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…