My friend and mentor Bob Proctor said, “There are two ways to create lasting change. One is a catastrophic life event, and the other is the consistent repetition of new information”. The latter refers to affirmations. Affirmations are important in turning around incessant, negative thinking.

Short of a catastrophic event, affirmations are the best way to take control of your thoughts. When you repeat anything to yourself over and over again, negative or positive, you are affirming that thought.

It is also important to note that; you have naturally occurring affirmations as well as conscious, thought-altering affirmations that are carefully conceived as part of a process.

Your naturally occurring affirmations do as they please

So to speak, and are just as powerful as your carefully conceived ones. If these affirmations team up with your Inner Critic, they will take over your thoughts entirely with negative self-talk, worry, guilt, and fear. Once these thoughts take over, they become cyclical and it seems near-impossible to get rid of them.

Conversely, when you consciously put affirmations into practice as a process, they open the door to positive change that can turn your whole life around. The practice of affirmations has been given a bad rap and is viewed, by some, as mindlessly chanting words with the expectation of some magical result. This view of affirmations, however, is a distorted one.

Saying words with no intention or meaning would be a fruitless exercise

The affirmations process, however, does not suggest doing this and there are countless people – myself included – who have real-life evidence of affirmations not only working but working BIG. The process makes it possible for you to systematically create new ways of thinking, new fundamental beliefs, and new foundational perspectives.

Creating affirmations is hands-down the best method for creating positive outcomes and, ultimately, change your life.  Affirmations make you more aware of your everyday thoughts as well as their cause and effect.

The process also teaches you how to train your mind to challenge negative thoughts as soon as they arise. It guides you to replace them with empowering, expansive thoughts of abundance until your journey takes you all the way to the manifestation of your dreams as realities.

So, what’s the process?

It usually involves writing a short, positive, precisely worded statement in the present tense describing a future outcome that you desire as if it has already come to be. Once you’ve written your statement, you repeat it silently to yourself and out loud, over and over again, as often as you can. Eventually, you’ll think, speak, and affirm it into existence.

Your understanding and application of each step are essential for implementing the affirmations process effectively. There is much thought and reflection that goes into creating affirmations. There are techniques that can be applied as well as Principles for Writing Effective Affirmations.

What is important to understand first is that affirmations are something that you need in order to create your best life designed just for you. Affirmations are accessible to everyone. They can benefit anyone, and they are waiting for you to tap into their power so that you can live the life that you have always dreamed of and that you deserve. The opportunities are endless, it’s just a matter of you getting started.