The trouble with traditional affirmations There's been extensive research on affirmations and how much of an impact they can have on our mental health.
The results are always significant.
At least I'm impressed.
But some kinds of positive affirmations don't have the kind of impact that we might think.
Studies have found that saying positive affirmations in the present tense can actually have a detrimental effect on people with low self-esteem.
Here's why.
Positive affirmations aren't just wishful thinking,
As a lot of skeptics have suggested.
Just saying positive statements,
I have healthy eating habits,
Without truly feeling or believing them,
Can backfire on you.
Josh Steinl,
A highly successful author,
Speaker,
And entrepreneur,
Has a whole list of reasons why present tense affirmations like this might not work for people.
And he points out that the effectiveness of an affirmation has a lot to do with sincerity.
The problem with affirming something about yourself is that you're committing yourself to action.
And you may not really want to do what you're committing to do.
And so you may feel that affirmation is insincere,
Josh explains.
Instead,
He suggests tricking yourself.
The interesting thing about sincerity is that you can trick yourself into it by wanting to want what you think you want.
Using a statement like,
I want to have healthier eating habits,
Is a better way of affirming yourself in the situation.
This is a sincere,
Authentic,
From your core statement.
You might not have great eating habits right now,
But you truly want to eat healthier.
Affirmations are about your internal power.
They represent a kind of self-mastery.
Affirmations bring about a keen awareness of your true core values.
As social psychologist and Harvard lecturer,
Amy Cuddy,
Says in her bestseller,
Presence,
This is about your unfiltered self.
Presence is being the person you are in the best moments of your life.
I firmly believe that the biggest problem we all have is getting in our own way,
Especially when it comes to just being in the present moment.
My friends and colleagues can confirm what I've said time and time again,
That I spend much of my life in my head.
I've spent so much time up there in my head that I don't always allow myself to trust what I'm feeling in my gut or what I know to be true deep down in my heart.
After all,
Logical thinking is much more highly regarded in our society than emotions.
That logical,
Rational thinking,
While motivating me to be successful in business,
Caused me grief and pain in my personal life.
It wasn't until I started to trust the emotions I was feeling,
Along with a healthy dose of logic,
That I was able to help myself and reconnect with what I truly value and know to be true.
Affirmations are the path towards living out those values,
And these are values that you already know in your core,
And your most powerful affirmations are already within you.
Perhaps just not the way you think.
Exercise.
Before you race to the next chapter,
Get out your notebook and pen.
Take a few minutes to write down the answers to these questions.
What quality about you is most unique?
Why do people want you in their lives?
What quality do others consider to be your strongest asset?
What quality makes you feel really alive and wonderful when you express it?
What quality is most evident when you are being the most powerful?
