The Top 6 Positive Affirmations Benefits You Need to Know
We have all been the victim of our own low self-esteem and negative self-talk at some point.
But there has to be some way to overcome the unhelpful thoughts that we have about ourselves, right? As it turns out, there are many positive affirmations benefits that you could be taking advantage of right now!
It is time to stop falling victim to your own negative thoughts and negative feelings and start enjoying the benefits of using positive affirmations!
What are Positive Affirmations?
In order to understand the many positive affirmations benefits, the first step is knowing just what positive affirmations are and how they are used.
Positive affirmations are short and simple positive statements. Their main purpose is to challenge the unhelpful and negative thoughts that we have about ourselves. Often times, these automatic negative thoughts come into our minds without our control.
The use of positive affirmations is most effective when they are written in the present tense. For example, telling yourself “I am a strong and confident person” has much more power than saying “I can be a strong and confident person”.
Positive affirmations can be used in many different ways to overcome these negative thoughts. They can be read out loud, written in a journal, or displayed throughout your home.
The goal is to choose a few of your own affirmations that will help you replace negative thoughts with empowering phrases that you believe are true about yourself.
Positive Affirmations Benefits
You may have heard about the benefits of positive affirmations. But is it really possible that using short positive statements can have benefits for your physical health and your mental health?
To answer this question, self-affirmation theory tells us that our brains are wired to want to believe good things about ourselves. This means that our brains literally want to hear us tell ourselves how great we are!
Since your brain wants to feel affirmed, telling it that it already is strong and confident is a good thing! So why not start using daily affirmations to give your brain what it wants to hear?
There are many positive affirmations benefits that you can start taking advantage of right now to change your life! So let’s dig into these 6 positive affirmations benefits so that you can get started!
Improved Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
Believe it or not, you can see positive changes in your self-esteem and self-confidence just by practicing the use of positive affirmations.
One of the most effective methods to improve your confidence and self-esteem is by using ‘I Am’ affirmations. These are affirmations that are written in the present tense and start with ‘I Am’. Writing affirmations in this way helps your brain understand that you already believe these affirmations.
When you are feeling insecure or lacking confidence, choose your favorite ‘I Am’ affirmation and enjoy the feeling of improved inner confidence and a high self-esteem.
You truly can do anything you put your mind to if you tell yourself that you are already doing it!
Reduced Negative Thoughts
One of the most important benefits of positive affirmations is that they help you overcome negative and self-sabotaging thoughts. Remember that the entire goal behind using positive affirmations is to replace negative thinking patterns with positive beliefs about yourself.
Making the use of positive affirmations a daily routine means that they will start to become second nature. This means that you will start to have less and less automatic negative thoughts and start to think in more positive ways in general.
Positive Affirmations Lead to a Positive Mindset
When you are a more positive and confident person, your outlook on things tends to change. This is one of the best benefits of positive affirmations!
This is especially true when it comes to the approach that you take when facing challenges and obstacles. For many people, facing hardships and struggles feels very defeating and leads to giving up on dreams and goals. It is so easy to throw in the towel after a painful failure!
But, when you use positive affirmations to replace negative thinking with positive thinking, you have the power to reframe struggles and failures so that they become growth opportunities.
This isn’t always easy to do. How on Earth are you supposed to take something difficult and defeating and transform it into a good thing?
As it turns out, the answer to this question lies in the concept of growth mindset. A growth mindset is a new way of thinking that you can develop to help you shift your outlook on the struggles life has to offer.
A growth mindset is more than just a positive outlook and the power of positive thinking. Instead, it is a way of thinking that sees failure as a learning experience. When you focus on growth, you are able to look for the ways that you can improve for the next time you attempt a challenge. Doing this over and over leads to growth!
All of this is possible just by choosing to believe that you can do anything that you put your mind to. And positive affirmations are the tool that you need to make this happen!
More Optimism and Positivity
It goes without saying that replacing negative emotions with positive emotions is going to make you a more positive person. But the power of affirmations also makes it possible to be a happier and more optimistic person in general.
