Today, we're going to talk about affirmations. The thing is... They don't work if your mind doesn’t believe them. 

When I work with clients in the THINK Yourself® THIN program, particularly clients who are highly overweight, I don’t ask them to stand in front of a mirror and say: "I am thin. I am thin".  Similarly, when I work with clients in deep financial struggle, I don’t suggest they simply stand tall, put their hands on their hips and say: "I am rich." That is not how affirmations work. Your unconscious brain is far too intelligent for that. It would simply respond: "No we're not! What are you talking about?”  When you say things that are blatantly untrue, your unconscious mind knows better and simply ignores the information. Remember, you have a Personal Assistant in your head taking notes and keeping track of everything you say (out loud and in your mind). Reprogramming needs to happen in a more subtle and convincing manner.    Here’s what I do… 

If the gap between what you want and where you are is large, you can’t simply jump from one extreme to the other. I work with clients at an unconscious level to create different thought-patterns so their unconscious mind genuinely believes the new reality we are creating for them. I start by strategically closing the gap. 

I have developed a series of ‘fast track’ processes that work at an unconscious level to accelerate the process and propel my clients to become what they want to be as quickly as possible. Since this works at an unconscious level, it is almost impossible for you to do this by yourself – because your thoughts occur at the conscious, logical level. There is, however, one thing you can do yourself to get the process started. The following two-step technique is not as effective as working directly with me, however it will set you on the right track toward improvement.  

STEP ONE: Put the negative in the past.  Notice the thought you want to get rid of (your negative or limiting self-talk) and repeat it to yourself by stating it in the past tense. For example, after noticing yourself saying: “I’m so stressed out”, stop and immediately acknowledge your need to rephrase that statement. Repeat to yourself:  “I used to be stressed out."  This simple change allows your Personal Assistant to recognize the truth of the statement, while allowing room for change.

STEP TWO: Create an empowering future for your brain to focus on. To do this, you need to give your Personal Assistant a progressive statement to work with. A progressive statement opens you up for positive change.  Examples are:  "I am willing to learn" or "I'm in the process of …".  After you rephrase a negative thought pattern into the past tense, you need to make a progressive statement such as: “Now I am willing to learn how it feels to have a balanced life". Your Personal Assistant will immediately pay attention and think:  "Yes, this is true. We used to be stressed out. I guess we’re done with that because now we're willing to learn how it feels to have a balanced life." 

This is one of techniques that I mention in my new online course: THINK Yourself® CONFIDENT. Check it out here.