Welcome to Challenge 3!! If you missed the previous ones, you can check out Challenge 1 and Challenge 2.
Affirmations are thoughts or statements that reflect positive self-talk. Self-talk is the running dialogue that goes on inside of your head. Hopefully, the bulk of what you say is either neutral or positive. Sometimes, self-talk can be negative in nature. Let’s revisit the negative statements used as examples in Challenge 1:
“I’m so stupid.”
“I can never do anything right.”
“Nobody likes me.”
“You are always yelling at me.”
“This is the worst day ever.”
Affirmations take negative thoughts and turn them into positive statements. This is quite different from the strategy used in Challenge 1, which was to remove extreme language and instead saying what one means. Affirmations very specifically change the nature of the thought itself. Take a look at the following examples of negative self-talk that was turned into positive affirmations:
“I’m so stupid.” –> “I am intelligent.”
“I can never do anything right.” –> “I am capable.”
“Nobody likes me.” –> “I am liked by others.” or “My friends enjoy my company.”
“You are always yelling at me.” –> “The negative reactions of others will not bring me down.” or “I rise above this negative behavior.”
“This is the worst day ever.” –> “Tomorrow will be a better day.” or “Better days are coming.”
For Challenge 3, I encourage you to start each day with a positive affirmation. Take a few moments before you go about your daily tasks to choose one affirmation. Slowly say the affirmation three times. Take a few moments to comprehend what the words of the affirmation mean to you.
Under the “Downloads” section of my menu I have included an Affirmations worksheet. This free download includes a list of 30 affirmations to help inspire you to begin your day with positivity.
To get more inspiration and to see how I put affirmations into action, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat (username: cindytgrahamphd or see my Contact page for my snapcode).