How Many Affirmations Should I Focus On? – Practical Guide

Some people tend to dismiss affirmations as new age fluff. 

Actually, they’ve helped thousands of people make significant positive changes throughout their lives.

Affirmations are positive statements, repeatedly said with confidence to yourself, to change some aspect of yourself or your life.

They gained popularity when French psychologist and pharmacist, of the early 20th century, Emile Coue.

He first began noticing his patients did much better when he told them a potion he gave them was highly effective.

How Many Affirmations Should I Focus On
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Power Of Affirmations

Countless successful people, from professional athletes, to top salespeople, to entrepreneurs and best selling authors, attribute their successes to the help of the daily affirmations they like to use.

Affirmations help to reprogram the subconscious mind so you can believe the stated concept and make the change you need for the success you desire.

Whether you know it or not, you use affirmations everyday.

Related: Best Shifting Affirmations For Lasting Change

Of course, you would choose to use positive statements, however, we often give ourselves negative affirmations without realizing.

Have you ever told yourself, or heard someone else say, they’re stupid or so clumsy? 

Someone could have said that to you one time as a young child and then it stays with you, below the surface, within the subconscious mind.

Then later in life this belief can come up, time and time again, through the feeling of being unworthy or inept.

The mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s fantasy.

Just like when you watch a TV program that makes you cry.

You know the program’s a fantasy and yet your mind responded as though it was real.

An affirmation can be a statement that hasn’t happened yet, such as, “I am an accomplished writer”, and by the time you’ve repeated it to yourself often, you begin to feel it as if it’s fact.

Eventually, you become what you’ve been affirming and the power of the law of attraction naturally brings that scenario right into your experience.

Follow these steps to come up with your affirmations:

  • First take the time to identify a limiting belief you want to overcome
  • Choose your affirmations using positive present tense. Begin with the words “I am” wherever possible. They are powerful words
  • Keep your statements brief and to the point
  • Include an action word
  • Include a word conveying emotion. This gets to the heart of your feelings about the outcome and makes it more true for you
  • Visualize yourself as being the one you’re affirming yourself as

Affirm what you want as though it’s already true and get into the feeling of it, then be grateful for it having happened. 

How Long Does It Take For Affirmations To Work? – Practical Guide

Do Affirmations Actually Work?

How Many Affirmations Should I Focus On

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There is plenty of evidence that affirmations work for a lot of people.

Although, there are those that have tried it and nothing happened.

There was no change in their lives.

The reason they may not work for someone is because they didn’t believe their affirmation.

So they lacked the emotion required to propel it.

When the affirmation you use is directly opposing a deeply held negative belief then the subconscious will reject it.

All you’re left with is an inner struggle.

For example, people living with depression often feel as though they’re ugly and worthless and that they’re the only one feeling that way.

Even countless successful people struggling with depression have those core beliefs, like Jane Fonda, a famous actress with a famous father.

She was at the height of her acting career and very beautiful, yet in her autobiography, she says she judged her appearance as inadequate and she struggled with eating disorders for years.

So, your affirmation must feel true and right for you if you’re going to get it to work.

Affirmations
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Related: Life-Changing Positive Affirmations For Men

How Many Affirmations Should I Say A Day?

Repeat your affirmations out loud, for about five minutes, at least three times a day.

Some people like to say them five times a day.

It really depends how much time you can take for yourself in a relaxed setting.

Just make sure the statements you choose are statements you believe in, and as you progress you may decide to adjust the statements to reflect your progress.

A good time to focus your attention on saying your affirmations could be while you’re brushing your teeth, or shaving, so you can look at yourself in the mirror when you say them out loud.

Another way to use your affirmations when you’re at work, is to write out several lines of your affirmations.

You could have a journal or notebook for this purpose.

For example, if you truly want to quit smoking, some affirmations could be:

  • “I am breathing effortlessly with lungs that are clean and clear.”
  • “I am filled with joy knowing that I quit smoking.”
  • “I am celebrating living a healthier and more active life.”

To remind yourself throughout the day, you might like to try setting a timer on your phone. 

Related: Hypnotic Affirmations For Self-Confidence

What Is The Best Affirmation?

When you have identified an undesirable belief, the best affirmation would be the one that opposes it.

The best affirmations would be different for every person.

It really depends what you are working on to change and what your goal is.

To make the best affirmations for you, be sure to keep your affirmations:

  • In the present tense
  • Clear and concise
  • Always positive
  • With a feeling and an action word

Focus on finding an undesirable belief, one that doesn’t serve the way you want to see yourself or your life.

Then you can come up with the right affirmations you need to get to a successful outcome by turning the unhelpful belief to one that serves you better.

To have an affirmation of “I am love”, and yet your self-esteem is low, you might have trouble believing that statement.

First find instances where you can see that you are love, then your affirmation will work best.

How Long Does It Take For Affirmations To Work
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Related: Speaking Things Into Existence – 11 Law Of Attraction Strategies

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How Many Affirmations Should Be In A Subliminal

Subliminal messages are regularly used by advertisers to sell their products.

These messages are designed to influence the subconscious part of the brain without you noticing.

Subliminals can also be positive and benefit you though.

They can help you change any area of yourself and your life.

A lot of successful people use subliminal affirmations to improve their self-esteem, self performance, concentration abilities, and much more.

You can make your own subliminal recording with positive affirmations embedded into them.

Remember to always make your affirmations positive and in present tense.

For example, you want to get over a fear of flying in an airplane, your statement could be “I love flying in an airplane”, or “I am calm and peaceful while flying in an airplane”. 

The brain doesn’t take well to commands using “don’t” or some way telling yourself to stop something.

So always keep positive and where you can, choose the words “I am” for the beginning of your statement.

They are very powerful words.

You can use several different subliminal affirmations to change something about yourself or your life. 

So here’s the way to create subliminal statements:

  • Choose your statements as you would choose affirmations
  • Record each subliminal statement three times back to back in a soft monotone voice which helps your body relax
  • Add in some ambient sounds like raindrops or ocean waves.
    This also helps the body relax and masks the subliminal statements a little so they’re not clearly picked up by the conscious mind

When the body is relaxed, the subconscious is more accepting of new thoughts.

This is a key point to using subliminals effectively.

By changing thoughts and beliefs that are unhelpful to you and untrue realistically speaking, you can expand and recover your life.

Affirmations and subliminals are tools you can use to empower yourself for change.

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About The Author

Bijan Kholghi is a certified life coach with the Milton Erickson Institute Heidelberg (Germany). He helps clients and couples reach breakthroughs in their lives by changing subconscious patterns. His solution-oriented approach is based on Systemic- and Hypnotherapy.

Bijan