Many a mental health blogger writes about affirmations, which is why I hadn’t. At first, I was resistant to writing about them and adding to the substantial information about affirmations that already exist. However, I reconsidered when I came across the self-affirmation theory. The theory got me so intrigued that I want to write about the theory in the future. Thus, writing about positive affirmations seemed like a good introduction for this later content.
Rumination and Affirmations
A common complaint of people struggling with their mental health, especially depression, is the stream of negative intrusive thoughts. Getting stuck on these negative thoughts is better known as rumination in the therapy and psychological world. We can’t control the instigation of rumination, as its uninternational (Koole, Smeets, van Knippenberg, and Dijksterhuis, 1999).
If it helps, think of rumination as negative affirmations. These negative thoughts that fill our heads are often harmful put downs about ourselves, causing our mental wellbeing to decline further.
Unfortunately, people can often leave therapy where they’re not depressed, but still suffer a low sense of wellbeing. This is where positive psychology can shine. Positive psychology interventions can improve wellbeing and decrease depressive symptoms (Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009). You guessed it, positive affirmations are a part of positive psychology. We can use positive affirmations, which are positive statements about ourselves, to replace the negative messages we’re dealing with (Rana, 2018).
What Are Affirmations?
As I said in the last section, affirmations are complete positive sentences that work like a form of self-hypnosis (Rahayu and Rizki, 2020). They’re inherently positive statements, designed to encourage an optimistic mindset, because positivity done right can be powerful (Rana, 2018). I mentioned doing positivity right, because it is possible for positivity to become toxic. But that is a discussion for another article.
It might seem silly, but positive affirmations can charge our perspective about life and the surrounding environment, making us more positive (Rahayu and Rizki, 2020). The benefits of this can cause our self-esteem to improve, improve our self-confidence, and make us feel better.
In one of my pervious articles about how to handle toxic family members, I talk about using positive affirmations. I talked about it in that article because using the right positive statements can build you up when your family normally brings you down. In that context, using positive affirmations work like a wish, hope, or an ideal you want to reach (Rahayu and Rizki, 2020). So if you keep telling yourself you are strong, and use that as a strength word to live up to, you’ll start getting stronger.
Example Of Positive Affirmations
It’s easy to use positive affirmations. All you need to do is find the right phrase and repeat it to yourself to motivative yourself, to bring about positive changes, and to boost your self-esteem (Rana, 2018). However, you have to remember that just saying this one or twice to yourself won’t help. If you want positive affirmations to work, you have to keep saying it to yourself regularly. In short, make it a routine so it becomes a habit.
To start, look are the areas of your life that you want to change. You can also turn the negative thoughts you into a positive. For example, if your negative intrusive thoughts are telling you you’re “fat and out of shape”, then you could replace this by saying “I’m taking action to become healthier every day”.
Although you might not be taking that action yet, positive affirmations power works in the present. If you put them in the future, you’ll relegate them to something you’ll get around to doing (Complete Developer Podcast). If you want to focus on doing stuff in the future, then that’s what goals and SMART goals are for.
When it comes to positive affirmations, we’re not saying them to get some sort of praise from others. Rather, we’re saying it because we want to become that or we want to deserve that praise by acting accordingly (Rana, 2018).
Examples
- I am a good person.
- I am a caring person.
- I am grateful for the people I have in my life.
- I am successful.
- I am a unique and worthy person.
- I deserve to be happy.
- I can overcome any problem that comes my way.
- I will not compare myself to others.
- I am open to new opportunities.
- I will stop judging myself.
- My life is full of potential.
- I will treat myself with kindness.
- I am a good parent.
- I have the ability to recover from difficulties.
- I am getting healthier every day.
- I can accept what I cannot change.
- I will ignore the negatives and focus on the positives.
- I have value.
- I am capable of making decisions.
- I am a strong person.
Different Ways To Use Affirmations
Positive affirmations can challenge negative thoughts that are often subconscious patterns, replacing them with more adaptive narratives (Rana, 2018). However, you don’t have to be confined to just repeating a phrase to yourself. There are other ways to do this.
Rahayu and Rizki (2020) conducted a study into the effects of positive affirmations on anxiety of giving birth during the second stage of labour. Using 30 pregnant women, they allocated 15 of them to the group receiving positive affirmations on flashcards. The other 15 pregnant women didn’t have any positive affirmations. The study found that there was a significant positive effect of the flashcards on the participants’ anxiety of giving birth. This study brings us to our first alterative method of using positive affirmations.
