Spring is a time of growth and change. As we enter a new month, now is the perfect opportunity to reflect on what you have been giving your energy to, and to think about whether how you’ve chosen to spend your time aligns with your goals and the person you wish to be.
You already have the power within you to make whatever changes you desire in your life and to become the person that you want to be. You are the author of your own destiny; start making changes in your life now by changing your mindset, setting goals, and affirming your core beliefs.
Simply put, affirmations are used to promote positive thinking and self-empowerment. An affirmation is a short, powerful statement that you repeat frequently. And these statements are spoken toward yourself – reminders of what you’re capable of, how worthy you are, whatever it is you need to speak to feel empowered to reach your potential.
These concepts are so simple – changing our beliefs about ourselves, and changing the narrative that we tell ourselves, is something we can all do.
You can use affirmations in any situation where you’d like to see a positive change take place in your life. This can include anything from relieving stress and seeking mental clarity, for more mindful and present living, self-acceptance, changing your relationship with money, athletic achievement, raising your confidence before a presentation, growing healthier connections and being more aware in your relationships, or anything else.
Self-affirmation has been associated with greater levels of happiness, hopefulness, and health benefits (study here). Affirming core values also lead to increases in self-esteem, well-being, and positive attitudes towards oneself and others (study here).
Some specific examples of evidence from empirical studies that suggest that positive self-affirmation practices can be beneficial:
- Self-affirmations have been shown to decrease health-deteriorating stress (study here)
- Self-affirmations have been used effectively in interventions that led people to increase their physical behavior (study here)
- They may help us to perceive otherwise “threatening” messages with less resistance, including interventions (study here)
- They can make us less likely to dismiss harmful health messages, responding instead with the intention to change for the better (study here) and has translated to actual behavior change; for example, eating more fruit and vegetables (study here)
- They have been linked positively to academic achievement by mitigating GPA decline in students who feel left out at college (study here)
- Self-affirmation has been demonstrated to lower stress and rumination (study here)
Our expectations become our reality. By choosing to feed our subconscious mind with positive and empowering visualized experiences, we can train our subconscious mind to believe the best about our current circumstances and to expect best-case scenarios concerning the future. Our subconscious mind is a co-pilot of our actions, so its interpretation of our life manifests into our behaviors and constructs our future circumstances.
You have the power to improve your life, and it starts with your own thoughts. As we shift internally, the external world will respond. When you believe in yourself, have self-compassion, and live with non judgment and acceptance, your whole life can change.
Find affirmations to improve whatever area of your life that you wish on the Selfpause app, or use the app to write and record your own affirmations!
