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Affirmations Work

Affirmations work.  Every word you say is an affirmation but most people consider affirmations to be positive statements that are repeated every day to bring about change in their lives.  An example of an affirmation may be any of the following:

  • “Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.”
  • “I am my ideal weight of………….”
  • “Money comes to me easily.”
  • “Everyone treats me with respect.”

If you formulate an affirmation and repeat it daily it should happen, shouldn’t it?  It will if that is all you say and leave it at that.  Unfortunately a positive affirmation is often followed by a tail-ender, helpfully supplied by something I call the Gremlin.

The Gremlin is just a word I use to describe the little voice of dissent that often comes from over your shoulder and disagrees with what you just affirmed.  Another name for the Gremlin is the ego and it thinks it knows everything.  What it’s really doing however is trying to keep you safe.  It’s seen you disappointed before so it will tell you not to believe in this ‘pie in the sky’ idea in case you get disappointed.

If your ego has anything to do with your affirmations things will go something like this.

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “No you’re not, don’t kid yourself.”

You:           “I’m getting slimmer every day.”

Your Ego:  “Oh yeah, and what about that chocolate biscuit you ate earlier.”

As you can see, the real affirmation, or the last place you focused was not on success but on the lack of it.  The voice of the Gremlin is an inner voice but as far as the subconscious mind is concerned it is still an instruction.  If this is going on constantly it’s no wonder some people say that affirmations don’t work.

There are several ways to get around this problem and I list them here.

  1. Make the affirmation and then follow it by, “Even though I have no idea how this will happen, I only know it will.”
  2. Make a new choice.  When the ego/gremlin disagrees simply thank it for its advice.  Say, “Thanks for that but I choose to believe that I am a perfect size 10.”
  3. Write the affirmation down followed by the wisdom of the Gremlin, followed by the affirmation, followed by the Gremlins wise words (not) and keep on going till the Gremlin gets fed up or runs out of things to say.  This follows the rules of being assertive where we don’t argue with anyone, we simply keep on repeating what we want.

This may go something like this:

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “No you’re not, don’t kid yourself.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “More like a 14 you mean.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “No you’re not, don’t kid yourself.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “You ate the biscuits.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “Just because you say you are doesn’t mean it’s true.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “No you’re not, not yet anyway.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “No you’re not.”

You:           “I’m a perfect size 10.”

Your Ego:  “Oh alright have it your way.”

Of course it may take a while longer for your ego to give up but give up it will if you keep on insisting.

Christine Wesson

Tel: 01243 841498 /  07747 865982

Email:

Website: https://www.makingpositivechanges.co.uk