I hear of so many people using affirmations as the universal remedy for everything that ails them. They wake up in the morning and verbalize their affirmations. They go through their days verbalizing positive statements about situations and their lives. Then, they go to bed saying their affirmations like bed-time prayers.
I tried reciting affirmations for a while, but never quite understood how stating that 'I choose to be rich' would have any effect on my life as long as I sat in front of the television with a bag of chips. The problem was that, I wasn't doing anything to give the affirmations a basis from which to operate. While an affirmation might have made me feel good, it certainly didn't create the situations I needed to reach my goals.
If 'affirmations' are positive messages to my brain, to retrain it, and to the Universe, to let it know where you choose to be, then planned 'actions' provide a basis of reality on which the affirmations would function. This is where I began applying affirm-actions in my life.
--- Positive Words ---
For many years, affirmations have been considered the solution for many of life's issues. Confidence, success, and power have claimed to have been gained through daily affirmations. But, many people with whom I've spoken say that affirmations do absolutely nothing for them. The problem lies in the fact that you must align your life such that the affirmations can ring true.
The core problem with repeating affirmations to ourselves is that, unless our conscious mind feels that the affirmations are true, it will not process the positive statements. Our conscious mind intercepts the information we are receiving, and filters unrealistic messages, or messages that contradict our belief systems, from the subconscious mind.
Have you ever repeated, as we've been taught, sometimes for months and even years on end, the simple sentence, 'I choose to be wealthy'? Even though it might have made you feel good, were you actually wealthy, or did you become wealthy, at any time? For most people, the answer is 'No'.
The reason is that your conscious mind was filtering that message as a lie. The conscious mind takes that information, wretches your 'gut', and echoes back, 'Look around! Wake up!' The good words were not even making it to the subconscious mind where it counts. As long as your conscious mind filters your affirmations as lies, then there is no amount of present tense affirming that can change what 'you are' into what 'you are not.'
--- Mixing Words with Actions ---
To resolve this problem, you have to do two things: make a plan and change the wording of your affirmations. You not only have to have your subconscious mind involved to actively process your desires, but you also have to give your conscious mind a way to accept the 'misconceptions' of the affirmations. Instead of lying to yourself, make a plan and execute actions that support your affirmations. This is where affirm-actions come into play.
You must first make a solid plan that defines your vision, mission, and goals. This plan takes into consideration where you are and how to reach your vision. By making a plan and believing in the plan, you are empowering your conscious and subconscious mind with a weapon to overcome the negative feelings and beliefs that you currently have buried in your mind. This approach will open the channels of communications for your affirmations to make it into your mind.
The second part of the solution is to change the wording of your affirmations. You have to convince your conscious brain to process the misconceptions of the affirmations as truths. Since your conscious brain will filter out lies, you have to word the affirmations in such a way that it will appear as a 'possibility.' For instance, instead of saying 'I choose to be wealthy' or 'I am wealthy,' reword it to say 'I will be wealthy.' This is actually converting the 'lie' into a command to tell your brain where your plan is leading you.
As you can see, an affirm-action is a more assertive form of affirmation. Essentially, you are converting a baseless affirmation to one that is a possibility simply by associating it with an action. The affirmations then become factual, positive statements that 'remind' you of my vision and inform the universe that this is the direction you choose to go.
--- What's next? ---
Positive words alone cannot change a world---your world. But, words combined with action can materialize a future of which, at one time, you could only dream.
The purpose of an affirm-action is not to try to convince yourself that you are something that you are not. It is not there to falsify your future or alter the things of the past. It is a way of using your experiences through an intelligent plan and reminding yourself why you're working so hard along a given path to reach your vision. You are claiming your vision of the future, telling the universe that this is what you want, and going after it.
By combining actions with words, you are initiating a plan to show your conscious mind that you are indeed heading in the direction of your desires. When you begin using your affirmations, in conjunction with the actions, your desires are now making it past your conscious mind into the subconscious mind where it will be of greater use. This is where the soul can get an idea of what you're doing and will help you get there.
About The Author
Edward B. Toupin is a published author, technical writer, web developer, coach, and producer living in "The Entertainment Capital of the World," Las Vegas, NV. One of his primary objectives in his work is to provide information to help others achieve fulfilling lives. Visit his site at http://encouragement.netfirms.com and http://www.toupin.com or contact him at etoupin@toupin.com or lifecoach@toupin.com for more information.