Devising Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations sound so simple but they can make such a huge difference in so many areas of your life. The key to this, besides practicing them (see last week’s post), is creating the right kind of positive statements.
I was so dramatically reminded of how powerful these are when I used them during a tennis tournament and saw an immediate jump in the level of my game. So learning from that, I began adding more and more short and concise PA’s to other parts of my life.
Here are my physical and tennis PA’s:
1….I am strong and worthy
2… I am fast and flexible
3… My serve is very powerful
4… My serve hits different spots in the box
5… I have a strong slice backhand
6… I have a strong topspin forehand
7… I have a strong return of serve
8… I have great stamina
Notice that I never say “I don’t” or “I’m not” or anything negative. You don’t want to have images of what you don’t want going through your head. For instance, if you repeated “I will not be nervous at the interviewâ€, you’ll be sending images of your nervous self through your brain over and over. What you want to say is “I am confident and it shows” then you’ll have this image in your mind of yourself in a confident pose, and see others admiring you for it, and so that is the image and attitude you’ll take with you to the interview.
If you like, start by using some of the PA’s I listed that appeal to you. Change them to fit your situation and eventually you will work out your own list. Just remember … keep it concise, simple, and positive. And keep practicing!
Tiny Moments for Powerful Affirmation
Lately I’ve been blogging a bit about the life changing power of directing and controlling the chatterbox inside your head. So now I thought it would be helpful to give some specifics of how I have been practicing this inner-self talk.
For years I’ve had a morning hot tub time routine. I stretch and let the water jets work the kinks out of my lower back and neck, silently counting the number of seconds I hold each position. So a few weeks ago, there I was in my hot tub counting away and suddenly I thought “Hey wait a minute. Why not use this hot tub time to practice my positive affirmations?†(Or my “PA’s” as I like to call them.) So now I repeat “I’m strong and worthy” 50 or 100 times instead of counting seconds. Then I change positions and silently repeat in my head multiple times “I am healthy and happy”.
It’s amazing what this little exercise can do to help you in your daily life and it can be done in odd spare moments. It’s something you can do while waiting in line at the store, on your drive to work, as you shower, etc. Even in the middle of a busy, stressful day you can steal a moment at your desk to do some deep breathing and PAs (and on such days, this will really help!) I do PAs specific to my task all the time now. For instance, when I am playing a tennis match, I run through my physical and tennis PA’s as I play and between points.
Next week, I’ll share even more specific PAs and help you keep a focus on them until they become a habit. If you missed the articles about PAs, see the list at the end of this blog and start practicing this simple but powerful little exercise and see for yourself how it can really improve your life and how you see it!
