May 24, 2024

How Affirmations Can Change Your Mindset

Many self-help teachers tout the power of affirmations in shifting your mindset. Instead of staying stuck in a funk, it is possible to change thought patterns to completely new ideas and ways of being. When we can take control of our minds, we can change our outlook and perspective on life and can begin to make choices that lead to positive life changes.

When we wish to transform our mindset, we can do so with the simple implementation of affirmations. Affirmations are phrases or statements that we tell ourselves repeatedly in order to gain a sense of confidence and capability. If we are able to notice negative thought forms when they occur in our mind, then we can start to substitute these thoughts with positive affirmations.

These affirmations can challenge our negative thoughts and allow space for us to question what we truly believe about ourselves. Even if we think negative thoughts about ourselves, we can still use positive affirmations to shift our mindset to one that is more optimistic and promising. Practicing affirmations takes dedication but is a very easy system to implement.

What is a Mindset?

Each of us has a unique and individual mindset that is based on a set of beliefs and ideas. Sometimes the beliefs are subconscious meaning we don’t even know what they are or how they created a mindset in the first place.

The mindset is the series of thoughts we have about ourselves, others, and the world. Most of us are thinking thoughts continuously every day and never even get a break from our own minds. Instead of fixating on our thoughts and living from the self-concept they create, it is important to identity them for what they are and determine if they have value for our mindset. Each thought is based on a belief or judgement, so, if we examine our thoughts deeply, we can begin to find the root of the belief.

When we can begin to identify the source of our thoughts, we can start to identity our mindset. The mindset is the outlook we have which contributes to our thought patterns, and really, to our overall happiness and satisfaction with life. Mindsets govern our thoughts and allow us to only think within a certain range of reasoning.

Sometimes our mindsets can have a negative slant that is detrimental to our happiness and fulfillment. In these cases, we must maintain an acute sense of what we are thinking, how it is affecting our mindset, and how our mindset is impacting our life.

How Affirmations Help

Affirmations are the perfect companion to a mindset change because they are so simple to implement and can be used anywhere and at anytime. Affirmations are short phrases that we choose to say to ourselves or repeat in order to break old patterns of thought and bring into mind new ideas and perspectives.

Affirmation statements make us feel better, are positive and uplifting, and create opportunities for better outcomes. When we use positive affirmations, we repeat something new to our mind, and we raise our vibration to the level at which this event is true. So, when we repeat a positive mantra or affirmation our mind begins to believe it is true.

When we have practiced the affirmation enough times, it will eventually become second nature leading the mind to believe it’s true. For example, if you tell a child often enough, “you is smart, you is kind, you is important (those are the loving, kind, and affirming words that a nanny, Aibileen/Abbey, told the two year old baby, Mae Mobley, she cared for in the movie The Help) they'll start to believe it.

Affirmations have been taught by many self-help teachers throughout the years as a practice of meditation and mindfulness. It’s a simple exercise that has proven to be effective over thousands of years and will undoubtedly change your perspective for the better, if you give it a chance.

dhf

If you like this content check out my Substack Newsletter about the importance of your mindset in everything you do at: https://theunreliablemind.substack.com/p/the-importance-of-your-mindset-in

Follow me on Twitter/X at: @unreliablemind