Flashcards
As with Rahayu and Rizki (2020) study, you just need to write positive statements, phrases, and words on flashcards. Then you can look at them daily to help give yourself a positive mindset. Therefore, it could be best to do this at the start of your day.
Journal
There’s almost nothing journalling can’t fix, at least that’s the way it feels. Take time each day to write your positive affirmations. Doing this can help cement the positive affirmations in your mind, as you’ll be using multiple areas of the brain to do this task.
Sticky notes
Get a pad of sticky notes and write the positive affirmations you want to make real. Then take these sticky notes and stick them in places you’ll see them. That way, you’ll get constant reminders of your positive affirmations.
Lists
Creating lists can be really helpful, like making a to-do list. Accept this time you’ll be making a list of positive affirmations. In much the same way as journalling, this will also help to cement the positive affirmations into your mind. Just remember to repeat making these lists, otherwise they won’t be affective.
Looking in a mirror
This is the classic one you often see in films, whereby a character will look at themselves in the mirror and then repeated their positive affirmation. This is a movie trope for a reason, because it works. So stand in front of a mirror and repeat your positive affirmations, either in your head or aloud.
Summary
Positive affirmations are a favourite of positive psychology and there are plenty of studies that show they work, like Rahayu and Rizki (2020) study. There are many ways you can use positive affirmations, with journalling often being one of the best, as it makes for a great journal prompt. It’s a simple life hack that can help reframe your mind to be more positive.
As much as I’d love to tell you that positive affirmations are guaranteed to change your life, I can’t. Everyone’s different, for some people affirmations will work really well and will change their life. However, for others, it might not do that much. But that’s the same with pretty much everything in mental health. That’s why there’s so many methods, styles, and techniques out there. However, it is a really simple technique, so what’s the harm in trying it?
As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with affirmations in the comments section below as well. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, then sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, get push notifications for new articles by clicking the red bell icon in the bottom right corner.
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References
Koole, S.L., Smeets, K., van Knippenberg, A., & Dijksterhuis, A. (1999). The cessation of rumination through self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(1), 111–125. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1999-05981-008.
Rahayu, E. P., & Rizki, L. K. (2020). The Effect of Positive Affirmations to Anxiety level and 2nd stage of labor length. STRADA Jurnal Ilmiah Kesehatan, 9(2), 900-905. Retrieved from https://repository.unusa.ac.id/6441 and https://repository.unusa.ac.id/6441/1/The%20Effect%20of%20Positive%20Affirmations%20to%20Anxiety%20level%20and%202nd%20stage%20of%20labor%20length.pdf.
Rana, M. (2018). Positive Affirmations and its Benefits on Psychological Well-Being. EDU WORLD(9), 2, 5-11. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ashok-Acharya-2/publication/348805443_EDU_WORLD_VOL_IXNO2/links/60111b89299bf1b33e2904f8/EDU-WORLD-VOL-IX-NO2.pdf#page=20.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467-487. Retrieved from https://sonjalyubomirsky.com/wp-content/themes/sonjalyubomirsky/papers/SL2009.pdf.
Yes I agree that saying things which are positive is useful. You must motivate yourself these days and that is a good method.
Indeed, we really have to be our own cheerleaders. Thanks for commenting
Great literature review. Affirmations seem not to work the same way for everybody and that just shows us how each one of us needs to find what works best for us individually. It’s always good to learn and explore new techniques. Only then we will know what benefits they can bring us.
Thank you. It’s always good to experiment with techniques in order to find what works best for you as an individual
This is a great post. We really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing, and don’t forget to check out our most recent post, which came out today.
Thank you
You’re welcome
Really nice article. I love the stickie notes idea as I think it’s an easy way to remind yourself throughout the day. Affirmations are so powerful and I think can really help to feel like you’re moving forward, especially when it’s hard at the time. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you and thank you for sharing your thoughts
Such a great post! I am currently trying to replace negative chatter with positive self-talk. Mirror work is hard for me. It’s one thing to say it in my head or out loud, but looking myself in the eyes… can be tough. Love the list you shared and added to my list. Thanks for sharing! ✌️
Thank you. I’m not a fan of looking at myself in a mirror, but maybe doing that will be more effective for us
I love that you walk us through the process. When my head is spinning with negative emotions sometimes I don’t even know how to get started with positive affirmations. This is a very helpful post. Thank you for sharing!
