Whether you choose to write your affirmations or repeat them out loud, they work. If they are not working for you, it simply means that you are doing something wrong.
And in this article, I’m going to share with you 5 simple rules how to make your affirmations work for you.
Affirmation is one of the most effective and powerful tools available for anyone to leverage and apply to gain more energy, motivation, and success in getting what they want.
But what exactly is affirmation?
If you look it up on dictionary, affirmation means a process or action of affirming something, or it can also means emotional support or encouragement.
To put it simple, affirmation is like a self-talk where you affirm your thoughts so that you feel inspired to achieve what you want in life.
For instance, whenever you’re feeling down or when you have no motivation, repeating the phrase, “I’m destined for big success and I’m running a 7-figure business”, will boost your motivation up.
First, you’re changing your thoughts, and second, you’re re-focusing on what matters.
When people are down, they tend to focus on negative thoughts such as they ask themselves, “Why does this has to happen to me?”
And that creates a negative spiral that continues to pull you deeper into the negative emotions.
Instead, you can use affirmations to change your thoughts and focus. This is how affirmations can improve your motivation and help you focus on your goals.
Here are a couple of examples on how ordinary people used different forms of affirmations to achieve extraordinary success…
Ruben Gonzalez, the award-winning speaker, a best-selling author and an Olympian, who was also featured in Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles, is someone who has successfully leveraged on affirmations to build his career in the luge sports.
Below is an excerpt from The Success Principles’ book…
When 20-year-old Ruben Gonzalez showed up at the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, he had in his pocket the business card of a Houston businessman who believed in his Olympic dream.
Ruben was there to learn the sport of luge, a sport that 9 out of 10 aspirants give up after the first season. Almost everyone breaks more than one bone before mastering this 90-mile-per-hour race against time in an enclosed mile-long downhill track of concrete and ice. But Ruben had a dream, passion, a commitment not to quit, and the support of his friend, Craig, back in Houston.
When Ruben got back to his room after the first day of training, he called up Craig.
“Craig this is nuts! My side hurts. I think I broke my foot. That’s it. I am going back to soccer!”
Craig interrupted him. “Ruben, get in front of a mirror!”
“What?”
“I said, ‘Get in front of a mirror!”
Ruben got up, stretched the phone cord, and stood in front of a full-length mirror.
“Now repeat after me: No matter how bad it is, and how bad it gets, I’m going to make it!”
Ruben felt like an idiot staring at himself in the mirror, so in the most wimpy, wishy-washy way possible, he said, “No matter how bad it is, and how bad it gets, I’m going to make it!”
“C’mon! Say it right. You’re Mr. Olympic Man! That’s all you ever talk about! Are you going to do it or not?”
Ruben started getting serious. “No matter how bad it is, and how bad it gets, I’m going to make it!”
“Again!”
“No matter how bad it is, and how bad it gets, I’m going to make it!”
And again and again and again.
About the fifth time Ruben said it, he thought, “Hey, this feels kind of good. I’m standing a little bit straighter. By the tenth time he said it, he jumped up in the air and shouted, “I don’t care what happens. I’m going to make it. I can break both legs. Bones heal. I’ll come back and I will make it. I will be an Olympian!”
After that, Ruben leveraged on his success and his courage to write a book, The Courage To Succeed. It has become an international best-selling book and he then started his career as a motivational speaker.
By the way, before you continue, I want to let you know that The Success Principles is on my list of top 10 success books. You should get the book:
Can you see that? That’s how Ruben Gonzalez used the power of positive affirmations to get his drive up and became an Olympian.
If this story doesn’t inspire you or prove to you that affirmation is powerful, check out this next one…
Dean Graziosi, one of the most electrifying success trainers, also experienced the power of affirmations and he talked about it in his book, Millionaire Success Habits.
In the book, Dean refers to affirmations as a power phrase. Which make affirmations sound better and more powerful.
Here’s what Dean wrote in his book…
I started saying to myself, “If I can get through this, I can get through anything. If I can get through this, I can get through anything. If I can get through this, I can get through anything!”
I said it repeatedly. I said it out loud as I would walk around the house or around the office. I said it walking to the gym in the morning and when I was on the treadmill. I said it louder and louder and with more conviction until my soul felt it.
This simple little phrase empowered my life like I could have never imagined. It energized my cells, it got me into a state of mind where I felt I could handle anything. I stopped thinking about what could go wrong and focused on what could go right. It allowed me to kick the old villain to the curb when he was trying to move back into my life. No way was I letting that happen with my new power phrase! I felt the inner hero take over my soul!
I started using other power phrases to empower my life from that moment on and have never stopped! It’s funny that Tony (Anthony Robbins) gave me this gift 15 years ago in one of his courses.
