This final instalment of this mini-series on loving yourself is a bit later than advertised. I could lie – but I’m not going to. The truth is that I was using Cold Turkey to shut myself out of the Internet in order to avoid distractions while I write up my doctoral dissertation; and (genius that I am!), I locked myself out for longer than I meant to. Which severely limited the amount of access I had to most sites online.
But I’m back! For a few hours anyway, and I want to talk to you about affirmations. The truth is, they don’t work. Or, at least, they don’t work the way most of us have been told to formulate, and repeat, them. Writing out fifty times ‘I am truly fabulous’ when you don’t really feel it, won’t convince anyone – least of all yourself. You’ll just end up annoying yourself and getting frustrated.
Instead of writing ‘I love myself’ when you don’t truly believe it, instead try ‘I’m working on loving myself completely’, or ‘I love myself more each day’, or something that feels right to you. And that’s the key – it has to feel right, in order for you to believe it.
Do you see the difference? If we look at the example I just gave ‘I love myself’ versus ‘I’m working on loving myself completely’ the first statement is an aspiration not an affirmation. And your sensible self won’t believe it. But the second is true and motivating at the same time. Easy for your sensible self to believe because it’s true!
So with all of that said, I’d like you to task yourself with writing out at least five affirmations that are really affirmations, as opposed to aspirations.