I hope this helps you adopt positive affirmations so you can reap the benefits
I’ve never been very good at affirmations on myself. Kinda feel silly in a way. Will keep trying.
I know what you mean, I kind of feel like that too
Motivation can be very elusive these days, so affirmations can be a really useful tool to help bring you back up from a slump. Once accepted, you can do anything! Really good article!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts
This was a great post to read. So I have written about positive affirmations and would use them in my journal, whether that be everyday or weekly. I have found I am noticing more when I am talking negatively usually about myself and I am working to swap it for a more healthier outlook or a more positive affirmation about how I could improve rather than just highlighting all my so-called flaws. I have only ever used positive affirmations in my journal or out loud. But I love the idea of making flash cards or writing them on sticky notes and placing them on regular places in the home like mirrors or the fridge etc. I have a white board, so maybe I could write some on there.
Thank you for sharing this post. I love the examples that you used.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl x
Using your white board to write positive affirmations is a great idea. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
I love affirmations! They’ve definitely been one of the most used tools In my mental health journey! Great post
Thank you for commenting
This has been a great piece to read. Very interesting and helpful. I think positive affirmations are important and journaling things can really take a lot of things off your mind.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts
Good article. Affirmations useful for those who have the patience to focus on them. Personally it didn’t work for me
Thank you. They don’t work for everyone, but they’ll be something else out there that might
Your post resonates with me so well. I actually created an app based upon the premise that positive affirmations based off of positive statements received over time from friends/family can lead to greater well-being for kids. So many kids are subjected to toxicity from their family that they start to believe that narrative.
I’m hoping to change that.
Crystal | http://www.amazingbaby.app
That sounds like an extremely useful app, because it’s easy for a label imposed by a teacher or another adult to become a self-fulling prophecy. I know it did with me
I’ve always thought affirmations sounded silly as well, especially writing them down. Now that I’m home on summer break with both kids I find myself repeating several on a daily basis! I’m a good mom. I love my kids. My kids are a blessing. I am not a pushover. Turns out I’ve been using affirmations for years!
Mum’s really do need to tell themselves they’re good mothers, because it’s really hard work and it’s to think you’re not
We agree that affirmations are really helpful. They’re good for helping us to stop comparing ourselves to others. Just because someone else is successful/happy/thriving, doesn’t mean we can’t be too.
Nothing good ever comes from making comparisons
I enjoyed reading this interesting post that highlights some of the supporting evidence that positive affirmations can, in fact, change lives! I think the most important aspect of affirmations is not giving up on them after a short time; it takes patience and consistency to see results. Thanks for sharing!!
Indeed. It won’t work if you give up after a few days or weeks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
I love positive affirmations. I have a tendency to think negatively, and it can really dampen my mood. Positive affirmations helps rewire my brain and stop the process of self-sabotage This is a very informative and well-written post. I really love the affirmation examples. Thanks!
Thank you. I have a strong tendency towards a negative mind when it comes to me too. I find it much easier to be positive for other people
I’m already looking forward to the follow up articles on this one. Positive affirmations are important and can help, as I have noticed myself. People would see me as a positive person, but I would have a lot of self-doubt and negatives thoughts about myself. My lifestyle didn’t help me neither, as I used to drink a lot. But by giving yourself these positive thoughts, as I like your list of examples, we can change our mindset. Too much isn’t good either, that’s why I can’t wait for your next one to see your views.
Wonderful as always. Thank you
It might be a while until I can fit in the time to thoroughly research this follow up article, but it will get done.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Great article on positive affirmations. I use them myself as well and sometimes it’s a struggle against the negative ones, but as you said; they work if you make them a habit. Making lists helps me feel better about myself knowing I can do the things on them and break them down
It can be a struggle, which is why you have to keep at it to get the changes you want
I love calling them negative affirmations (never heard this before, but beautiful!) Me +my 11 year old daughter often go over affirmations. They’re something that isn’t taught to use early, but would be super helpful growing up. If I would have known as a child I could paint my life with my words, I would have spoken very differently. Great post. I’m glad you took the chance + wrote YOUR piece on affirmations. Never read one like this before.
Thank you very much. Such a beautiful way of putting it, to “paint my life with my words”. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
It’s hard for me to speak Affirmations to myself. I feel so fake when I try to say positive things to myself
I know you’re a religious person, so if saying them to yourself feels fake, how about reworking them so you’re saying them to yourself and god?