Ask any highly successful person how they maintain their motivation and focus to achieve their ambitious goals, and chances are their answer will be, “daily affirmations!”
I have met countless successful business people, Olympic and professional athletes, NY Times bestselling authors, and visionary changemakers who all use daily positive affirmations to stay energized and focused on their goals, no matter what’s happening in the world around them. They have all told me that their daily affirmations practice has had a game-changing impact on their lives.
Today I’d like to teach you how daily affirmations for success actually work and show you how to write affirmations that will make it so much easier for you to achieve your life goals.
I’ll also answer common questions such as:
“What is a daily affirmation?”
“Are morning affirmations better than evening affirmations?”
“How to write affirmations that work?”
… and so much more!
What is a Daily Affirmation?
Simply put, daily affirmations are clear, positive statements that describe your goals as already achieved.
For example, if your goal is to become a bestselling author, your daily affirmation could be something like, “I am so happy and grateful to be holding my NY Times number-one bestseller in my hands!”
Or if your goal is to make $200,000 this year, your affirmation could be “I am so happy and grateful to be celebrating the fact that I reached my financial target of $200,000!”
Sounds simple, right? It is! But it’s also very powerful.
Repeating this kind of positive mantra to yourself every day can have a profound impact on your conscious and unconscious mind.
When you imagine yourself completing a goal, your brain responds in the same way as if you actually HAD completed that goal.
And the dissonance that occurs in your subconscious mind as it tries to reconcile what feels to be true (you have achieved this amazing goal!) with what your brain knows to be true (you actually haven’t achieved that goal yet) – will subconsciously prompt you to resolve that dissonance by taking persistent action toward your goals until your imagined reality becomes your ACTUAL reality.
That’s how powerful affirmations can be – they actually impact the neuroplasticity of your brain and motivate you to become the kind of person who is capable of achieving your goals!
Not only that, recent academic research that shows in high-stress level environments, people who use daily positive affirmations have lower stress levels and consistently experience more success than those who don’t.
So not only do affirmations keep you focused on your goals, but they also eliminate stress as a possible obstacle and allows you to maintain a high level of energy and enthusiasm. This will make it easier for you to stay positive and attract the people and resources you need to make your dreams a reality.
How Do Daily Affirmations Work?
Daily affirmations are to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Repeating powerful affirmations for success can help you eliminate negativity and limiting beliefs that are keeping you trapped in mediocrity and dramatically understand what’s possible, and what you’re truly capable of achieving.
(Spoiler: anything you can imagine!)
Daily positive affirmations help you transform “I can’t” into “I can,” and your fears and doubts into confidence and certainty.
They are your best weapon against defeatist thinking and self-sabotage – and powerful protection against other people’s negativity as well!
Daily Affirmations Activate the Law of Attraction
Affirmations are reminders to your unconscious mind to stay positive and focused on your goals. By cultivating this kind of success-focused mindset, you raise your energetic vibration and are able to attract more high-vibe opportunities, people, and resources into your life, which in turn makes it even easier for you to achieve your goals!
If you’re new to the practice of daily affirmations, this might sound a bit “woo” to you… but the fact is, this is how the universe works. Whether you know it or not, you are always using affirmations in your life! But they’re usually not the kind of affirmations for success that will bring you what you want.
For example, do you ever catch yourself thinking powerful affirmations like:
“I can’t stop eating, I’m addicted to unhealthy food.”
“I am never going to meet somebody I can love.”
“I never catch a break!”
“No matter what I do, I never seem to get ahead.”
“Why does bad stuff always happen to ME?”
These might be negative affirmations – but I assure you, they are powerful.
When we tell ourselves such things repeatedly, they reinforce our negative perception of the world and prompt us to turn those negative thoughts into reality. So our own harshest self-criticism becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy!
We tell ourselves we can’t stop eating. So we don’t.
We tell ourselves we’ll never find someone to love. So we don’t bother looking.
And we tell ourselves that no matter how hard we try, we just can’t catch a break. And so we give up and stop trying.
The fact is, most people are constantly telling themselves such things all the time!
The only way to liberate yourself from such negative (and false) beliefs is to replace them with powerful affirmations for success that inspire you to show up in a more positive and empowering way. Which in turn will get better results in everything you do.
So your self-fulfilling prophesy becomes your own amazing success story!
How to Write Affirmations
Here are my eight guidelines for how to write positive affirmations for success that will make it easier for you to get what you want in life.
