In my last blog post, Forced Positivity: Helpful or Harmful, I briefly mentioned affirmations. I will now explore that topic in further detail here. To me, affirmations are a way of practicing goal-setting by writing them down in the present tense. This can best be illustrated through an example: instead of saying, “I will travel to Europe in 2026,” I write, “I am traveling to Europe in 2026.”
Over the years, I’ve read many self-help books, and they tend to share one core message: our minds can be trained—and affirmations are one of the tools we can use to do that. You’ve probably seen athletes in movies, TV shows, or real life repeating phrases like, “I can do this.” That’s a powerful example of using affirmations to focus the mind and build confidence toward a desired outcome.
Have you ever told someone who might be going through a tough time, whether it’s health-related or just life in general—to “stay positive” or “keep your spirits up”? Shifting into a more positive mindset is hard at first.
So, how do you actually do it?
One helpful tool I’ve used is affirmations—positive statements we can feed our minds. This is not to ignore what’s really happening. But when used with intention, affirmations can gently shift our internal feelings, especially when things feel overwhelming. This doesn’t mean pretending everything’s fine. Uplifting yourself doesn’t mean ignoring your pain.
Here’s what I personally do when I turn to affirmations:
Feel Your Emotions – Let yourself be—whether you’re sad, frustrated, anxious, or angry. This is something I’ve said before ( even in my last post), but it’s worth repeating: acknowledge your feelings.
Write It Down – For some, writing comes naturally and for others, not so much. Whatever you are comfortable with, use that method. You don’t need a journal, you can write down your thoughts in your phone’s notepad, record yourself talking, or even speak to someone you trust.
Introduce Affirmations – If we wait for motivation to appear first, then we will be waiting a long time. In fact, action brings motivation. From my experience, action leads to motivation, not the other way around. Writing affirmations is one small action we can take. It helps shift our mindset.
Repeat Affirmations – To shift the mindset towards positivity, I repeat affirmations. When we start believing, we start achieving. Although it may sound like a cliché, it is true. The real challenge is to make ourselves believe. I understand that some people may think it’s ridiculous and that it sounds too easy to be real, but try writing or speaking affirmations aloud.
As I stated earlier, without action nothing will happen. If you are writing affirmations about good health but your lifestyle includes eating unhealthy, then affirmations do not help. However, when you are doing everything to stay healthy, affirmations will help on days you feel like giving up.
Recommended Reading:
Here are some books that have helped me to understand this concept better:
- The Magic of Thinking Big – David J. Schwartz
- The Secret – Rhonda Byrne
- The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
- The Game of Life and How to Play It – Florence Scovel Shinn
- Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything – James R. Doty, MD
- The Biology of Belief – Bruce Lipton
I hope you enjoy reading the books listed above and can take away some useful knowledge that you can use in your daily life.
