Mental wellness is a lifelong endeavor and takes constant effort. It requires ongoing reevaluation and mindfulness. And although improving your mental well-being takes consistency, remember that healing and progress is not always linear. Celebrate all of the little wins and allow yourself to have bad days. Be kind to yourself in the moments it would be easiest to judge and feel discouraged and know that even the most difficult moments will pass. Part of mental wellness is being able to face life’s adversities with resilience and to express and manage both positive and negative emotions. The human experience is unpredictable but we do have control over our mental and emotional well-being.
In a case study done on fluid body image concept, presented at the 11th International Scientific Conference in 2020, self-worth was shown to have increased through the repetition of positive affirmations. It was also concluded in the study that self-worth proved to be something highly influenced by internal sources as opposed to by external sources. Self-worth is attained through innerwork, not external work.
Decades of academic research have led us to understand the power of positivity and repetitive self talk. In a study published in the Journal of Health Psychology, participants completed a nationally representative health survey, and answered questions about spontaneous self-affirmation, demographic factors, and well-being. The results of the study suggest that engaging in spontaneous self-affirmation was related to greater happiness, hopefulness, optimism, subjective health, and personal health efficacy, and less anger and sadness.
Something important to point out is that these positive outcomes were linked to spontaneous self-affirmation, meaning that participants habitually practiced positive self-thought when faced with a perceived threat.
The power of affirmations lies in repeating them to yourself regularly. It’s also helpful to repeat your affirmations as soon as you engage in the negative thought or behavior that you want to overcome.
Neuroscience has taught us that “Neurons that fire together wire together”, describing how habitual thought pathways in your brain are created through repetition. The more you reinforce a belief in your mind or your brain does a certain task, the stronger that neural network becomes, and more efficient the process is each time. So the more you consciously practice positive self-thoughts, the more easily they will come in times of stress.
Even if you don’t believe the positive things you’re repeating to yourself at first, fake it til you make it. Repeat that affirmation over and over until one day, you say it and it rings true. When you tell your brain the same thing over and over, eventually you will accept it as truth.
Tips on getting started:
To use affirmations, first analyze the thoughts or behaviors that you’d like to change in your own life and career.
Next, come up with positive, credible, and achievable affirmation statements that are the opposite of these thoughts. Repeat your affirmations several times a day, especially when you find yourself slipping into negative self-talk or engaging in negative behavior.
Check out the new “Mental Wellness” category in the Selfpause app to find affirmations to help you make time for yourself and your well-being, or use the app to write and record your own affirmations!