At the time, I wrote in my journal: “Some day, I will thank Tony in person and he and I will do business together.” So now, fast-forward 15 years, and I’m backstage getting ready to inspire 15,000 energized and amazing Chinese people in Shanghai. And guess who I was there with? Yes, Tony Robbins, who is now one of my dearest friends.
By now, do you started to see how affirmations can impact and change your life?
This is not the end of Dean Graziosi’s story, it continues…
I was getting ready to follow Tony on stage and about 10 minutes before I was scheduled to go on I got incredibly nervous. I started to question myself and my abilities. I became anxious about letting Tony down, as well as the other 15,000 people who were there.
But guess what I used to turn this situation around? Nothing more than what Tony taught me 15 years earlier through his course. I started walking around backstage repeating a power phrase that I had used a few times before when I had to speak in public.
I was literally walking around saying it over and over and with more intensity each time: “I command my subconscious to use my God-given, unique ability to impact, empower, and transform the lives of the people who are here today!” I repeated it until my confidence grew, the fear subsided, and then the inner hero kicked in and I got goosebumps up and down my arms and my face from the amazing experience. Then Tony said my name and called me onto the stage. After Tony gave me a huge bear hug, I was ready to light up that crowd. And that’s exactly what I did!
Are you feeling excited now that you want to create your own power phrases and affirmations that will boost your confidence, get motivated, and achieve outstanding success in life?
Hold your horses.
Before we jump to the 5 simple rules of how you can make affirmations effective, I want to share another person’s transformation story about how affirmation has changed his life…
I first heard about Scott Adams’ work through one of the YouTube videos from Vishen Lakhiani.
Vishen mentioned how Scott Adams was someone who did not believe in affirmations and Law of Attraction, but somehow, he got to experience the power of it and started to test out affirmations on his own.
And what Vishen said was true. Scott Adams did try out affirmation and it worked for him, to an amazing level.
What Scott did was that he wrote down his affirmations for 15 times every day. He writes, “I, Scott Adams, will be a famous cartoonist”, for 15 times each day. He mentioned this in one of his blog post:
I’ve often written about my own experiences with affirmations, the practice of writing your goals 15 times a day. It seems to work much of the time, at least in my experience, but presumably not because of any magic. At least one probable explanation for its perceived effectiveness is that focusing on goals changes the person who is doing the focusing.
And it worked out great for Scott Adams. He is now a famous cartoonist, a successful speaker, and also a New York Times best-selling author.
You have seen how affirmations changed the lives of Ruben Gonzalez, Dean Graziosi, and Scott Adams.
Do you believe that affirmations work now?
The problem is that most people try it, but fail. Why is that?
The short answer: They got it wrong. So, here are the 5 simple rules you need to follow to make affirmations work for you, to materialize your dreams, and to motivate you to achieve your goals…
Listen, affirmation works just like setting goals. If it doesn’t work for you, it is because you’re approaching it the wrong way. You’re doing it wrong.
Therefore, if you have been practicing affirmation but are not getting any significant results, check your way of doing.
More importantly, do you follow these 5 rules?
As I mentioned above, affirmation is like setting a goal and it is not something that you do for once and then stop doing.
Affirmation is a skill. And that means, in order to master it, you need to practice and do it every day.
Hence, it is all about repetition. As the saying goes, “Repetition is the mother of all skills.”
Scott Adams wrote his affirmations for 15 times a day, Dean Graziosi and Ruben Gonzalez repeated their affirmations verbally until they get the feeling.
They are repeating their affirmations and doing it over and over until they get it.
The problem with most people is that they only do it for 3 days, or a week, and then when they don’t see any results, they decided to give up and doing it.
Success isn’t coming to you overnight. You need to maintain your motivation and take action consistently. It is a marathon, not a sprint.
Therefore, you have to do affirmation for the long-term. You should do it on a consistent basis until you get it.
You don’t just shout or say to yourself, “I’m destined for big success,” and then hope that the motivation will come.
No, you repeat it until you feel the emotion. You do it until the motivation comes.
Like how Dean Graziosi did it. He repeated his power phrase until he felt his drive.
The second rule you must follow is that you have to practice affirmation with feelings and emotion.
You need to feel the power within.
Don’t just do it for the sake of doing it. You must feel the emotion and the energy that swells within you.
For example, when you repeat the phrase saying that you’re successful, don’t just say it with words, feel that you’re successful.
In order for your affirmations to work, you must associate feelings with them. The stronger the feeling, the better the results.
If you read the book, The Secret, or any Law of Attraction related book, you will understand that it is the feelings that will attract the results you want.
When you say out loud that you are going to be financially free or stay healthy, feel it. Feel as if you are already successfully living your dreams.
The saying, “Fake it until you make it” is real. Successful people are successful because they acted and think that way from the beginning.
