How to Write Positive Affirmations to Achieve your Goals

Your mind is a powerful thing. Setting clear goals and intentions and reflecting on them often can help you manifest what you’d like to achieve. However, to achieve these goals, it is important to reflect upon them often; they should be top of mind every single day. When you remind yourself of these goals through affirmations every single day, you ensure that you are moving towards these goals every single day by keeping them front of mind. Plus you get inspired by tapping into that awesome feeling of empowerment and self-belief that affirmations can create. As you start projecting this energy into the world, showing the confidence in yourself that you are ready to achieve these goals, shifts will start to happen. 

Affirmations are clear, positive statements that describe your goals as already achieved. Once you fill your mind with positive thoughts, your life will start to change. When you are ready to achieve success and you project that energy into the world while taking specific and appropriate actions to achieve your goals, the success you seek often comes to you. No, it’s not necessarily as simple as believing and affirming your goals that will make them come to life, but it is an important step in manifesting your intentions.

How to Write Stellar Positive Affirmations

• Choose one negative thought you have about yourself and write down the positive opposite that counteracts that belief. For example, you may often think, “I make so many mistakes.” In this case, you would write an affirmation like, “I am capable and experienced.” Adopt a positive tone of voice. If you tell yourself you are discarding negative behavior and thoughts, your focus will be on those rather than on what you want to do and be. Don’t include words like “don’t,” “won’t,” “am not,” “can’t,” “not,” “doesn’t,” or “am stopping.” Instead of “I’m eliminating my miserable thoughts,” create an affirmation such as, “I’m happy being who I am.”
• Make your affirmations short so they’re easier for you to remember. Even statements as short as four or five words can be powerful.
• Start your affirmations with “I” or “My.” Because you’re making a statement about yourself, it’s most effective if it starts with you. “I choose to be positive” is much better than “Positive thoughts are coming into my mind.”
• Don’t begin your affirmations with “I want” or “I need.” You don’t want to affirm that you’re wanting and needing. Rather, write your affirmations as an expression of being grateful for already having and being what you want.
• Write your affirmations in the present tense. Write as though you’re experiencing what you desire right now, not in the future. Even if it’s something you wish to accomplish in the future, come up with a way to put it in the present. For example, “I easily see my own worth and value” is better than “I will easily see my own worth and value.” It’s also better not to put a time frame on your affirmation, such as a certain date or “within three months,” because doing so limits your time to make it happen.
• Add emotion to your affirmations by inserting, “I am [emotion] about . . .” or “I feel [emotion].” For example, you could say, “I am excited about being able to express what I think.”
• Create affirmations that are believable. If you don’t believe your statement, you’ll take timid actions and be hesitant. If you write an affirmation that is truly difficult for you to believe, write another one that starts with, “I am open to . . .” or “I am willing to believe I could . . . .” Make them believable. If you want to write an affirmation about abundance (money!), saying “I am a billionaire” only makes your brain think “uh, no you’re not, idiot.”  This is called cognitive dissonance, and reduces the effectiveness of your affirmations.  Instead, affirm something that you can do daily to get to your goals, like “I work every day to bring value to others, and I am paid appropriately for that value.” or  “I am a careful steward of my finances, and my wealth is steadily amassing.”
• Ensure they accurately reflect your priorities. If what you really want to achieve is a better relationship, don’t write your affirmations about being competent at work or getting to the gym each day.  It’s OK to have well-rounded affirmations that touch many areas of your life, but be sure they are important to you.
• Really feel them. The words need to resonate with you and only you. Your goal is to light yourself up every day, inspire yourself to take action, and center yourself around what is truly important.  So ensure that the words you choose do that.

Some people prefer to create new affirmations each day, but I like to create a set of affirmations that really resonate with me and repeat these daily until I feel they are no longer serving me. Let your affirmations become a critical part of your morning routine and read them each day intentionally. You can read them to yourself in your head, or amplify the effect by saying them out loud.  Do what is comfortable for you.