Who Are You? Do You Know?
Insights on Affirmations
True Blessings Consultant Firm
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011
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Chapter 1: Basic Concepts Regarding Affirmations
Chapter 1
Basic Concepts Regarding Affirmations
What are Affirmations?
From Free Yourself From Fears With NLP states, “Affirmations are clear, short statements of something you want to happen. They should be written down and repeated regularly. You say what you want to be true.”
From The First 30 days, the author explains, “Affirmations are word patterns, sentences, and phrases that replace the negative things we say to ourselves. The act of stating something in the positive and then repeating it triggers the brain to think differently about something.”
From the Positive Mindset Website and The Jacksonville Law of Attraction Meetup, shares, "Every thought you think every word you say is an affirmation. All of our self-talk or inner dialogue is a stream of affirmations. We are continually affirming subconsciously with our words and thoughts and this flow of affirmations are creating our life experience in every moment.
Our beliefs are just learned thought patterns that we have developed since childhood, many of these work well for us, but others may now be working against us, they are dysfunctional and may be sabotaging us from achieving what we believe we want.
You can use "Positive Affirmations", which are usually short positive statements targeted at a specific subconscious set of beliefs, to challenge and undermine negative beliefs and to replace them with positive self-nurturing beliefs. The way these statements are constructed is extremely important.
The more determined you are to make your changes, the more you are prepared to accept change and let go of the past, the better they will work for you."
The Importance of Affirmations
Developing a positive mindset is one of the most powerful life strategies there is. Using positive thinking techniques, visualizations, vision boards, positive music, surrounding yourself with positive people and positive affirmations, makes it possible to achieve whatever you want/need/desire.
It can/will transform your life, your health, give you a competitive edge as well as renew the joy and passion for life. You will wake up with a spring in your step, renewed excitement and energy to take on any challenges that the day will bring.
From Develop your Assertiveness shares, "Statements like ‘I’ll be hopeless’ can easily become self-fulfilling prophecy. Such thoughts should be replaced by positive assertions. Don’t hope a situation/issue/problem will be OK; know that you will manage it well.
Negative self-talk leads to self-doubt and low self-esteem, yet most of us indulge in a lot of negative inner dialogue – you know the sort of thing:
Thinks…
‘I’ve always been useless with anything mechanical.’
‘I’ll never get that finished on time.’
‘If he does that again I’ll explode!’
‘She must think I’m so stupid.’
‘I can’t cope.’
‘Perhaps I just don’t have what it takes.’
‘I wish Adam wasn’t going to be there. He always makes me feel so inferior.’
Does this kind of thinking make you happy? Does it increase your confidence? Does it increase your effectiveness? Of course not. Miserable thoughts drain you of energy and power.
Because the level of assertiveness you are able to generate depends largely on your state of mind – your self-esteem and confidence – it is important to recognize this negative internal chattering and replace it with positive self-talk. Remember the truism of self-fulfilling prophecy. We create our own reality, so it’s far better if that reality can be optimistic and positive."
The author of Develop your Assertiveness notes, “Sadly it is far easier to be negative than positive in our thinking, and one study even suggests that the average adult engages in negative self-talk for as much as 80 percent of the time! Learning to change a negative into a positive mental attitude will take time and constant practice because a lot of our self-doubt stems from early conditioning and we have probably been telling ourselves – and reinforcing – the same negative messages for years. However, you can retrain your brain to think positively."
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Anonymous
Chapter 2
I AM
God created the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. By praying the scriptures aloud, you are speaking God's will for your life into existence. Hearing the Word is what causes your faith to rise, not just reading it. There is power in the spoken Word.
