POSITIVE THINKING CHRONICLES :- CHAPTER TWO

Ch. 02: 
Use Positive Affirmations

Think of a positive affirmation and repeat it frequently. Positive affirmations can create amazing results in your thought process. For instance, if you write that you're always depressed then your affirmation may be, "I'm happy I'm in control." Repeat your affirmations many times a day and feel the power of positive thinking. If you can’t think of an affirmation then listen to cheerful music or sing happy light hearted lyrics.

Creating Affirmations 
All Positive Affirmations are not created equal, as a matter of fact some can even be damaging to changing the habit, paradigm or frame of mind you’re trying to change. For instance, you’re wanting to quit smoking but you use the affirmation "I will not smoke"—by having "not" in your affirmation you may actually be reinforcing your smoking habit as the mind tends to omit the "not" and only see "I will smoke". Additionally the affirmation is in a future tense by having the word "will" in it—so your subconscious interprets that it’s not something you’re wanting to do right now—it’s waiting on the "when" statement. 

Positive Affirmations ought to be expressed in the present tense. 

"I am" or "Right now I" (present tense) should be used instead of "I will" (future tense) as to the subconscious "tomorrow never comes". 

Positive Affirmations can be declared as first person or second person. 

Research has demonstrated that some individuals respond better to "first person" (I) affirmations but other people may react better to "second person" (you) affirmations. I'd suggest using both—why not cover all the bases. If you use first person affirmations you can record using a simple microphone attached to your computer and then convert the WAV file to an MP3 file for your MP3 player or "burn" to a CD. For ―second person‖ you ought to record soul else using the affirmation or use "synthetic voice" software. 

Positive Affirmations ought to be specific.

Émile Coué, a former pioneer in positive affirmations, used his now famous "Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better" affirmation to reportedly help 1000s of individuals with assorted illnesses. But research in the last few years has demonstrated that the more specific the affirmation the more probable it is to create the desired result. ―I'm happy and grateful that I'm at my ideal weight of 115 pounds is better than "I'm happy and thankful that I'm at my ideal weight". I have no doubt however that even Coué’s non-specific affirmation would give you a better total sense of welfare if used consistently. 

Positive Affirmations call for repetition to produce results. 

When it comes to affirmations repetition is king. In order for the subconscious to act it requires hearing or seeing the affirmation repeatedly. Can you envisage what would happen if the subconscious only needed a couple of repetitions to act?—our lives would be bedlam. 

Positive Affirmations are best utilized with emotion. 

Just robotically repeating an affirmation won't create the same results as an affirmation which is blended with emotion. Since we’re all a bit different it might be helpful to look at some of the different emotions you have and see how you may incorporate them with your affirmation. A few examples for a stop smoking affirmation may be; "…and whenever I consider a cigarette I tell myself STOP" (while pounding your fist into the palm of your other hand—I wouldn’t urge this technique if you’re in a meeting and your boss is speaking); before repeating your affirmation you could rip a cigarette apart with a lot of anger. You wouldn’t want or have to do it each time you heard to our repeated the affirmation—that could get expensive. 

Positive Affirmations shouldn't produce any negative side effects. 

Be heedful when producing affirmations that you get only the results you want. Using an affirmation like "I'm determined to lose weight and will do whatever it takes to reach my goal of 180 pounds" may result in your subconscious saying "okay I can take care of that command—I’ll just make you ill—that should help you drop some weight real fast". 

Positive Affirmations ought to be realistic.

It’s great to employ affirmations to help us engulfed even our biggest challenges but our affirmations just like our goals need to be based in reality (even though truth is often what we think it is). For example if you've always had a "poverty mentality" but you use an affirmation that you're richer than Bill Gates I’ll predict you’ll spend a long time waiting for that affirmation to evidence. 

Positive Affirmations ought to be short and sweet. 

Affirmations should be long enough to be particular but not so long that they can’t be easily restated or remembered. 

Positive Affirmations ought to be used consistently. 

Utilizing an affirmation once in a while when you think about it will likely not do anything but make you think that affirmations don’t work—they have to be used consistently. Your subconscious helps you to accomplish the real desires of your heart and would probably not interpret an occasional affirmation as being a true want. I advocate at least 30 days of the same affirmation, or longer if required. 

Positive Affirmations are best utilized along with visualization. 

The more ways you impress onto your subconscious your wants the greater the odds of success. Writing or typing your affirmation onto a card that you can carry with you and read at any opportunity will further help your affirmation to manifest. For a few affirmations you can use a photo as a visual affirmation—like an old photo when you were at the weight you now want to be—or possibly your head pasted onto someone else’s body. There’s likewise some great visualization software available online. 

Positive Affirmations need execution to work. 

Positive Affirmations without execution‖ is probably not going to manifest. Positive affirmations tho' a very powerful tool are not like your own personal genie—most things you would like to change will call for a little action—like telling yourself to STOP when you’re about to do something not in coalition with what you say your goal is. Even the easy action of reading your affirmation card at every chance can produce astonishing results. 

Positive Affirmations work best when used with a feel of gratitude. 

Saying an affirmation with a sense of gratitude does a few things; firstly it opens your heart up to receive—if you don’t have a sense of gratitude you’re not in a receptive frame of mind, and 2nd, it’s affirming that you already possess the thing you’re affirming—which becomes the truth as soon as you accept it.