Negative Affirmations

I wasn't much of a fan of the whole affirmation thing at first. Mainly because many people I knew seemed to think just saying the words would make it so.

How could just saying a nifty phrase make a difference?

But we are giving ourselves affirmations all the time. The thoughts about who we are and should be.

- I am so stupid for forgetting that.

- I can't believe I failed that test.

- I'm not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough, rich enough...

But we know we need to keep ourselves awake to these unhelpful thoughts because they impact our abilities, health, relationships, and happiness.

ONE THING that I recently read in Chatter: The Voice in Our Head and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross was how we need to zoom in on the moments that bring us joy and satisfaction but zoom out when our thoughts are destructive.

ONE THING he suggests when we are being hard on ourselves and creating stress is to stop using "I" and instead use the third person, or your name. It sounds weird, but I think that helps it work.

Our ability to select and focus our attention can help us or harm us. What we think and believe about ourselves will shape our ability to take action and to set up an environment that can truly support us.