Affirmative!

Can we become who we want to be simply by affirming it in words? Why not? Well... maybe. It depends... Do you like my decisiveness?

I'm not going to say that affirmations are the ultimate way to change your life. As a matter of fact, my trainer and mentor told me that we don't have to do affirmations anymore since we can impact our subconscious in a more powerful way using hypnosis. Well, that's good for me and the people I work with (other hypnotists) but what about the rest of the 7 billion people out there?

Having worked with the subconscious for many years, I have figured out how affirmations can not only be effective but as effective as hypnosis in affecting personal change.

First of all, let's explore what an affirmation is. Most people think affirmations are simply words that describe what you are not. "I am wealthy" vs the truth - "I am really a poor schmuck who is always broke." In that respect, yes we are trying to fake the fact that we are not whom we affirm we are. (After all, who would want to affirm that they are a 'poor schmuck." ) In a way, this is fake it till you make it. Don't jump off just yet. I'll explain why and how this works later.

An Affirmation opens the door. It is the beginning point on the path to change.

-Louise Hay

So what is an affirmation? It is a set of words that describe what you want to change to. Affirmations are not goals but words to describe a change in behavior. It is done in a positive manner, not - "I don't eat candy anymore." Don't affirm what you don't want. Affirm what you do want - "I only eat healthy things." Also, describe it as if it is you right now. Not - "I will start exercising regularly." Instead, make it present - "I am exercising regularly.

People have been doing affirmations like this for a very long time and still, it takes a while for them to work, if at all. Here's the secret sauce - Imagery and Emotion. If you just used either one of these, your affirmations would have the chance of being much more successful than without. But, use both imagery/visualization and emotions, and you'll supercharge your affirmations.

So, if your affirmation was, "I eat only healthy things", what would the imagery be? First off, I'd embellish a little. I'd change it to - "I eat only healthy things and enjoy it." Now the imagery or your visualization can be of you eating a fruit or something similar, with a smile on your face as you are enjoying whatever else you might be doing, like having a conversation with your friend. This puts your visualization in an ordinary, everyday scene.

Form that visualization in your mind right now. Perhaps there is other fruit in there and they are brightly colored. Perhaps other things might be as well. Make the colors vivid in your mind. See yourself enjoying the fruit and enjoying your conversation, maybe even laughing. Step into the picture - imagine yourself floating into you and seeing through your own eyes, your friend and the fruit you are eating. Feel how good it feels to do this. Intensify the feeling and all your senses. When it feels great, ask yourself to 'lock-in' this picture. Yes say, "Lock this in!." and hear the sound of a padlock clicking and at the same time, say "I eat only healthy things and enjoy it."

You've just created a scene in your mind of you enjoying something healthy. You have an image and you have a feeling or emotion. When you say this affirmation, bring back the image and feeling. This will start to have an effect on you in a short time. Traditionally they said that affirmations could take 20-30 days to take hold. This will be so much quicker.

So, it really does seem like you are faking it till you make it. Do you know why this approach works? fMRI's show that whether you are doing an activity or thinking of that activity, your brain goes to the same places. So you can create the habit of eating healthy and enjoying (or whatever habit you wish) by actually doing so as much as you can, or affirming it as much as you can - you will also begin does so as well. if you really want this, you'll begin doing so from the start and the affirmation will help you stay on track.

So I want to reaffirm a few things:

1. Affirmations as positive statements
2. Affirmations stated as if it is already happening
3. Create an image with positive emotion, representing the affirmation
4. Say the affirmation while seeing the image and feeling the emotion.

I wish the best for you.

Kevin Martin is an author, speaker, coach, and hypnotherapist. To find out more about Kevin and his coaching services, go to www.poseffects.com or https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kevin-martin-b2b23b1/