I am…
Justified (Rom. 5:1)
Sanctified (I Cor. 7:14)
Forgiven (Col. 1:13, 14)
A Son of God (Rom. 8:14)
A child of God (Rom. 8:16)
A new creature
(II Cor. 5:17)
An imitator of Jesus
(Eph. 5:1)
Healed by His Stripes
(I Pet. 2:24)
The light of the World (Matt. 5:14)
More than a conqueror (Rom. 8:37)
Above and not beneath (Deut. 28: 13)
Led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14)
Not moved by what I see (II Cor 4:16)
Daily overcoming the devil (I John 4:4)
Kept in safety wherever I go (PS. 91:11)
A laborer together with God (I Cor. 3:9)
Casting all my cares on Jesus (I Pet. 5:7)
Partake of His Divine Nature (II Pet 1:4)
Saved by Grace through Faith (Eph. 2:8)
An inheritor of eternal life (I John 5:11, 12)
Blessed coming in and going out (Deut. 28:6)
Blessed with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3)
Walking by Faith and not by sight (II Cor 5:7)
Getting all my needs met by Jesus (Philip. 4:19)
Heir to the blessings of Abraham (Gal. 3:13, 14)
Redeemed from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13)
Casting down vain imaginations (II Cor. 10:4, 5)
Saved and so is my entire household (Acts 16:31)
Delivered from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13)
The righteousness of God in Christ (II Cor. 5:21)
Redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Ps.107:2)
Bringing every thought into captivity (II Cor. 10:5)
Establishing God’s Word here on earth (Matt. 16:19)
Being transformed by a renewed mind (Rom. 12:1, 2)
Exercising my authority over the enemy (Luke 10:19)
An heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus (Rom. 8:17)
Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might
(Eph. 6:10)
Observing and doing the Lord’s commandments (Deut. 28:12)
Doing all things through Christ who strengths me (Philip. 4:13)
An overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and word of my testimony (Rev. 12:11)
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With the help of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I shall live by these truths of God’s Holy Word
From The First 30 days, the author explains, “When you change the way you think, you tap into your inner voice and become an award-winning film director. You control the movies in your mind. You can make them bright, dark, negative, lonely, or uplifting. Remember, you see these films over and over again, so they can have a huge impact on what shows up in your life."
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Plan of Actions to implement other Affirmations
From The First 30 days, “Write an affirmation about an area of your life that you want to change, like your career or your health. This phrase will become your mantra—something that will trigger your body and mind to start believing.
Write it down in visible places and start saying it as you make breakfast, when you are driving, or while you are taking a shower. Believe that it is true.”
Other Tips
From Free Yourself From Fears With NLP, “Do not phrase any affirmation as if it has actually happened and do not give yourself a deadline. Write down your affirmations on good-quality paper in your best writing and repeat them several times a day. This is a way of demonstrating to yourself that you take them seriously. Some people even put them on the wall where they are always visible.”
From The Jacksonville Law of Attraction Meetup,
"Begin with the words “I am,” which are very powerful. Your subconscious brain takes those words as a command to begin working on whatever follows those two words.
Keep it in the present. You want your subconscious mind to see your goal as existing. If you phrase it in the future tense, you’re training your subconscious to keep you in a state of waiting for something to come.
Keep it positive. To create an effective affirmation, state what you want. Your subconscious mind thinks in pictures, so you want to avoid thinking about what you don’t want. For example, if you state that you are no longer sick, you probably still get a picture in your mind of you being sick. Rephrase it to say what you want instead. If you want to be healthy, say so. Try something like “I am healthy and energetic. My body is in perfect working order.”
Keep it short. Just because it’s easier to remember that way.
Be specific. It’s hard for your brain to work on making something real if the goal is fuzzy. It’s also hard for you to measure how far you’ve come in achieving your goal if you’re not specific about what you desire. Specifying 175 in your weight goal, for example, is better than simply saying you want to be slimmer.
Put emotion into it. What would it feel like to achieve your goal? Come up with one or two key emotions and include those in your affirmation. If you look again at the weight example above, you’ll notice it included the feelings energetic and alive. If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what it would feel like, just use the words happy and grateful. Example: “I am so happy and grateful now that I’ve reached my goal of weighing 175.”
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References:
Bishop, Sue. Develop your Assertiveness. Kogan Page, 2010.
De Bonvoisin, Ariane. The First 30 Days Your Guide to Making Any Change Easier. HarperCollins, 2008.
Johnson, Valarie. The Jacksonville Law of Attraction Meetup: www.meetup.com/jax-loa
O’connor, Joseph. Free Yourself From Fears With NLP: Overcoming Anxiety and Living Without Worry. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2005.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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For information or to contact the author, write to:
True Blessings Consultant Firm
P.O. Box 2145
Lancaster, CA 93536