Create your Personal Affirmation

How to find the right personal affirmation

Preparation

Set aside some time, about fifteen or twenty minutes.

You will need some paper and something to write with.

Spend some quiet time thinking about yourself and your situation and what it is that you want to change about yourself.

Write down how you feel

Then take the pen and paper and start writing lots of short sentences starting with I.

For example I am, I feel.., I want..., I need..., I think.... .

Use actual paper, not a word processor. The act of physically writing and forming the shapes engages your brain differently. Write on one side of the paper only. Just let the words flow. Do as many as you can as fast as you can.

Don't think about the exact words, don't agonize over whether it is right or wrong or whether it is original or anything else.

Just write.

And keep writing - for about ten minutes or until nothing new is coming out. Look over what you have written, and if anything else occurs to you, write that down as a sentence.

Create the strips

When you are done, cut or tear the paper into strips so that each sentence is on its own bit of paper.
Throw away any sentences that are facts like I am five feet tall or I need to lose weight. Throw away any sentences that you can't do anything about, for example I didn't do well at school or I need more time. Only keep the ones that are about feelings, attitudes, beliefs.

Sort the strips into piles

Now mix all the strips up and pull them out one at a time and put them into piles that relate to the same thing. Some strips might belong in several piles. That is OK. Write out a copy of the original sentence and put the copies into as many piles as needed.
Sort though each pile, there might be lots of strips or there might be only one or two. It doesn't matter. There is no right number. Now get a fresh bit of paper and write a label for each pile, and label it with what it is about. Just sit back and become aware of any relationship between the labels. You might find you need to rewrite the labels several times. You might want to rearrange the piles.

Separate the strips

Now, take each pile and sort the strips into positive and negative. Notice whether any are contradictory, they show that you have a conflict about the subject. Read each negative strip aloud, and challenge the idea. Ask yourself, How do I know this is true?, How would I prove to someone else that this sentence is true?

Think about the sentence, and think about what you would advise someone else who said that, how you would get them to change, and what they would do.

Balance all the negative strips

Match up every negative strip with a positive strip. If there is no positive strip, then create one. Write a sentence that is the opposite of the negative one. Say it aloud. Repeat it and change it until it sounds just right.
Do that for each pile. You will probably find that your attitude to each pile changes and you might need to relabel the piles.

Write down your goals

A personal affirmation is always about goals. When you have done every pile, get some more paper and create five bigger labels. These bigger labels are for listing your goals. Write each of the headings - Financial Goals, Health Goals, Personal Goals, Relationship Goals, Community Goals on its own label.

Now spend some time thinking about what you want for each goal, and write down some things you will have achieved in one year, and in five years. Only write three to five things for each goal. You can spend some time deciding what you want and you can go back and change them as many times as you want. When you are happy that the things you have listed are what you really want, and are possible to get, write out a clean copy of your goals.

Find where the energy is for your goals

Now put the goal labels next to the piles of strips, and move them around and got a feel for what piles will help to achieve that goal. Focus on finding the most powerful goal and pile combination. You might have to create some more positive strips.

Get rid of the negative strips

When you have got the arrangement the way you want, take away all the negative strips. Look at each one and imagine how you would like to get rid of it. You can actually burn them, or flush them down the toilet, whatever you feel is best.

Start focusing on your goals

The next step is to start getting those goals. You are going to put those goal labels in places where you will come upon them unexpectedly. Put one in the kitchen drawer so you see it the next time you go to get a spoon. Paste one on the bathroom mirror. Put one on the driving seat of the car. Keep moving them around so they pop up and make you take notice. If you go out for example, throw one on the floor without looking, so it will surprise you when you come back. Then pick it up and read your goals again, and ask, "What have I done today towards that goal?" "What could I have done?", and resolve to do it.

Start using your personal affirmation

What you have left are the positive strips. These are your affirmations. By going through this process every personal affirmation is linked to a goal. You need to find a way of going over these personal affirmations daily. What to do is to select a few of the strips each day and put them in your pocket, your purse, or by the phone, and whenever you have a moment, take one out and say your personal affirmation out loud. You can select one when waiting for the traffic lights, or the next time you look at the clock, or any other time. Get into the habit of pulling one out at random, saying the sentence and thinking about how it will lead to your goal.

Constantly repeating and focusing on what you want will make it all come true - sooner than you ever thought possible.