Turning Dreams into Intention: The Power of Daily Affirmations
“I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And, dog-gone-it, people like me!”
Back in the early 1990s, Stuart Smalley was a popular character on Saturday Night Live featuring his version of daily affirmations as he tried hard to boost his own self-confidence. Despite to comical failures of poor Stuart who could never seem to catch a break, there is actually science behind the power of daily affirmations.
An affirmation is a practice of telling yourself something you would like to realize about yourself, your goals, or your environment. Remez Sasson, author of Affirmations: Words with Power to Get What You Want explains that “the words composing the affirmation automatically and involuntarily bring up related mental images into the mind, which inspire, energize and motivate.” This happens because affirmations automatically trigger the Reticular Activating System in our brain to start working on finding a solution, creating an answer, or realizing a visualized end.
The Reticular Activating System or RAS is basically a bundle of neurons at the base of your brain just above your spinal cord. They are responsible for all of your senses (except smell), and basically serves as a filter between your subconscious and your conscious mind. The RAS makes sure that your conscious mind is not overloaded with too much information and decides which information you already have needs to be used for whatever you are doing or thinking.
This is why affirmations are so powerful. Think about these two statements:
“I wish I was more outgoing.”
“I have an outgoing personality.”
The first statement seems positive. You are wishing you could improve some part of yourself. But, the hopeful tone of the sentiment still leaves room for doubt and your brain will fill that in by validating the ways in which you are not outgoing. However, by using the positive affirmation statement “I have an outgoing personality,” your brain will start to look for information in which this statement can be supported with historical data, even if it’s as small as that time in third grade when you went out of your way to talk to the new kid in school.
Even phrasing the question, “What if I was more outgoing?” can help to start you on the path to making a positive change. By using “What If” or “How to” statements, your RAS triggers your mind to start working on a solution. Questions starting with who, what, when, and where (NOT why) give your brain a command and impact our perceptions prompting your brain to find an answer to your question.
If you’re still stuck on what to say or how to move forward with creating a system of positive daily affirmations, give me a call. Sometimes, we can get in our own way through an energy misalignment of blockage. I can help you identify where this is coming from to clear that path so your daily affirmations will have a more profound impact on the goals you have set for yourself.
Sources:
https://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/affirmations/affirmations-how-to-define-them/
https://extension.umn.edu/two-you-video-series/ras
