Affirmations (af-ur-MAY-shuns)

An affirmation is a positive statement, usually stated in one sentence. For example: “I get A’s on my tests.”

Affirmations can be made for any part of your life. Here are a few examples:

• If you want to stop fighting with your brother say, “I get along with my brother.”

• If you don’t like to study your homework say, “I enjoy doing my homework,” “I like to study,” or “I am a great student.”

• If you don’t have friends say, “I make friends easily.”

Are you getting the idea? Now there is a special way to make the affirmations work.

1. They must be positive. Avoid the words “no, don’t, can’t and won’t”. For example this would not work: “My brother and I won’t fight.” When you say fight it puts the idea of fighting in your brain. And if you said, “I won’t flunk math,” your brain picks up on flunk math. Instead say, “I understand math,” or “I am good at math.” Short affirmations are best. Make them simple and easy to remember.

2. You must feel what you say is true. The best way to do that is to close your eyes and see yourself doing the thing you want. If you want to get along with your brother, imagine that you and he are laughing, having fun together. You might even imagine that you give each other a hug. Feel how good it feels to be having fun with him. While you imagine that say, “I get along with my brother” a few times. Or even “I love my brother and my brother loves me.”
   What if you want to get good grades in math? Close your eyes and imagine you are taking a math test. See yourself sitting at your desk; see the pencil in your hand and the paper on your desk. See yourself easily answering every math problem. Feel how great it is to know all the answers. Now see the teacher handing you back your test paper with a big red A+ on the top of the page! WOW! You did it! Don’t you feel super? Now say “I get good grades in math,” or “math is easy for me” several times.

3. It is best to do your affirmations and visualizations (imaginings) in a quiet place. Good places are when you are alone in your bedroom or in the bathroom. But here’s the neat part. You can do a quick and quiet affirmation anywhere. Like at school right before a test, or right before you play sports. A really good time to do affirmations is right before bed. That way your brain will be working on your affirmations while you are sleeping.

4. Say your affirmations a lot! Repeat them at least 2 times a day everyday for at least a month. So you don’t forget, write your affirmations on paper or an index card and put it where you will see it everyday, maybe by your bed. That way you will see and say your affirmations at the start of the day and right before going to bed.

If you are wondering how affirmations work, it is because our brains don’t know the difference between what really happens and what we imagine vividly. The key is to imagine it so clearly that you feel like it is really happening. Just so you know, some people call this the power of positive thinking or creative visualization. I’ve been using affirmations and visualizations for 30 years and they have always worked for me!