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I Don’t Like Affirmations — But These 7 Actually Work
My favorite: “So what?!”
I used to think that positive affirmations were nonsense. I’m not alone. Most of my friends truly can’t stand them. It just reminds you of the corny self-help audiotapes from the 80s and 90s.
And many of those corny affirmations are still around. The other day, I stumbled upon a picture of a sunset with this on it: “I radiate beauty, charm, and grace.” That stuff doesn’t resonate with me.
But the idea behind affirmations actually does work. There’s even science behind it. The problem is that they have a bad rep. You just have to do it in a way that doesn’t make you cringe.
So if you’re skeptical about affirmations, this article is for you. I’ll show you how I actually use this age-old strategy to improve my life.
Affirmations are validations of your core values
Scholars define self-affirmation as a process of thinking or writing about one’s core values (Falk et al, 2015). Affirmations are positive statements that overcome negative thoughts by affirming your self-integrity.
Self-affirmations are NOT about praising yourself or telling yourself lies. It’s also a bad strategy for people who are temporarily low on self-esteem or are depressed. In those cases, false affirmations only make you feel worse.
Genuine self-affirmations serve as a reminder of what you deeply believe in, what you want to do, and what you have to do to get what you want.
Positive affirmations that work
The key to positive affirmations is this: Don’t lie to yourself. That’s all! Telling yourself things you don’t believe doesn’t help. For example, “I’m the greatest person in the world.” We can tell that to ourselves a million times, but it won’t change a thing unless we truly live by it.
Here’s a list of positive affirmations that have worked for me. Feel free to use them as inspiration. I recommend creating your own affirmations, or picking a few that are a match with your values.
