How would you rate your self-esteem? What do you think of yourself? Are you happy with who you are and your life?

Do you know that you can change who you are simply by willing yourself to do so? Do you know that you can change how others view you as well?

Positive affirmations are simply defined as positive thinking. We all recognize the power of the mind though some of us believe in it more than others. Some of us don't recognize that the power to improve is within ourselves and merely takes some positive thinking.

Positive affirmations however, take positive thinking a step beyond what we consciously believe of ourselves. Positive affirmations are repetitive statements we make to ourselves like a mental exercise to "massage" our mind into accepting them as truths.

 

If you keep telling yourself that you are happy and you love yourself, eventually, your conscious mind will convince your subconscious mind to accept this. Sort of like brain-washing yourself.

 

Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. If you keep thinking of yourself as a failure, your subconscious mind will eventually believe you cannot achieve the things you want in life and you will not be as successful as you can be.

 

Positive affirmations are also a two-way street. Obviously if someone repeatedly tells you that you are beautiful or talented in some way, you will not only begin to believe it but to feel it as you gain confidence in who you are or what you do.

We experience and encourage this in class all the time. Women supporting, encouraging and cheering each other on - those who have experienced it know the thrill of not only doing a new pole trick, but the slightly embarrassed yet exciting feeling when the room cheers approval over your accomplishment.

 

Imagine this: you're in a room full of women, about to take your first attempt at spinning on the pole. Nervous and feeling award, you step into your spin and immediately feel it was a disaster. Your feet were twisted wrong. You barely moved around the pole and hardly got off the ground.

However, as you finish your spin, the other women in the room are all cheering and shouting out what a great job you did! You find it hard to believe, a bit embarrassed, but you smile and try again.

 

This may be hard to buy for some people so now imagine the opposite, You execute what you think is the perfect spin on your first try. You finish and there is dead silence in the room. Everyone is just sitting there watching, with no expressions or comments. You sit down after you finish and all is quiet. Most likely, several thoughts are passing through your mind. "Did I look foolish?" "Was my spin uncoordinated?" "What did I do wrong?"

 

If you can understand the second scenario, then surely you can believe in the first one. Even if the first time your spin was less than perfect, your next spin will be better as you are no longer held back by feeling unsure of yourself and will keep trying your move again and again, with more enthusiasm, until it feels perfect.

 

What others around us can provide in positive affirmations works the same as what we tell ourselves. It's important that we recognize the negative thoughts we have and consciously learn to avoid them. Correct your negative thoughts when you do have them by countering it with a positive affirmation.

 

Additionally, take as many opportunities as you can to give positive affirmations to others around you. What you give will come back to you and make you feel good about yourself as you see the response of others when you tell them something that makes them feel good. It's a two-way street and you can't lose. Doing something good for someone else always makes us feel better about ourselves.

 

Next, choose what you want to accomplish - whether it's a physical or a psychological goal - and find a simple, short way to state it to yourself several times a day. Avoid words like "can't" "won't" "don't" when describing yourself. Even the word "try" can subconsciously lead us to failure. For example we never say "I tried to diet and lost 10 pounds" We usually associate the word try with something we were not successful at.

Google the term "positive affirmation" and see what sorts of resources are out there. You can find numerous ways to use affirmations effectively. The first step is to allow yourself to believe that your mind has the ability to lead you to accomplish what you want. Imagine what you wish to become or accomplish as often as you can - believe that you have the power AND the right to accomplish it...and you will succeed!

 

Dream - Believe - Do!