Today's Thought

Affirmations without action are just glorified wishful thinking. Affirmations are "mental armor" supporting empowered action, not a substitute for it.

Over the past 15 years, I've written many articles about affirmations - how affirmations work, types of affirmations, ways to use affirmations, etc., etc., etc. Some of those articles are linked to in this article.

However, I've never just written an article on how to write an effective affirmation. Today I had a request from a follower on Twitter to provide a "how to" and decided it was a good time to write that article. Let me begin by saying that there are many gurus out there with many ideas on how to correctly write affirmations. There are also some dogmas around the process. I'm not big on dogmas of any kind. So some of this might be unorthodox. Feel free to use what resonates for you.

Before we begin, let me make a few quick points. Affirmations are a tool to reshape and refocus your thoughts. By themselves, they don't "make" anything happen. However, as you replace negative thoughts with negative vibrations with positive thoughts and positive vibrations, you do begin to attract better things into your life.

Affirmations without action are just wishful thinking. The idea is that as you raise the vibration of your thoughts, you become more inspired to take action to manifest those thoughts as reality in the world. See the thought of the day at the top of the article. I recommend reading my two part series on Affirmations: Repetition and Belief (Part 1 and Part 2) along with using this list to create your affirmations.

Following is 7-step process for creating your own affirmations. This is my way. It has worked for me over the past 30 years. Others might have another way that works for them. This I can tell you. I AM are the two most powerful words in the language. Whatever follows them is you staking your claim to better thoughts and a better life.

Start with a goal - you must have a goal in mind. The clearer the goal, the better the affirmation and the better chance for success. A cloudy goal leads to an unclear affirmation, and poor results.
Affirm what you can believe - affirmations are not a tool for persuading you to believe something you don't believe. They are a tool to help you create and multiply thoughts that support the action necessary to achieve the things you believe you can achieve. However, you can use what I call "aspirational affirmations" to help manifest a distant goal. You just need to be able to believe you can achieve that goal one day.
Use clear language - the language of your affirmation should be clear and powerful for you. It's OK to use phrases and terms that are very personal to you as long as the language resonates and feels empowering when you say it. Be as specific as possible.
Present Tense - in most cases, it is more effective to use the present tense when writing, speaking, or listening to affirmations. In other words, state your affirmation as "I am..." rather than "I will.." or "I should". The lone exception would be those discussed in the Incremental Affirmations article.
First, second, and third person - most affirmation gurus will tell you to always put your affirmations in the first person, such as I am a magnificent dancer, rather than the second person you are a magnificent dancer. I agree that first person is the best if you are only going to choose one. Why stop with first person, though? An affirmation can be very powerful in the second person and using your name. I recommend using all three. I am a great writer. You are a great writer. Ray is a great writer. This holographic language creates a more powerful and holistic affirmation.
Use them, use them, use them - once you have written an empowering affirmation, use it. Like so many other motivational tools, affirmations are created and then cast aside after a day or two. Read them aloud, read them into the mirror, post them places where you can see them throughout your day, record them and listen to them passively or actively over and over until they infuse your mind. The goal for an affirmation is to have it replace the negative or disempowering thoughts and become thoroughly embedded in your thought process so that it becomes the automatic response to your negative thoughts.
Take action - affirmations without action is just. You must think and then act, if you are to achieve.