Okay, so you have chosen, created, or received an affirmation that you’re going to use to shift your mindset to a more positive and productive one. Now what? The words alone aren’t enough to change your life. You have to use them.
Believe it or not, this is where most people get stuck. It’s kind of like making a New Year’s Resolution without a plan for how you’re going to achieve it. SO let’s break it down and go through the steps that you can take to create your own affirmation practice.
- Repetition with Intention
One approach to embracing your affirmation is to repeat it aloud several times a day. for example, you might wake up and repeat your affirmation ten times. It’s not enough to say the words aloud. They become just words when this happens.
Instead, you want to pay close attention to what you’re saying and how it makes you feel along with how you want it to make you feel. Are they aligned? Imagine yourself standing at your bathroom sink. Your affirmation is stuck to the mirror on a sticky note. You brush and read the affirmation as you brush. You read it ten times and you’re good, right? Not exactly.
First, you’re doing two things at once. You’re brushing your teeth and reading your affirmation. The words aren’t permeating your subconscious. They’re just words that you’re repeating. You might as well be saying, “I love peppermint toothpaste” instead of your affirmation.
So if you’re going to use the repetition process, make sure that you’re able to clear your mind and focus on the affirmation. Take a deep cleansing breath before you repeat the affirmation. Allow your whole body to feel the words.
You create the practice. Choose a frequency and method that works for you. You might repeat the affirmation every hour on the hour with a deep cleansing breath. You might repeat it five times in the morning and five times at night.
Don’t stress over the creation of your practice, follow your instincts. Often the first idea that you think of is the best one for you. If not, you’ll know after the first few sessions and you’ll fix it. Relax. Enjoy. Trust.
- Write it Down
I’m a writer. You’re a writer. We write. Often information connects with your brain in a much different way when you write than when you speak. If you have a journaling practice or a “Morning Pages” practice, then this is also the perfect time to write down your affirmation. But don’t just write it once.
Write it a few times and explore how it makes you feel when you write it. Just like with the repetition with intention process, when you write it down you want to create a practice that feels right for you. You could write your affirmation every hour on the hour with a deep breath. You could write it five times in the morning and five times at night. Whatever feels right for you.
- Print It Out
Sometimes when an affirmation is huge, really and truly important and empowering, I’ll print it out. Using the largest font that will fit on a piece of paper, I’ll place the affirmation on a piece of paper and hang it above my computer.
Then, before I sit down to write, I’ll read it and spend a few minutes repeating it aloud, to myself, and thinking about the phrase -truly embracing it. For example, I often dread the process of finishing my manuscript. I love to start them, and hate to say goodbye so I procrastinate at the end.
This is the perfect time for me to use an affirmation that supports me to complete the manuscript. However, when I’m finished, that affirmation goes to the garbage can. It has served its purpose and its time to move onto other positive and life affirming statements.
Finally, it’s important to note that you can create a practice that embraces all three of these approaches. You can repeat the affirmation, writ it down, and print it out. The point to remember is that just like your affirmation is unique and personal to you, so too should your affirmation proactive be unique and personal to you.
Trust your instincts, take the time to really reflect on the words and make them part of your internal language. That’s when an affirmation can really change your life.
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Ready to kick your creative fears to the curb? Ready to banish doubt, writer’s block, and confidence issues? 365 Affirmations for Romance Writers is designed to help you overcome any mindset challenge you’re facing so you can sit down at the blank page with clarity and confidence.