- Start with the words, “I am.” These are the two most powerful words in the English language
- Use the present tense. You want to imagine yourself being in the moment and experiencing the reality of your goal being achieved. This is what will cause the dissonance in your subconscious that will prompt you to take persistent action to make your vision real.
- State your daily affirmation in the positive.Affirm what you want, not what you don’t want. (If you can’t understand why, tell yourself NOT to think of pink elephants. What did you just think of? In the same way, if you try to focus on what you don’t want, that’s what you’ll end up attracting into your life.)
- Keep it brief.Your daily affirmations should be easy to memorize and repeat. The easier it is to remember and say, the easier it will be to visualize your goals – and the harder your subconscious will work to make it a reality.
- Make it specific.Daily affirmations such as, “I am so happy and grateful now that I’ve lost weight,” aren’t nearly as powerful as, “I am so happy and grateful now that I have lost 25 pounds and am wearing my favorite jeans again!” When your affirmation is vague, your vision will be fuzzy as well. Visions that lack clarity are much more difficult to achieve.
- Include an action word ending with “–ing.”This allows you to express your affirmation as if you are experiencing it at that very moment. For example, “I am so happy and grateful to be walking across the stage to accept my MBA degree from Wharton University.” The more you can imagine yourself in that moment of walking across that stage, the more powerful your affirmation will be.
- Include at least one dynamic emotion or feeling word. I often encourage people to imagine themselves as happy and grateful because happiness and gratitude are powerful positive emotions that will raise your energetic vibration and attract more things that bring joy and gratitude into your life.
- Make affirmations for yourself, not others.For example, saying something like, “I am so happy and grateful now that my husband has stopped drinking,” isn’t going to work because there is nothing you can do to change other people’s behavior. Only THEY can change their behavior.
Affirmation Examples
Here are some more examples of powerful affirmations based on the guidelines above:
“I am joyfully driving my new red Porsche Carrera convertible down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.“
Or if you are more ecologically minded, you can make that a new Tesla.
You can use the following simple formula: “I am so happy and grateful that I am now …” and then fill in the blank.
Some other affirmation examples could be:
“I am so happy and grateful that I am now working in my chosen field, earning $150,000 a year.”
“I am so happy and grateful that I am now celebrating I have achieved my ideal weight of 140 pounds.”
Or how about:
“I am enjoying living in my beautiful beachfront villa on the Ka’anapali coast of Maui or somewhere better.”
That last affirmation is incredibly special to me.
Because it’s an affirmation I started writing for myself way back in 1989, and in 2011, I actually made that vision a reality!
Morning & Nighttime Affirmations
To get the most out of your daily affirmations practice, take 5 to 10 minutes every morning and evening to repeat your daily affirmations – preferably out loud with high energy and enthusiasm. The best time for your morning affirmations is right after you wake up and the best time for your nighttime affirmations is right before you go to bed.
I also encourage you to keep an affirmation journal so you have a dedicated place to write down your affirmations. Keep your affirmation journal on your bedside table so it’s the last thing you read before you go to sleep and the first thing you read when you wake up in the morning.
Action Item: Write 3 Powerful Affirmations for Yourself
To activate the power of affirmations in your life, complete the following activity:
Write down 3 big goals you have for your life. What are three accomplishments you would like to achieve in the next 12 months?
Now here’s how to write affirmations that will help you achieve those goals… record the following in your affirmation journal:
GOAL 1: __
I am so happy now that I am [describe yourself experiencing or celebrating the achievement of that goal].
GOAL 2: __
I am so happy now that I am [describe yourself experiencing or celebrating the achievement of that goal].
GOAL 3: __
I am so happy now that I am [describe yourself experiencing or celebrating the achievement of that goal].
Once you have written your daily affirmations for success, leave your affirmation journal beside your bed, and then be sure to refer to it every morning and evening so you can always make sure your daily affirmations are the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you think of before you go to sleep.
Daily Affirmation FAQs
If you are new to the practice of affirmations, or if you’ve tried it before but weren’t able to stick to it for very long, you may have some questions about how to use affirmations for success in your life and business.
Explore the questions below to see if you can find the answers you’re looking for!
Q: “Morning affirmations vs. evening affirmations – which is better?”
My answer to this question is always, “both!”
It only takes a few minutes to read and repeat your daily affirmations. So unless your life is so incredibly busy that you simply can’t spare three minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night, then I strongly encourage you to start your day with daily affirmations and end it in the same way.
