How to Use Positive Affirmations to Attract What You Desire

I’ve included a cute free printable to help you create your own affirmation today! Keep reading to know exactly what to write.

Let’s get right to it. I’m assuming that if you clicked on this post, you are interested in finding out how to create positive, lasting change in your life so that you can become the person you’re meant to be. Or maybe you want to earn a little more money or finally get fitter. Whatever it is you want to achieve, positive affirmations can help you with that.

What Are Positive Affirmations?

What are positive affirmations, you ask? They are simply positive statements that affirm/state that something is true. “I am, I do, I have” are a few ways to make a positive, affirming statement.

How do they work?

Think back to your youth or even recent past. Think about the things that you have told yourself over the years; some may be negative, like “I’m not worthy of…”, “I’m not good enough”, “I’m ugly”, “I can’t do _____”. Some of you have probably said those things to yourselves over and over again for years. What happens is that your brain hears that information over and over again and thinks “well I keep hearing this so it must be true!”
So it, your subconscious, adapts its beliefs to accommodate that one. The end result is that you end up unconsciously rewiring your brain to believe these things about yourself, and then carry yourself in day-to-day life as though they were true, because you’ve told your mind that that’s the truth.

Your behavior starts to change, too. You begin behaving in a way that aligns you even more to that negative feeling of being “not worthy or not good enough” or __________________(insert your negative belief here).
Your subconscious is what runs most of your life. This is where all your core beliefs and deep seated thoughts about yourself and others are. So if you repeatedly tell yourself that you are unworthy, your subconscious eventually goes “well I guess it’s true”.

Our subconscious is wired to try to keep us from harm in any way, and sometimes it uses past experiences to confirm that something is in fact going to hurt us. So at some point in your life you must have had a moment or a situation that made you feel you weren’t good enough, and you carried that feeling on and cemented it into your brain so that whenever a situation like that one would arise, it could protect you by making you either a) not try at all, or, b) try but not expect any good to come from it because “I’m not good enough”.

Now, instead of thinking like that, what if you were to use that power for good?

It doesn’t take forever to tap into your subconscious and rewire a few things, but it does take consistency and the will to actually want to do it. This isn’t an overnight magic solution to your problems, it takes work to grow and evolve as a person but if you’re willing to do it, you’ll master it in no time.

At first you may feel some resistance, and it may even feel a bit uncomfortable. It’s like trying to convince someone of something when they already have a very strong opinion about it. At this point you have two choices:

1) revert back to your old habitual thought patterns and limiting beliefs that are holding you back, or
2) keep pushing and see for yourself what a change of mindset/positive affirmations can do for you.

Tips for Effective Affirmations

When you do this, do it with intention. I always say that if you don’t believe in it and are doing it reluctantly, it’s not gonna work for you. Put your intention behind it. When you use affirmations, you make phrases to relate that you already have what you desire, so it’s important to put your mind in a state of having it instead of the desire or longing of it; for example: if you want to make a statement about having more money but as you’re saying your affirmation you’re thinking of the lack of it in your life or of the frustration of not having it, you’re accidentally attracting more of that feeling into your life instead of attracting the money that your affirmation was intended to attract.

Here are some do’s and don’ts to keep in mind while creating your phrase:

DO start your sentence with an affirming statement “I am, I do, I have, I give,” etc.
DON’T start your sentence with a negative like “I don’t, I don’t have, I’m not…”. If you don’t want to be identified as that word, don’t use it in your affirmation.
DO think carefully about what you’re asking for. What is it you truly want? Find the words that best describe what you really want in life. Take some time to meditate on and envision your ideal life and get down to the root of what you really want, then use that to create your statement.
DON’T think negative thoughts while you use your affirmations. That’s like sending your mind/the universe mixed signals. State clearly what you want and feel yourself having it already as you say it out loud or think it.
DO focus on the feeling of having or being.
DON’T focus on the feeling of lack, of want or need or the desire of, or anything other than what you want to manifest.
DO imagine times in your life where you’ve already felt the way you wanted: for example: say you want to get healthier; recall a moment in your life when you felt healthy and hold it in your mind for as long as you can, being thankful for that moment and feeling what it was like to be “healthier”. Then as you keep that thought in your mind, speak your affirmation.
DON’T: if you’re trying to attract more money for example, and as you state your affirmation you think of all the bills you have to pay and the stress of dealing with money, you’re going to keep attracting that stress and frustration.
And lastly, DO WATCH WHAT YOU THINK. Overall. Constantly check your thoughts throughout the day and redirect when necessary.

