How to Re-Program Your Mind Using Affirmations

Talk yourself into success and start consciously creating your life

We have all heard of affirmations: positive statements you repeat to yourself over and over. Their aim is to override old subconscious programming and change negative thought patterns and beliefs; in doing this, you set yourself free to do and achieve what you want, be it improving your health, career, relationships, finances or preparing yourself for any specific situation that requires stretching out of your comfort zone.

While it may sound good in theory, many people struggle to make affirmations work.

This is due to lack of specificity and knowledge of how to create affirmations that work personally for them in their specific situations.

Why affirmations may not work:

• You don’t fully believe in your goal or what you are saying to yourself.

• You’re using negative or future-oriented language in your affirmations, which is confusing to the mind which only operates in the present.  

• You are not aware of or paying attention to your mind’s objections.

• There is a subconscious block that is powerfully resisting the changes you desire.

• You don’t take the action that is needed to move forward.

To make affirmations work successfully, you need to first discover what thought patterns and objections you have. Thought patterns are based on past negative experiences that you hold in your mind. These are stored in your subconscious, which always affects your behavior, thoughts, feelings, and actions in different situations.

If you struggle in some area of life and feel that you can’t do what you want to do, then there are some learned limiting beliefs and subconscious blocks that keep you stuck in your situation. Luckily, we can release these self-limiting beliefs and blocks, and creating personal affirmations is one of the ways you can.

A Simple Exercise to Create Your Affirmations

Here's one simple exercise you can do to help reveal your limiting beliefs and create affirmations that work for you:

• Write your desire or goal down: what is it that you want to achieve?

• Get quiet and turn inward to listen.

• Ask yourself: why is it not possible?

• Write out all the objections your mind comes up with.

• Keep going until there aren't any objections coming up.

• When you have emptied your mind of objections, go through the statements and shift the sentences to positive.

• Use clear, authoritative, positive commands in the present tense: I feel, I can, I have, I am…

For example, say you want to elevate your career to the next level and find your dream job, but struggle with the habit of procrastination. You have all kinds of excuses as to why you don’t do the things you need to do (e.g., update your resume, make connections, etc.). For some reason, you keep yourself from following through with your plans.

To quit the habit of procrastination to find your dream job, you want to discover the self-limiting beliefs and emotional reasons behind the procrastination, and writing down the objections will show you these. You may think for instance, “What I want does not exist,” “It’s too risky to change jobs now,” “I’m not educated enough,” etc. All these self-limiting beliefs are raising inner fears: fear of the unknown, fear of success, or fear of failure.

When the subconscious objections come to the surface, you will often realize they are not true, and that already helps to release them. To empower your mind and believe new thoughts, create positive statements, such as: “I’m open for new possibilities,’” “It’s my time now,” “I have everything I need for my dream job.”     

Used consistently, affirmations will help you reprogram your mind and change your habits, which will change your reality.

How to use your affirmations:

• Repeat the affirmations consistently and daily, and write them down. It takes about 21 days to change any habit.

• Use your imagination to visualize and meditate on what you’re affirming — feel like you would if you already had what you’re affirming.

• Keep your affirmations where you can see them every day (phone, journal, Post-Its) so your mind has a better chance of accepting your new truth.

• Motivate and encourage yourself by remembering your desire and its purpose, the reason behind the reason—why it’s so important for you!

Affirmations are an incredibly powerful way to increase self-belief, courage and help you expand your life. Knowing what you want is the first step to having it—and simply convincing your mind that you can have it will help you change your habits and make it your reality.

If you enjoyed this post, you will love my weekly emails. They are weekly digest of the best human performance habits for self-mastery, personal, spiritual and professional growth, and real life stories around the web. Sign up here!

With love and gratitude,
Jenni

How to reach that peak (your goals and dreams)

Climbing to a big mountain cannot be done in one day. It requires practice, good planning and excellent physical shape. Not forgetting the team and all the equipment. It requires the right kind of mindset, courage, motivation and faith it would be possible.

After all the planning has been done, the first phase of the actual climbing can be begun. You need to stop to get used to the thin air and wait until you are ready to proceed again. If it doesn’t feel right and the weather conditions are too dangerous, you have to postpone or call off the trip, as you don’t want to threat your life. 

Reaching out the peak requires patience and good nerves. Ability to listen and follow your instincts. It raises fears and requires stepping out from the comfort zone along the way.

Despite the danger people want to do it. Because it’s fun, exciting and it's possible to exceed the limits, make a dream true and experience something new and mind-blowing. And what’s makes the most of the trip, is the overall excursion - the peak maybe the goal but it wouldn’t be perfect without the preparations and landing. And it certainly leads to somewhere new.  

Not everyone want to climb the mountains. We all have different dreams and desires, skills and specialities. Even though there would be tons of people doing the same thing, you have your own individual gifts and lot of to give. So don’t waste your time - you are needed. Here I list the things you need in order reach the peaks that are important for you. 

But before you continue reading, stop to think for a moment:

What are you dreaming of? What would make you happy now? Write down the first thing that came to your mind. 

In order to make any kind of goals real you need to follow the same formula than the mountain climber:

• Choose a dream or goal you want to achieve. It can be big or small.

• Meditate and visualize it with tiniest details - see yourself at a goal and feel it in your bones. Feel how happy you are in that place. Even though it would feel crazy right now, trust in that small voice in your head. Own your dream. 

• Create ideas what you need to do, learn or know to start to make it happen. Create a lot of ideas, more than you can (creative ideas come after the obvious ideas, so keep going).

• Split it all to small tasks - make a list.

• Schedule, plan and prioritize the tasks. 

• Follow the plan, start from the easiest tasks to grow your courage on your new path.

• Along the way motivate yourself by going back to the original intuitive feeling of what you will achieve when you get to your goal. 

• When you are facing doubts or challenges, stop to see and feel deeply if it does feel right. Go back to original gut feeling if it does. 

• If it doesn’t feel right, change the course but remember our ego like to raise fears and resistance as it don’t like the changes. The fear can guide you to the right direction, so be willing to look what is causing your fears.

• Don’t rush or push to make it happen. Be patient and trust, you have set your intentions. Have faith, you’ll get there.

• You can cut inspiring images to remind you of you big dream and activate your subconscious mind.

• Create positive affirmations to keep your mindset open and positive.

• Even though your goal is in the future, concentrate on the small steps and tasks you created. It is the is what makes the most of it.

Creating the life you want requires your efforts. Sometimes we stray to think happy things are achieved by luck.  Sometimes we wonder why the neighbor seems to get it all.

This is your life, do what you love and do it often (The Holstee manifesto has been my great inspiration). 

Sometimes when people get what they have silently wished for they say, "Oh, I got so lucky." Then something goes wrong and ego whispers, “It was too good to be true.”

It is common that people are afraid of happiness. It can feel safer to keep the dreams unreachable. Because what happens after we reach what we truly desire? Well, more happiness.

It is possible to create more and more of positive cycles. Challenges and obstacles are meant to guide you, grow you and give you the right direction. You get what you give and what you want in all ways - you are the creator of your own life. 

I would love to know your thoughts or questions! What is preventing you or how did you make your dream true? Leave your comment below. 

And there's something new coming up! Exclusive visualization workshops will kick-start at the end of this month.

SIGN UP here for my newsletter and be first to know and learn more of how to manifest and attract right kind of things in your life. 

With love, Jenni