If you aren’t sure what affirmations are or you’ve never heard of them, you’ve been missing out and you’re in for a real treat. 

Affirmations are generally positive statements that you can either say aloud or simply in your head. These can form the basis for your motivation and can assist you in overcoming any limiting beliefs or negative thoughts.

Our society is filled with negativity. 90% of what’s in the news is bad, people are constantly complaining about their shitty boss or how tired they always are and social media has rewired our brains to believe that our lives are terrible because they aren’t the same as some random Instagram influencer on the other side of the world. Somehow, in amongst all of this negative garbage, you need to find some way to change the information your mind receives. 

 

Your Subconscious Feeds Off Your Conscious and Your Subconscious Creates Reality

It is not a well kept secret that your perspective of the world is a manifestation of all the information your brain consciously comprehends. However it is lesser known that it is the subconscious part of the brain that has the ability to manifest itself into the real world, both literally and physically. 

Nearly every successful person you know has had to deal with negativity at some point in their lives and they equally have to find ways to create a more positive mindset to filter through all that negativity. They also understand that they can use their own imagination to create the reality in which they want to live, only to find that time after time, their imagination became the reality. 

Before Conor McGregor fought Jose Aldo in UFC 194 (the fight in which he knocked out Aldo 13 seconds into the fight), he was practicing in the changing rooms beforehand. He is caught on camera taking a step back before delivering a left hook diagonally down. Not long after, this is the exact same manner in which Jose Aldo hit the floor, leaving Conor as the new featherweight champion.

When speaking with Tony Robbins, McGregor openly admits that he uses affirmations in combination with visualisation when he says “you can almost visually create your entire world, no…not almost, you actually can”. 

Even rapper Post Malone admits to using affirmations when he states “If you wanna achieve something or if you wanna do something, you have to speak it into existence”.

It doesn’t stop there, Drake when interviewed claimed that “I also feel that things that I repetitively think about or say, I’m able to manifest”. If you want a more scientific based convincing on the effectiveness of affirmations, click here and we’ll be baffled if you need any more persuasion. 

But we’re not here to just convince you, we hoped that by clicking on this link, you’d be able to figure out HOW to more effectively implement affirmations into your life so that you can set yourself up for success. 

 

The When

We know what you’re already thinking. This is meant to be a 'how to' article, so why does this matter? Who cares when I say these positive things to myself?

We’ll tell you who cares, YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS. 

While we also acknowledge that you can tell yourself affirmations at any point in the day and they can still have an effect, but we’d be stupid not to tell you that certain times are better than others. The best time will always be when…

You’re in the alpha brain wave state. Bear with us, it's simpler than you think.

Your mind has 5 different brain wave levels in increasing frequency: delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma. Lower frequencies occur when you are in more restful and relaxing states, like sleep. Higher frequencies occur when you are in a more hyperactive state such as when you are in an exam or some form of high intensity problem solving environment. 

The alpha state is known to be the gateway state to the subconscious mind, with information consumed in this brain wave state having a larger impact on your subconscious processes and wiring. 

The alpha state can be entered primarily through two ways: waking up and meditating. 

When you wake up in the morning, you know how sometimes you just feel like you’re not ready for lots of thinking just yet, like you need a warm up for the rest of the day. This is prime time for affirmations, as your subconscious mind is far more receptive to the information you receive during this period of time.

Meditation too allows the brain waves to decrease in frequency, out of the beta state of everyday life and into the alpha state of “relaxed learning”. This is why we mentioned in Step 6 of Why You Need To Meditate and How To Do It Effectively that you should find some time to implement affirmations into your meditation routine, as the affirmations will be further implanted within the subconscious mind. 

We suggest this optimal strategy. Affirmations as soon as you wake up (stay away from that damn phone too) and then meditation before you go to sleep in which you repeat your affirmations. Meditating and affirming before bed will also enable you to get into the “sleepy” state easier, assisting in your sleep quality, whilst also allowing your subconscious mind to be stimulated before you go to sleep, since your dreams are also a product of your subconscious mind. 

 

The What

While we do have a relatively comprehensive list of our own favourite affirmations here, we think it is important that every individual should be able to know what their affirmations should consist of. 

They must always be in First Person, consisting of words such as ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘my’. This creates the personal connection towards what is being said and the person the affirmation must apply to. 

You must also ensure that the affirmation is always said in the Present Tense as well. Our motto of ‘Be. Do. Have’ supports the idea that all changes must come from the individual themselves changing their state of being, in hopes that this change can create the ‘do’ ad ‘have aspect of people’s lives. You must make sure that your affirmations reflect some nature of your own character in the present tense. This is how you convince your mind that you are already that person. 

The How 

The last little piece in the process. There are several suggestions that we have for you. 

The first is REPETITION. This can’t be stressed enough, but we’ll repeat it for the sake of manifesting an audience that understands the importance of repetition. You must say the same thing over and over again for it to be ingrained in your mind. Make it as long and tedious as it needs to be. The more you repeat, the better, but don’t be stupid about it. Saying the same thing a thousand times will prove to be less efficient than saying it ten times and spending the rest of your time going out and chasing after whatever success you were trying to affirm in the first place. A good place to start is at three repetitions, but we’d highly suggest moving upwards towards ten repetitions.

Next thing you’ve got to do is say it in a way that matches whatever character trait you are trying to affirm. It is useless to say “I am a calm individual” while screaming at yourself in the mirror. Become your affirmation, reflect it in your tone, body language, etc… If you’re in the gym and trying to affirm just how much of a beast you are, emulate a beast as best as you can (you’ll have to destroy your ego to do this one though).

Last thing you can do is notice where your eyes are. You can either be looking into your own eyes in a mirror, or you can be using your mind’s eye to visualise the person you are trying to become. 

If you are envisioning yourself as a person who attracts wealth abundantly, it's far more effective to view yourself swimming in a pool of cash rather than you typing away on a computer if that’s where you make your money. 

To Finish Up

The last thing we must mention before we finish up here is that these affirmations, like everything, are reduced to nothing without some form of consistency. If you find you are stuck for time, you shouldn’t be giving up affirmations, because they are easy to do just about anywhere and they will push you in the right direction. 

You aren’t stuck for time, you just suck at time management, declutter your life and you’ll never have to use the “I don’t have time” excuse again. Consistency is key, don’t forget that.