When you first do your affirmations, you may feel a bit awkward because you’re at a lower energy level. But you have to press on.
Keep repeating your affirmations and feel the energy. After a few times, you really will feel the difference.
This is where most people get it wrong. Let me ask you a question, will you buy a lottery ticket if you are 100% sure that you are not going to win?
No, you won’t. Why? Simple, because you don’t believe that you are lucky enough to win the lottery.
Now, what if you believe that you stand a chance to win? Are you going to buy a ticket? Well, of course, you will.
The same goes for affirmations. When you believe in what you say, your actions will show.
Most people say that they want to be successful, but their action shows otherwise. You can tell by the way they act.
They say that they want to build a successful online business, but all they do is checking updates on Facebook and wasting time in front of their TV.
Their actions show that they don’t believe in their affirmations. Never let this happens to you.
You must believe in yourself, and your goals.
What you want and what you do must be congruent. If you want to lose weight, you can’t do the opposite like eating junk foods and not exercising.
Here’s an example, if your desire is to buy your dream car, what should you do? Check out reviews on YouTube. Find out the price and specs from the brand’s website. Better yet, make an appointment and go for a test drive.
Most people don’t do that. Because deep down, they doubt themselves. They don’t believe that their goal of driving their dream car is possible.
The first step is you have to say that you can.
Will Smith
When you truly believe in something, you will do it. Your action will show.
Science has proved that our body movement will affect our emotions. Motion creates emotion.
And this is where a lot of people don’t get it when it comes to affirmations. When you practice affirmations, you must also put in some form of motions.
For example, as you repeat your affirmation, you can clench your fist to feel the power. You need to change your physiology and physical body movement to match your affirmations.
Don’t do your affirmations in a boring way, make it lively with motions. You can jump, you can do a fist pump or you can also shout “Yes!”
Whatever you do, you must put in actions into your affirmations.
Look at how successful athletes do the pep-talk or when they score a point? They celebrate. They feel excited. They shout. They jump into the air and they pump their fist.
This is what you need to do too. Include actions into your affirmations.
Read: 13 Ways How to Celebrate Small Victories and Make Progress
Finally, you have to commit to it. A lot of people are not committed to their goals and affirmations. They treat it with the attitude, “It’s okay if I don’t get it.”
If this is how you approach your affirmations, goals, dreams, success, and life, you will never achieve them.
You have to be determined to do it. Just like how you treated your goals. Most people don’t write down their goals because they’re not committed and they don’t really determined to their goals.
Do you know that studies have proven that when you write down your goals, your chances of achieving them will increase a lot?
Yet, most people still don’t write down their goals. It just shows their level of commitment.
The same goes with affirmations. You want to do it with commitment and determination.
Better yet, transform it into your habit. Try to practice your affirmations at the same time and same place each day.
Read: 7 Motivational Habits That Drive Highly Successful People
The best time to do your affirmation is in the morning before you start your day. You can jump-start your morning with energy and motivation through affirmations.
Plus, when you condition your mind with the right thoughts and focus, your entire day will be more productive.
I know that some of you may ask if there are any examples of affirmations you can use or model. And therefore, I included 10 examples of affirmation for you below:
“I am a money magnet. Money flows to me from both expected and unexpected sources.”
“I am destined to be successful. I live my dreams and achieve all my goals.”
“I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy.”
“I have unlimited potential to achieve outstanding success in life.”
“I am effectively communicating my needs and desires to my loving partner.”
“I release my non-supportive money experiences from the past and create a new and rich future.”
“I think big! I choose to help thousands and thousands of people!”
“I trust myself in making great decisions.”
“I am vibrant and have lots of energy!”
“I am perfectly healthy in mind, body and spirit.”
If you need more samples for affirmations you can copy and model after, check this guide below:
77 Positive Affirmations to Start the Day
The most effective affirmations are the affirmations that you created by yourself and for yourself. When you create your own affirmation, you are adding a personal touch to it.
So create your own positive affirmations today and practice them every day.
Now you know why most people fail at affirmations and how you can make them work for you. Just follow and apply these 5 rules above.
Transform your affirmations into something that will inspire you into taking action and make you feel driven. And when that happens, miracles will start to occur.
So, do you practice daily affirmations?
Let me know in the comment section. And if you like this post, remember to share it.
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View Comments
thank you, Shawn. I knew affirmations work, just not how. You have made it so that I now understand what I was missing. So thank you and the best in your future endeavors. Look forward to many more good things from you. You have a gift of explaining that is simple yet inspiring.
Mardie
Hi Mardie, great to hear that you benefitted from this article. Yea, affirmations can be power to boost our energy and motivation. It helps remind us what we want in life and move us in the right direction. :)