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★Some Thoughts About How To Use Affirmation To Get Better Results

You know how sometimes someone can try to explain something to you and you just can’t get what they are saying and then someone else explains it in a different way and it makes sense? Well, I think most of us have a pretty good idea about what makes affirmations work, but I was walking around the block tonight and had some thoughts about why and how we might be able to get better results from affirmations. Okay, so here was kind of what I was thinking.

1. We can only hold one thought in our head at a time. Someone correct me if this is wrong, but I’m pretty sure it is true. We can have a rapid succession of thoughts, but, one at a time. It’s how it works.

2. I read somewhere that we have about 50,000 thoughts a day.

3. I’m pretty sure that we have a ‘stable’ full of thoughts that we pull out regularly. We use them so much that they are automatic, so automatic, in fact, that we aren’t even aware we are having them. I’m sure you already know all of this.

4. If we use an affirmation that our conscious mind is going to reject we could easily fall into a sort of self-defeating loop of statement/rejection of statement. What good is it to say 25,000 times that you are ‘slender, healthy, and happy’, if your conscious mind says ‘no you are not’ 25,000 times.

5. This, to me, emphasizes the importance of spending time on creating affirmations that won’t be rejected. We, I believe, need to create a net surplus of positive affirmations that over time will replace all the negative crap.

6. Are there some ways to create affirmations that are less likely to be rejected. Yes. We already know some of them… positive, personal, present tense. But, I am beginning to think that using the word ‘you’ instead of ‘I’ can help to get around the automatic rejection thing.

Bear with me and see if this makes sense.

Let’s say, for example, that you are using the affirmation “I am slender and healthy”, but your conscious mind knows that it isn’t true. Might it be less likely to be rejected if you were to come up with something that is more realistic and real, and not only that, but, also change the affirmation from “I” to “You”. Might it be even better if we were listening to the affirmation in the background and the affirmation were in someone else’s voice. We might reject a statement that we say to ourselves, but be more willing to accept an ‘opinion’ of some other person. We can’t lie to ourselves about an opinion that we have of ourselves, BUT, we can’t automatically reject someone else’s opinion as being false. Just because “I” don’t really think I am slender and healthy and happy doesn’t necessarily mean that someone else can’t honestly have that opinion, so we can’t automatically reject the statement.

I apologize if I am over-explaining obvious stuff, but I want to be clear and I want to be sure to get these thoughts out there.

I think it would be worth it to try replacing “I” with “You” in our affirmations and see if our results change. If you have someone that will record your affirmations for you, see if that can make a difference for you. You could also try having a program like “Hal” read your affirmations aloud and record them that way.

Anyway, I just wanted to get this out there while it was in my mind even if it isn’t written very well.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
— Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m Alright
Life Less Ordinary

I love your post cookieman as its helped me visualise my thoughts and see why my affirmations keep falling out of my mind.

“ I’m pretty sure that we have a ‘stable’ full of thoughts that we pull out regularly. We use them so much that they are automatic, so automatic, in fact, that we aren’t even aware we are having them. I’m sure you already know all of this.” After i read your words i saw in my mind one of those fun fair rides with horses going up and down and round and round ,they are on long poles you hold on to – thats my thoughts only speeded up to a frantic pace – the same ones whirling round day after day

should we move
where should we move
when should we move
should i swap rooms round here
i need to catch up with bills
i need to clear clutter
i have to find a job
i must eat better
i am not doing creative things
i need to find more friends by going out and meeting people
i hope my daughters o k
what moods my youngest son in ( he gets very low and angry)
is my eldest going to join the marines like he says

these are constant daily horses spinning so when an sffirmation tries to climb on its thrown off because there isnt roomm and because my thoughts are way to fast

if i choose “ i create a peacefull home “ those horses throw their heads back and laugh “ peacufull – this place – you are having a laugh “,and with a swish of their tails ,a laughing neigh they are going even faster

thanks for helping me see the need for a group of dolphins or turtles in my thoughts – something that moves slower,gently and that the affirmations can become a part of .I hope this makes sense as its just come tumbling out ,love flowergirl

In response to themadcookieman’s post:
I think you could be right about using “you” instead of “I” with affirmations.

Whenever Im feeling down, (usually when Ive had an argument with my husband)
critical thoughts come into my head, but its not me saying the words, usually its my father (who passed away 14 years ago) or even my ex boss who is a very critical person. So when Im feeling bad about myself these people are in my mind saying “you are lazy” , “you are not doing things the way you should do”.

