Many people claim that self affirmations are really successful in helping bring positive changes to their lives. They say that it is effective and really works. However there are just as many people who say that it does not work. That it is just a temporary fad.

Why is this so? How come some people experience success with it while others don’t?

First of all, let us understand what self affirmation is. Self affirmation is the practice of repeatedly affirming what you desire to have. This is done in a way similar to reciting to chanting your affirmations. There’s no limit to what you can affirm for. You can do self affirmations for almost anything.

This is an example of a self affirmation;

- “Everyday in every way I am getting stronger and stronger”

Just a simple statement like that is fine. Or lose the “everyday in every way”. Just go something like “I am becoming…….”.

Affirmations are made using ‘I am’, ‘I can’ and ‘I will’ statements. Such as “I am confident” or “I can be confident” etc.

The Workings Behind Affirmations

Affirmations works because of the power of intention. When you practice affirmations, you are declaring your intention to the universe and everything in it. It is not just a mere verbal practice. The universe helps you in the background to achieve your goals when you do affirmations.

When we imagine something vividly and intensely, our brains cannot differentiate between the visualization and reality. It will accept it as the real thing. The more intense it is, the more likely it will be accepted as reality. It is the same with affirmations. Practice your affirmations with emotion and intensity and the more likely it will be accepted by the brain. This is how affirmations work.

And when you repeat the affirmation many times, it will be more and more ‘real’ to the brain.

So what makes it not work for some people?

So how come there are many people who say that self affirmations do not work? Is the power of intention real? Does the brain actually feel that you’re just kidding yourself? That no matter how much you affirm it doesn’t reflect the truth?

Well there are mainly 2 reasons why it does not work for some people.

The first reason is because they are not doing their affirmations correctly. What do I mean by that? As stated earlier the power of intention is displayed when we are repeating affirmations with power, passion, emotion and intensity. When there’s no power, no passion, there’s no belief. The brain would immediately and completely reject the affirmation when it is repeated in a weak, uninspired manner.

The other reason is because there is no congruency after practicing the affirmation. People expect that practicing affirmations will solve all their problems. But the truth is they must put in effort to work together with it. Staying congruent is important for affirmations to work.

We should have this mind-set when it comes to self affirmations. We should not think of affirmations as the solution to all problems. Rather, we must help make the affirmation process effective by working together with it, through effort and the determination to change our lives.