Writing Affirmations

Writing affirmations is a personal and powerful exercise. Begin by choosing an intention that you would like to manifest in your life. Think about how the result will feel. That is your target feeling. The goal of writing affirmations is to write a statement that generates your target feeling. There are 6 keys to write effective affirmations:

1. Keep it in Present Tense

Write affirmations in the present tense. Affirmations get their energy by producing feelings. It is this energy which extends outward to create change. Your results will match the feeling you get when saying your affirmations. Hence, if your affirmation is the future–tense, “One day I will…,” the feeling you are generating is hope. Your result will be hope for a better future, not your target feeling. If your affirmation is in the present tense, “I am now…,” the feeling you will generate is gratitude, joy, relief, etc… Your result will be a shift in your reality which re-creates the feeling you initially felt.


2. Use Your Voice

Make sure you write affirmations in your speaking style. We all talk to ourselves all day long. We each have a certain tone that we use to address our individual self. It is this voice that we trust and believe in; it has created our reality thus far. We are not easily fooled. If you write affirmations to be anything but authentically you, you will not feel the affirmation and dismiss the message.

For me the affirmation: “I am united in my knowingness that I am a whole and radiantly beautiful person.” is too wordy and flowery for my self-talk. It would just not be believed. I need something more down to earth.

Write from your heart and your authentic voice will revel itself.


3. Short and Sweet

The goal with change is to feel your target feeling as often as possible. By writing affirmations to be short and easy to remember, you increase the likelihood that you will use them frequently. The more frequent you say your affirmations; the more often you feel your target feeling.

I remember a time that my belief in lack and scarcity was so strong that I didn’t want to pay $6 for lunch. I could easily afford it, but spending any money brought up strong feelings of fear. To counteract this belief and those feelings, I would say: “Money comes easily, frequently and abundantly!” (A slightly adapted affirmation by Loral Langemeier from The Secret). I was saying it so frequently I would automatically say it anytime I went to spend money. Not only did my financial situation change, slowly but surely, my beliefs around money also shifted.


4. Make it Believable

Affirmations must be believable. If you find that an affirmation makes you feel uncomfortable, as if you’re being lied to, add “I am willing to…” or “I choose to…” or "I have the potential to" at the beginning. This takes the statement a step back to match your current level of belief.


5. Be Literal

Write affirmations to be very literal. Years ago I met a woman who had a very enlightening experience with affirmations. She had watched the movie Grease and fell in love with the line: “One of my diamonds fell in the macaroni.” stated by Dianah Manoff’s character, Marty. She would say the line over and over again always laughing and feeling joy. One day she was making a large batch of macaroni salad for a school picnic, and, you guessed it, she lost her diamond ring in the macaroni salad while mixing it by hand. Yes, affirmations are powerful. Make sure you truly desire what you are affirming.


6. Keep it Positive

Always keep your affirmations positive. It is not that we do not know the meaning of negative words or contradictions. Negative words evoke a very different feeling from positive words. When writing affirmations, be completely focused on your target feeling. Writing with a negative slant focuses on your current situation that you would like to change rather than focus on your desired outcome. For instance:

• Intention: Lose Weight

• Affirmation (with negative wording): I am not fat!
  • The focus is on fat which creates a negative feeling.

• Positive Affirmation: I am slim!
  • The focus is on slim which creates a positive feeling.

Even though both affirmations point to the end result of weight loss, they create different imagery & feelings.

Writing affirmations brings a tremendous amount of clarity and focus to what you truly want. Take your time and really hone your affirmations to immediately shift your feelings.

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