my aging process. I use this affirmation whenever I feel that life is getting very short and I’m running out of time, when I feel afraid that soon I’ll be too “old” to learn to paint well or become a great dancer. The minute I say the words, all the pressure melts away and I know I have plenty of time to do all the wonderful things I’m looking forwrd to.
Wow, painting AND dancing? That’s what I’m talking about! Great to use affirmations to keep yourself on track to accomplish so many wonderful things.
It’s funny you should post this comment today because I just got done listening to an audio recording of Bill Harris who was one of the teachers in The Secret. He is the founder of Holosync Technology and The Centerpointe Institute and he had achieved success before he was ever featured in the movie.
What’s funny is that he said he was almost 40 before he even came up with the idea to start Holosync, and now they have over 300,000 customers around the world.
And that’s just the beginning – I’ve heard of people starting careers and getting college degrees in their 80’s and 90’s!
We’ve all got plenty of time!
Hi Aaron,
Just wanted to let you know that this post will be included in the May 3 edition of the Carnival of Deliberate Creation.
Thanks for your wonderful work!
Cardin
Yay – thanks, Cardin!
I’m so happy that this post will be reaching the audience of the Carnival of Deliberate Creation. I’m sure they will get some benefit from it.
I will be traveling that day, so I will thank you in advance for putting the carnival together. I know it is time consuming, and I truly appreciate your efforts!
Hi Aaron
Fantastic post… In the book “The Secret”, it emphasized that for Law Of Attraction to work, it all boils down to the feelings we invoke, be it through affirmation in words, actions, visions and thoughts.
I’m a new blogger and I’m very impressed with your high quality blog content.
I’ve just started practising the LOA and your posts would clarify some points for me and/or reaffirm my understanding.
As I wanted to know more on LOA, I’ve came across a recent 20-page interview with Bob Proctor that talks about this subject and in this report, what strucks a chord in me is his comments that “Most people don’t go after what they really want in life, they go after what they think they can get” – this was quite true in my case until now. 😀
Janice,
Welcome to the site! There is plenty of info on this site about the Law of Attraction, so feel free to digest it all and start making things happen in your life.
Specifically speaking about Bob Proctor, I have been very impressed with his teachings and I highly recommend his book ‘You were Born Rich’. I got a copy for free from The Secret website, and I think it is available in other places as well.
Hi Aaron
Thanks for the information. However, I’ve visited the site few days ago and the free e-books given was Wallace’s “The Science of Getting Rich” and Charles’ “Master Key Systems” and I’ve just started to read Wallace’s book. In his preface, he mentioned that we need to take a leap of faith and believe what he’s written… you can re-visit The Secret website again to download these 2 books..
I would love to get a hold of Bob Proctor’s “You were Born Rich” though… the copy you had, was it an e-book from The Secret Gifts section?… Mayhaps I overlooked it… will have to try again.
Thanks
Janice
Hi, Janice.
It used to be on the site along with ‘The Science of Getting Rich’ and ‘The Master Key System’ but it looks like it has been moved directly to Bob’s site. I found it on this page for free:
https://www.bobproctor.com/coach_bornrichbook.asp
As to ‘The Science of Getting Rich’, I have read it 3 times, and it keeps getting better each time! 🙂
Hi Aaron
Thanks for your direction.. Just visited his site and submit a form and received the soft copy
After submitting the form, a thank you page pop up with a MP3 on Decision. No idea what it’s going to be about but I’m sure looking forward to listening to it..
Thought you’ll be interested to know 😉
Cheers
Janice
I would indeed, Janice, as I’m sure everyone else who reads this will.
I’ve never heard any of Bob’s recordings or read any of his books that were not time well spent.
Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
You’re most welcome, Aaron
In gratitude of your fantastic comments… 😉
Here’s a case of Law of Attraction at work here.. I believe
If we never started on Bob Proctor with me on his interview, and your reply on his book “You Were Born Rich” and so on… neither one of us will end with his MP3 recordings “Decision” 😉
Cheers
Janice
Hi Aaron,
Nice post.
On my blog I have a frequent entry entitled “I’m Thankful for…” I usually write this post when the feeling is very powerful. I do express my gratitiude throughout the day and things happen as well.
I’m glad I came across these comments as well, I found out about another book by Bob Proctor and that I’ll be reading soon too.
Best Wishes,
Dean,
Yes, gratitude is not only a wonderful thing, but it is a never-ending thing as well. Although, I, too, have certain times when I make a concerted effort to express gratitude, I also do it randomly all day every day.
It’s more of a state of mind than anything else, ya know? You’re either grateful for you’re life or you’re not!
Uh-oh…I smell a new blog post coming on… 🙂
Nice post. As are so many other ones on your blog.
Of course, we have to keep in mind that about 95% of our reality is created by the subconscious mind and has little or nothing to do with what we pass through out conscious mind. If the subconscious is full of stories and programming that contradicts out affirmations… well… it’s like pushing a car up a hill. In my experience, along with affirmations one must also cultivate an approach to reality/life where we stalk the truth about our inner reality through the events we are already attracting to ourselves. One is then able to dissolve those aspects of the subconscious that are no longer in alignment with ones attention in the here and now. The magic really starts to happen!!
Be well,
Jonathan
Jonathan,
You’ve hit the nail right on the head – it’s all about feeding the subconscious.
That is why your affirmations have to be inline with what you believe (inside where it counts) is even possible. If you try to affirm for something that your subconscious knows is B.S., you can say it a million times, and it still won’t come true!
Choose things to affirm that actually resonate with you as a person, and you can reprogram your subconscious as a result.
Awesome, awesome, I recently designed a bunch of sexy-awesome motivational posters, and this article was really inspiring for the my description of their power. Thanks so much for sharing and inspiring. Great writing, glad I stumble across this site Dan + Jennifer!