Positive thinking and affirmations are more than just feel-good ‘nice to haves.’ Reciting them regularly can change a negative mindset and transform your life. When you say positive statements every day, you reprogram your brain for positive thoughts about yourself, life and what’s possible. The brutal truth is that women endure a lifetime of challenges society levies against us. These can throw us off-track and make us question ourselves.
Why Positive Affirmations are Important for Women
After all, as women, and abundantly, we’re confronted by impossible beauty standards, by social conditioning and a considerable amount of self-recrimination along the way. With positive affirmations we fight back on these counts, building our self-esteem – with practice, and a more supportive, nurturing self-association; and for the pure pleasure of simply being us, as we are.
Because positive affirmations literally rewire our brain to make us more optimistic about who we are and what we have, their effects can be positively transformational.
The Science Behind Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations work because they reprogram the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is a kind of computer that regulates the way we think, believe and behave – and it’s extremely controlled by the messages we tell it. When we repeat positive affirmations, we override the negative thought pattern we have, and replace it with a more positive, empowering pattern.
Studies have shown that positive affirmations can raise self-esteem, lower stress and bolster resilience because they alter the brain’s architecture to improve our problem-solving and overall performance. The more often you repeat a positive affirmation, the more likely you are to follow through on it because you’re reemphasizing a positive neural pathway, making it more automatic and natural.
How to Create Effective Positive Affirmations
Good positive affirmations don’t just come to us out of thin air. Creating them requires thought and care. So I suggest you keep the following points in mind when writing your own affirmations.
- Be specific: ‘I want to become more confident and forceful in being assertive’ instead of: ‘I want to become more confident.
- Use the present tense: Because you will probably hang on to something if you think you already have it, write your affirmations in the present tense: I am worthy of love and respect, versus I will be worthy of love and respect.
- Make them personal: Make them about you, that they say something of you, that they refer to you and your world. The voices of others may be great, but neither can play the role of proxy for, nor replace, yours: ‘My gifts I own and give my world/my community’ not ‘I am gifted’.
- Keep them positive: Describe what you are inviting in rather than what you are keeping out. Eg: I am hugged and lifted by loving, helpful others, rather than: I’m not vulnerable to being left out.
If so, you will arrive at phrases that sound more true to you, and that you believe will be better positioned to transform your psychology and your life.
My Top 10 Positive Affirmations for Self-Love and Confidence
- I love and accept myself unconditionally, exactly as I am.
- I am worthy of love, respect, and happiness.
- I am deserving of all the good things life has to offer.
- I trust my intuition and make decisions with confidence.
- I am strong, capable, and resilient in the face of challenges.
- I embrace my flaws and imperfections, as they make me unique.
- I am proud of my accomplishments and celebrate my successes.
- I radiate confidence and attract positive opportunities into my life.
- I am deserving of self-care and prioritize my well-being.
- I am enough, just as I am, and I have the power to create the life I desire.
Speak these mantras to yourself each day, and you will feel better about yourself, more confident and more aware of your strong, beautiful womanhood.
My Top 10 Positive Affirmations for Success and Abundance
- I am open to receiving abundance in all areas of my life.
- I attract opportunities that align with my passions and purpose.
- I am a magnet for success, and I achieve my goals with ease.
- I have the knowledge, skills, and resources to create the life of my dreams.
- I am worthy of financial abundance and prosperity.
- I am confident in my abilities to overcome any obstacles that come my way.
- I am grateful for the abundance that flows into my life every day.
- I believe in my ability to create a fulfilling and prosperous career.
- I am surrounded by people who support and uplift me on my journey to success.
- I am a powerful creator, and I manifest my desires with intention and focus.
By adopting these affirmations, you can cultivate a mindset of success, abundance, and limitless possibilities.
My Top 10 Positive Affirmations for Relationships and Love
- I am deserving of deep and meaningful connections with others.
- I attract loving and supportive relationships into my life.
- I communicate my needs and boundaries with confidence and clarity.
- I am open to giving and receiving love in a healthy and balanced way.
- I am worthy of a fulfilling and passionate romantic relationship.
- I forgive myself and others, releasing any resentments or negativity.
- I attract friendships that nourish and inspire me.
- I am surrounded by people who celebrate and appreciate me for who I am.
- I am a compassionate listener and offer support to those around me.
- I am committed to nurturing and strengthening my relationships.
By embodying these affirmations, you can cultivate healthy and fulfilling relationships that enrich your life.
How to Incorporate Positive Affirmations into Your Daily Routine
To reap the benefits of positive affirmations, it’s important to integrate them into your daily routine consistently. Here are some practical ways to incorporate affirmations into your life:
- Morning routine: Everyday (before breakfast), stand in front of the mirror and say affirmations aloud to yourself. This is great to get you into a positive mindset for the day. It helps to lighten your spirits as well as embed your self-belief into your subconscious.
- Sticky notes: Write down your affirmations on sticky notes and place them where you’ll see them frequently, such as on your bathroom mirror, computer screen, or refrigerator.
- Journaling: Write your affirmations out and record whatever you think about them. Why? It locks them in and creates space to process.
- Affirmation cards: You might choose to buy or make yourself some affirmation cards, and then shuffle them every day. Pick out one or a few cards each day and read them out loud. Please check my store.
- Meditation or visualization: while breathing evenly and watching your breath or visualising a positive movie, repeat the statements to yourself silently or out loud.
Remember, consistency is key. The more you practice affirmations, the more they become ingrained in your subconscious mind, creating lasting change.
Additional Resources for Finding Positive Affirmations
If you’re looking for more positive affirmations, there are numerous resources available to help you on your journey. Here are a few suggestions:
- Books: The affirmations section of the bookshop, or the Mind-Body-Spirit section (loving that nickname!), or a self-help section like You Can Heal Your Life (1984) by Louise Hay or The Universe Has Your Back (2018) by Gabrielle Bernstein.
- Apps: Get apps like ‘ThinkUp’ or ‘I Am’ for daily affirmations and guided meditations.
- Online communities: Look for groups online or in forums for other like-minded people that are free with positive objective reinforcement/words of affirmation. Find people you can resonate with. The people you choose to surround yourself with will affect your energy, so choose wisely and carefully.
- Social media: Find profiles providing one affirmation and one motivational quote every day.
You then want to choose your affirmations carefully – not merely ‘I am a good person’, but something more in line with your goals and wishes.
Conclusion
I have been saying affirmations now daily for about 10 months and I read them aloud to myself to take them in and it never fail to get me through stressful times when I am unsure about something or maybe not so sure if I could really do it or whatever, but any time I go back to them they really help me, you won’t be sorry… Throughout all of reading the affirmations I will say that my life has taken a 180, just from all of the positive affirmations, I feel like a more empowered woman than ever before because I have the tools to be one inside, positive affirmations is one of the best self-help tools there is.
Do them every day, and ultimately you will begin to think differently too, more confident, stronger, more badass, you can do, you can have. You are a woman who can do and have everything, look in the mirror, say these beautiful affirmations to give yourself good energy and you are going to have a better, happier, stronger and more badass life. You deserve it.