Here’s the thing. This is really not going to work for you if you only read your affirmation once and continue on as you were with your negative thoughts. It only works if you believe it can and if you work on the things you’re trying to change.
If I say for example “I’m at a healthy weight and I look and feel good about myself”, but then I go and keep eating unhealthy foods and don’t work on actually becoming healthier, it ain’t gonna happen.
The magic happens when you use your affirmation every time you find yourself reverting to that negative thought and replace it with what you are ready to become.

Let’s take the previous affirmation as an example again. Say we want to get healthier and feel good about ourselves (who doesn’t, am I right?) What are some ways we can start shifting our mindset to align with those goals?
Start appreciating the little things your body endures daily to keep you alive. Gratitude is one of the biggest tools to rapidly manifest what you want.
Find a workout you loooove and challenge yourself to do it for a week. Then challenge yourself again, and again. Thank your body for its strength and endurance.
Eat with intention. Ask yourself if the food you eat is going to help you or hinder you in reaching your goal. Then thank your food for the nourishment it provides you and repeat your affirmation in your head while eating.
Start paying attention to your thoughts. If you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, simply shift your thinking to your affirmation. Repeat it to yourself multiple times until you feel the negative thought has passed or until you get distracted and forget you even thought it.
Pay attention to the things that make you feel healthy and good about yourself. Do more of those things.
Create habits that are in alignment to your goal. Maybe start taking your dog on more walks, or start drinking a green juice or smoothie every day.
Drop the guilt! I still work on this one. When we go out somewhere and I eat something unhealthy or when there’s free donuts in the break room at work, I have to remind myself not to eat that with a side of guilt. Don’t feel guilty for treating yourself to that occasional cupcake, it’s not going to kill you. Instead, enjoy it and move on. That negative feeling that’s attached to eating bad food is just as bad for you as the food itself.

Ever since I was young girl, I somehow knew that my thoughts were powerful. A random thought would occasionally pop into my head about “what if a loved one got hurt?” Or “what if I [insert horrific unrealistic scenario that would never happen]?” At that point I would immediately react to it in denial and try to think of something positive to distract me from that awful thought.
I didn’t know why I naturally reacted this way to my own thoughts until I grew older and realized HOW MUCH I HAVE MANIFESTED IN MY LIFE WITH MY THOUGHTS.

Here’s an example:

I manifested curly hair on myself at around 12-13 years old. I had mildly wavy hair at most up until one day I decided that I really wanted beautiful, curly hair because it looked gorgeous on every other curly girl. One summer I went to the beach and came back as a curly girl. I wish I was joking. No, really, that was how I learned to “be careful what you wish for”!

 

Make your thoughts work FOR you instead of against you by using affirmations to start shifting that negative mindset into a positive one and one that will serve to get you closer to your ideal life. You will also start reprogramming your subconscious to work to your advantage.

 While only thinking positively may not change your whole life, it’s the work you put in to create better thinking habits that will. The more you practice affirmations, the more you train your brain to see things more positively. The more you see things more positively, the more positivity you will attract. 

Now tell me, what beliefs and feelings about yourself would you like to change and what affirmations are you going to use to do it?

CHALLENGE:

Create one positive affirmation and use it as often as possible for one week.
Comment your statement below if you’re committed to positive change and download this free printable below to write it out and tape it somewhere you will see it often.

If you have any questions, doubts or comments, please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or shoot me an email. I’m always here to chat!