Do you believe in affirmations?

[Seneca]

It is my belief that what you continually tell yourself will become your reality. And that is why affirmations can be powerful.

 

What do you think?

 

 

"I'ts the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."-Muhammad Ali

[mario_C]

I read about affirmations a long time ago, and thought, why the hell not? I committed to meditating on what I wanted in life, how I wanted to be, and where my career was going, along with the actual acts of practicing, studying and striving for the things I wanted.

Guess what?

Affirmations don't work.

It's nice to believe in and feel good about yourself, and lord knows we love to do that in this culture, but it's meaningless. Meditating on being rich isn't going to make you rich; meditating on being athletic and sexy isn't going to make you athletic and sexy. In life you try for these things and you work hard for them, and maybe you reap the rewards and maybe you don't.

But trying's something to do, so go for it. Feel good about yourself. Why ask us how to live your life?

[Almond_Joy]

Sort of agree with the other two posters.

 

Affirmations can help you shape your perspective to one most conducive to achieving your goals, but in and of themselves - affirmations will not "create" the reality you want.

[Taramere]

The notion of chanting affirmations at myself in a mirror leaves me cold. I do believe, though, that while positive thinking doesn't achieve miracles it generally achieves better results than negative thinking. Just as an example, when I mentally instruct myself "don't do X" I'll almost always do it.

 

When I was getting a tennis lesson and practising volleys, the instructor got agitated with me for continually hitting the ball in the wrong side of the court. "Don't hit it there!!!" He kept saying. I asked him to stop saying that and to tell me instead "hit it there". So he did, and I hit it there. I guess that sportspeople are often into affirmations because they see how the technique of positive thinking brings about very rapid improvements in their sport.

 

Positive thinking gets you in action mode. It doesn't mean you'll succeed but you'll at least increase your chances by trying. Negative thinking tends to result in paralysis/mistakes.

[Crusoe]

It is my belief that what you continually tell yourself will become your reality. And that is why affirmations can be powerful.

 

What do you think?

 

 

"I'ts the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."-Muhammad Ali

 

In a sport like boxing you must build yourself up, you cannot enter ring with any doubt, fear or hesitation in you. Ali constantly told himself (and everyone else) that he was the greatest, it's not why he was the greastest but it allowed him to perfom without the restrictions of fear and doubt. Nothing can touch me, nothing can hurt me, I am the greatest, an unstoppable force.

 

In a sport like golf you don't so much affirm as deny. The trees don't exist, the bunker doesn't exist, the water doesn't exist, the return putt doesn't exist. It's for the same reason, to perform without fear or doubt and without restriction. To let it flow. It leads you the same place. Nothing can touch me, nothing can hurt me, I am a machine, an unstoppable force.

 

If you want something to be reality you have to work for it, the ability to bullsh*t your mind is useless unless have have what it takes to get onto the dancefloor.

 

The real affirmations that turn dreams into reality appear during the hours upon hours in the gym, or the driving range. They are your church, your place of worship, don't spend the time there and you'll never have belief when it matters.