The Power of Positive Affirmations

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about positive affirmations — what they do, whether they work, and how to actually get them to change your life.

Affirmations are very powerful, yet deceptively simple. On the surface, they are nothing more than statements to yourself of something constructive that you believe or want to be true.

Underneath, however, they are a powerful form of magick!

Affirmations are a way to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about us and about life. And when we rewrite our stories, which is to say our beliefs, then life itself is rewritten around us!

Because they are so simple, it's easy to — mistakenly — think affirmations hold little power.

In fact, positive affirmations are incredibly potent, for three reasons . . .

They use the Powers of vibration, attention, intention, imagination, and speech all at once.

Your subconscious mind and all your cells hear everything you think, and then act to make it come true.

Taking responsibility for your mind gives you command of your world.

Assuming, of course, that you use them in the right way.

That’s what this series of articles is about. Let’s start with some background, though...

Transforming Your Self-Talk

What if you were to discover that
half the things you believed to be true were actually false
— but you didn’t know which half?

-- Connie Zweig, Brain/Mind Bulletin, 1984

We use affirmations all the time, unconsciously . . . sometimes to our benefit, but often to our detriment.

Using positive affirmations is taking conscious command of a usually unconscious – and often destructive – process.

You make responsible choices about what stories you'll tell yourself, and what interpretations you'll make.

By doing so, you can transform your life!

As Susan Jeffers says, in Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway . . .

"It is amazing how quickly results materialize when you know what you want and are determined to get it."

Why Positive Affirmations Work

Every one of your cells listens to everything you say and think and feel. Then they respond . . . as if that were actual reality.

Your body is very trusting. It doesn't know what's real, so, like a young child, it believes whatever you tell it.

That's why it's so important to be aware of what you're telling it.

What Do You Perceive?

Regrettably, I need to draw on an overworked simile . . .

Your brain is a lot like a computer. You plug in information constantly, from within yourself as well as from the world around you.

It's estimated that there are billions of bits of information you are exposed to every day, but you take in only a tiny fraction of them.

And the notable part is . . . what you take in isn't at all random. Your brain has been programmed with certain filters.

You literally only see what your filters allow.

What Are The Mental Filters?

Like polarized sunglasses, which let in only light rays that align in a certain direction, mental filters screen out everything that doesn't align with what you "know to be true."

And what you know can have little to do with what you know consciously. Consciously, you may know that you're a good person and worthy of love. Yet subconsciously you may have an old program that quietly fears that it's not true.

And for some reason it's these subconscious programs that rule.

The Mechanics Of Perception

There have been numerous experiments and demonstrations of this basic fact, but it's still hard to really comprehend until you've experienced it for yourself.

Luckily, there are forms of this process that almost everyone has had.

For instance, have you ever tried to find something, and overlooked it even though it was right in front of your face?

This happens to me all the time, when I am expecting to find a green label, say, and it actually has a red tag.

This is the brain's filtration system in action.

Seeing What You Believe

Think about what this means for your reality! It's not "I'll believe it when I see it." The brain really works like this: "I'll see it when I believe it."

I'd love to spend a lot of time on the studies on the mechanics of perception because they're fascinating, but let's take this as read and come back to the power of positive affirmations.

So all this information is filtered without your awareness.

Even your own stories and interpretations generally happen so quickly that you're not aware that they're yours. It seems like "this is just how it is."

Want to know what, deep down, you really believe?

Look at your life. What is working well? Where is it not? Where you experience ease and abundance? Where do you keep running into blocks?

Your life is a perfect representation of what your subconscious believes.

Yikes! What Can I Do About That?

Positive affirmations put the power of manifesting the life you want back into your own hands. Or rather, mind/body.

They give you the power to reprogrammed your subconscious with what you choose to know is true.

You don't need to be run by others' expectations, fears, and desires – whether parents' or society's.

"The truth is you really are in control — in total control.
I know it is difficult to accept the fact that you are the cause of the feelings that take away your joy in life . . . .
On the other hand, this realization is your biggest blessing.
If you know you can create your own misery, it stands to reason that you can also create your own joy."

— Susan Jeffers, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

You can be the person you aspire to be, and live the life that's calling to you. But only when you decide to take command of your most valuable asset . . .

Your own mind.

Positive Affirmations give you a powerful tool to do so.

Details are covered in the article — How To Use Positive Affirmations.

Articles in the Positive Affirmations Series

1 - Power of Positive Affirmations
2 - But Aren't i just lying to myself?
3 - 11 Rules For How To Use Positive Affirmations
4 - How the Universe Hears You
5 - Empower your affirmations
6 - 10 Tips to Enhance Your Affirmations
7 - Free Daily Affirmations for You to Use