Using positive affirmations makes you more likely to have a ‘glass half full’ approach to life. Constantly telling yourself the positive beliefs that you have about yourself means that you will have more hope for the future. You will see the best in situations where other people might only have negative things to say.
Constantly reaffirming yourself for your good qualities means that the little things will bother you much less. This is because deep down inside you will know that you are a strong and confident person, and that everything is going to be alright.
Positive affirmations help put even the worst things into perspective so that you can focus on staying positive and optimistic about your life.
Improved Mental Health
Another reason that positive affirmations are such a powerful tool is that they help you take care of and improve your mental health.
Anxiety and depression are common mental health concerns amongst a large portion of the population. It is so easy nowadays to feel not good enough and that you aren’t doing enough with your life. One of the benefits of affirmations is that they help reduce the value that we place on these feelings.
It is natural to draw comparisons between yourself and others. And many times we do fall short. But positive affirmations can remind us to focus on all the good things that we love about ourselves instead.
Using daily affirmations for journaling before bed can lead to higher quality sleep. This will in turn make you less anxious the next day. And when you feel less anxious, you will find yourself coping with stressful situations in a much healthier way.
Positive Affirmations Can Help You Achieve Your Goals
Think about a goal or dream that you have for your life. Have you reached it? If you haven’t, ask yourself why not?
Our goals can seem very big and crazy and impossible to reach. Many times this is because of limiting beliefs we have about ourselves that make us question ourselves in some way.
We all have limiting beliefs that we carry with us throughout our lives. At some point, you started telling yourself a story about why you can’t do something in your life. Over time, you probably saw this limiting belief validated in some way. This made you believe your own negative self-talk more and more.
But here’s the most important thing you need to know about limiting beliefs: they aren’t true!
Using positive affirmations on a daily basis can help you target and overcome the untrue beliefs that you have about yourself. These are the lies that you tell yourself about why you can’t quit your job to pursue your dream career. Or the reasons you tell yourself about why you can’t make your physical health a priority by exercising regularly.
Using affirmations that start with I am is a really good way to defeat your own limiting beliefs. Instead of telling yourself “I don’t have time to exercise”, try saying “I make exercise a priority”. How much more empowering would it feel if you told yourself that every single morning?
Make your goals and dreams a priority. And stop letting your limiting beliefs tell you what you can and can’t do with your life!
How to Create Positive Affirmations
The most effective way to replace your own negative thoughts is by using your own affirmations. After all, only you know the specific thoughts that you have that you want to change!
By following this process, you will be able to write your own affirmations that are designed to help you!
The first step is to state all of the things that you dislike about yourself. Try to be honest and not think too hard about this step. Go with whatever your heart tells. Place these things on the left side of a table.
Next, use the right side of the table to rewrite each of the negative feelings you have about yourself as a positive affirmation.
As an example, you might change “I am selfish with my time” to “I make time for the people I love.”
Once you have a list, you will have your own set of powerful affirmations that target your own specific negative beliefs about yourself.
Write these statements in your journal and say them to yourself in front of the mirror. Most importantly, repeat them to yourself whenever you feel your familiar negative thoughts about yourself. Before long, you will start seeing the benefits of affirmations in action!
Examples of Positive Affirmations
If you struggle with writing your own affirmations, these examples of positive affirmations can be used as a way to help you start enjoying the benefits of positive affirmations.
Remember that the key is to choose affirmations that resonate with you and your own personal goals the most. You want to target that little voice in your head that is holding you back and cover it up with targeted positive self-talk that is just for you.
- I am determined and value hard work.
- I am loved.
- I am wise.
- I am happy.
- I am curious.
- I am positive.
- I am hard working.
- I am grateful for everything that I have.
- I am focused.
- I am enough.
- I am in control of my thoughts.
- I am smart.
- I am making a positive change in the world.
- I am becoming the person I want to be.
- I am in control of my own happiness.
- I am free from the pressure I put on myself.
- I am the only person who has the power to change my life.
- I am making the right choices for me.