When your goals are the last thing you think of before you go to sleep, you activate your subconscious to mull over your situation and your challenges and generate ideas and solutions that can help bring you closer to your goals.
And when your goals are the first thing you think of in the morning, you clarify your focus for the day and ensure that other tasks or unexpected developments don’t pull you off track.
Q: How do you write powerful affirmations that WORK?
Daily affirmations work when you work the affirmations!
That means following the 8 steps to writing affirmations that I listed above and fully committing to repeating your affirmations out loud every morning and every evening.
It also means doing the internal work to confirm that the goals you are basing your affirmations on are goals that you truly and deeply want to achieve!
If your affirmations are based on goals you think you should achieve instead of goals you want to achieve, you may find it hard to make any real progress no matter how many times you recite your morning affirmations and evening affirmations.
Q: Do I need a special book for my affirmation journal?
No! Any notebook will do. Although I do encourage you to use one that makes you happy when you look at it. The more positive thoughts and feelings you associate with your affirmations, the more motivated you will be to make your goals a reality.
Q: Which should I focus on – business affirmations or life affirmations?
Again I would say both! It depends on what your goals and your immediate focus for your life are. Which goals are most important for you to achieve first? Which ones will have the greatest possible impact on your life, and make it easier for you to make forward progress in all other areas of your life as well?
For example, if one of your biggest and most immediate goals is to earn enough money to pay your child’s college education, then you would want to focus on business affirmations based on the goal of earning the specific amount of money you need.
Or if one of your big goals is to leave your corporate job and start your own business, you would want to focus on business affirmations that describe you as having already achieved that goal.
On the other hand, if you know that achieving a personal goal – such as losing weight or quitting a sugar or alcohol addiction – is the best thing you can do for your life right now because it will empower you to achieve your professional goals as well, your affirmations should be focused on that.
My List of Positive Feeling Words for Affirmations
Here’s a list of positive feeling words that you may want to use when creating your daily affirmations.
Buttons with colorfull smiles
Additional Affirmation Examples
If you’re finding it hard to get clear on how to choose and articulate your daily affirmations, the list below should spark some ideas.
“I am breathing effortlessly with lungs that are pure and clean.”
“I am celebrating how easily I breathe through strong, healthy lungs.”
“I am joyfully celebrating my graduation from college with a master’s degree.”
“I am effectively delivering my first talk to an audience of over 1,000 people who affirm my message with a standing ovation.”
“I am confidently checking the balance of my bank account as I make a deposit of $1,000,000.”
“I am walking up on stage to receive my first Emmy award and receiving a roar of applause.”
“I am celebrating feeling light and alive at my perfect bodyweight of one thirty-five.”
“I am enjoying the thrill of flying.”
“I am attracting joy into my life.”
“I am confidently expressing myself openly and honestly.”
“I am feeling exhilarated, agile, and alive.”
“I am effectively communicating my needs and desires to my loving partner.”
“I am looking around me at the faces of the people I am helping and I am thrilled to know that I have made a difference in their life.”
“I am feeling relaxed and grateful to be sitting here in Hawaii with my toes buried in the warm sand, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.”
When you’re satisfied with the wording of your daily affirmation, start using it every morning and evening. Regular repetition will gently return your focus to manifesting the life of your dreams.
Daily Affirmations Are Just the Beginning…
Daily positive affirmations are a powerful first step toward developing a success-focused mindset that empowers you to achieve your goals in life.
But if you want to awaken your full subconscious potential and make your most ambitious dreams a reality, you need more than daily affirmations.
You need deep clarity around your purpose and the kind of life you want to create. You need to be able to identify the goals that will help you create that desired life. And you need the wisdom and insight of those who have walked that path before you to help you avoid obstacles and overcome any challenges that might arise on your journey.
That’s why I created my powerful Awakening Success home study program.
This powerful program gives you the tools, training, and inspiration you need to cultivate a success-focused mindset and achieve a big goal in your life in as little as 30 days!
Are you ready to awaken your own infinite potential for success?
As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre—and watched it grow to a billion dollar market. As the driving force behind the development and delivery of over 100 million books sold through the Chicken Soup for the Soul® franchise, Jack Canfield is uniquely qualified to talk about success. Jack is America’s #1 Success Coach and wrote the life-changing book The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and Jack speaks around the world on this subject. Check out his newest book The 30-Day Sobriety Solution: How to Cut Back or Quit Drinking in the Privacy of Your Own Home. Follow Jack at www.jackcanfield.com and sign up for his free resources today!
Image courtesy of Los Muertos Crew.