Its these thoughts that make me sulky, bad tempered and resentful for a while, so I obviously accept them quickly. Therefore if I use positive affirmations in the same way the positivity will come even quicker.

I could use affirmations like:

“You are a very hardworking person.
“You always do your best.
Im going to try out “you” instead of “I” in my affirmations to see how I get on. :)

enjoy life!

In response to best78’s post:
Hello Best 78,
Happy to see you(: I like the You are and the I am approach..sometimes include both ..to see which one does it for me in the moment(:

Here’s something else that helps me.May or not be something you want to try..though if so..hope it helps(:
Use working definitions first for the words you use in affirmations/statements to yourself….Very helpful!(: Here’s the idea: I find we choose words that ..yes mean something to us..though there are remnants/connotations on ‘our’ words we’ve allowed in from others…

When telling yourself not to waste time..think about each word:

Example: You are telling yourself not to waste your time and your focus for this moment. Define waste for yourself. Define time. Define yourself. And then don’t

  • waste
  • your
  • time.

Of course in affirmations we keep things more positive..like I use my time well. (Or ..You Use Your Time Well(: )…

Another example..is the sentiment love. Before using it in an affirmation or an idea to yourself.. define (the best you can) what it means it to you. If love has some mixed thoughts and feelings that were ‘gifts’ from others that don’t resonate comfortably.. for you..with you….. connotations from those you’ve known who maybe “defined it differently” from you in word or deed…it is that much more important to keep your idea of love fresh. So give your words personalized working definitions before you state your affirmation to yourself.

Much Love

I AM
Peaceful:
Emotions, Sensations ,
& Feelings

In response to Rejuvenated-Reinvented-Free Spirit’s post:
Hi there Laurie. :)

I’ve read and re-read your post to get clear about what you are saying and i believe that what you are saying is that when I am using affirmations like You are a very hardworking person I could think what that means to me personally… My take on what hardwork is, rather than that of others.

I hope I’ve got that right?

Also with my affirmations I’ve experiment with putting my name either before or after the affirmation, eg; Sharon you always do your best or You always do your best Sharon. I’ve found it seems to feel stronger to me if I put my name afterwards, maybe because when I ask my daughter to do something I usually put her name at the end so I guess Im kind of “parenting myself through the affirmation”

enjoy life!

I do that sometimes myself, 78. It seems to give the affirmation a little more energy. Have you ever made a sleep tape? It can affect your dreams. I’ve had dreams in which the people in my dream are saying my affirmations to me and on occasion I will overhear (in my dream) people talking about me and saying the positive things. I have been so lax in doing anything lately though, I feel like a sham giving any advice on anything.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
— Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m Alright
Life Less Ordinary

I’ve never made a sleep tape and I dont know how I could make 1 to go onto to CD that I could listen to with headphones on ( I’ve got a personal CD player) I could’nt listen to it out loud because I would’nt want to disturb my husband. “OO” just had a thought I’ve got earphones for listening to the radio on my phone maybe they would work on playing back the record mode as well. I’ll see if I can find them tomorrow and try it out

enjoy life!

In response to best78’s post:
You understood perfectly. Sorry if I didn’t write it clearly.

In response to best78’s post:
Parenting yourself is a great way to speak about guiding yourself.
And Best 78, being a parent, I’m sure you deliver wonderful messages to your child…If parenting is what spurs your best self talk…..you might have hit a great mind-set for affirmations.

The Best Always!

  • ~
    edit …there was a post to MCM/SRWE Jeff here thanking him-disappeared…

so here it is again…for all of your helpful ideas!!!(:

I AM
Peaceful:
Emotions, Sensations ,
& Feelings

Thank you! Here’s something I’m just gonna throw out there.

If you were to listen to an affirmation 24 hours a day, even if your conscious mind were trying to reject it it wouldn’t be able to because your conscious mind wouldn’t be able to maintain it’s focus on the rejection and eventually the affirmation would work its way in. It would probably be worth it to buy a couple of cheap cd players and put them in the rooms where you spend most of your time. You could record an affirmation and have it playing 24/7 at a low level and I don’t see how you could keep from having it planted deeply in your subconscious mind.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
— Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m Alright
Life Less Ordinary

In response to themadcookieman’s post:
I believe that would be a great idea!

I AM
Peaceful:
Emotions, Sensations ,
& Feelings

In response to best78’s post:
I tried out playing back recorded messages with earphones in and it worked! :).

I’ll start recording properly tomorrow and start playing them friday every night for a month and see how I get on. :)

enjoy life!

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