- I am shutting down any negative self-talk in my mind.
- I am challenging my negative beliefs.
- I love who I am.
- I accept myself for who I am.
- I value myself and the decisions I make for myself.
- I choose joy and happiness each and every day.
- Challenges makes me stronger
- I am courageous. Fear does not control me.
- I can do anything I put my mind to.
- I am proud of who I am.
- I surround myself with positivity.
- My mistakes do not define me.
- My future is what I choose to make of it.
- I am resilient and determined.
- I am confident in my decisions.
- I am in complete control of changing the way my story unfolds.
- I always choose to be my authentic self.
- I show compassion to myself in every situation.
- I am confident in my skills and abilities.
- I matter.
- My struggles are opportunities to learn and grow.
- I do not seek validation from others.
Check out our list of 135 confidence affirmations and 110 I Am affirmations for more!
Benefits of Positive Affirmation Cards
So there may be many positive affirmation benefits, but how on Earth are you supposed to remember positive things about yourself? Especially in a world that constantly makes you feel like you are not enough?
Our favorite way to make our daily positive affirmations visible is by using an affirmation card deck. Affirmation decks are compact, convenient, and there are just so many different ways that you can use them!
For example, you can shuffle your deck to choose different daily affirmations at random. Or you can place them in your journal and use them as a prompt to help you target specific negative thoughts that you might have often (remember this is one of the main benefits of positive affirmations).
One of the common struggles people face when using affirmations is remembering them and making a habit out of using them. We love how affirmation cards make your affirmations visible! They make it so easy to just pick them up and get a quick reminder of the positive thoughts you are working hard to focus on.
Check out our hand-crafted affirmation deck collection to find the right match for your daily affirmation practice today!
Common Questions about Positive Affirmations
To some, positive affirmations sound fake, made up, or just plain silly. When it comes to understanding positive affirmations benefits, people tend to have a lot of questions.
Since affirmations involve repeating short but simple positive phrases to yourself, it makes sense to have some scepticism.
Our goal here is to answer some of the common questions that come up so that you can start enjoying the benefits of positive affirmations today!
Is there science behind positive affirmations?
One of the key psychological theories that support positive affirmations is self-affirmation theory. Self-affirmation theory has provided us with empirical studies showing that people are able to maintain positive thoughts about themselves by telling themselves that they believe them.
How often should I use positive affirmations?
The best way to see positive affirmations benefits working for you is through daily practice. Every muscle in your body needs continued exercise to develop. Your mind is no different!
Usually negative thoughts are deeply rooted in your subconscious mind. Because of this, it is important to use daily affirmations to make them most effective.
Can sleep be improved with affirmations?
If you are someone that struggles to turn your brain away from stressful situations before bed, using affirmations at night could be just what you need to improve your sleep.
Many people find that writing their affirmations in a nightly journal helps them clear their head before falling asleep.
Why don’t affirmations work for some people?
In some cases, people don’t notice positive affirmations benefits. This could be for any number of reasons as everyone is unique in the way that they respond to their own affirmations.
However, it is important to remember that affirmations have to be chosen to match the specific negative thoughts that a person has. This is why creating your own affirmations is usually the most effective way to use them.
Each and every person has their own unique struggles and limiting beliefs about themselves. Since affirmations are designed to target and overcome these negative thoughts and negative beliefs, they should match them! If they don’t match, some people may find that affirmations don’t work for them.
How to Get the Most Benefit from Your Affirmations
To get the most benefit out of your affirmations, think of something right now that you feel insecure or nervous about. Instead of focusing on the negative, transform your thoughts into a positive affirmation. Focus on how it feels to believe in your positive thoughts.
Just remember to use that resonate with you and your goals. The best way to make sure your affirmations make big changes in your life is to make sure that they are meaningful to you.
Imagine using these strong positive statements for every negative thought that you have about yourself! You will see positive affirmations benefits making a difference in your life with repeated use and regular practice.
Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! If you know someone who doubts the benefits of positive affirmations, this could be just the blog post that they need!