What if I told you that you can achieve anything you want—whether it’s learning a musical instrument, mastering a new language, getting lean and muscular, or anything else?
Let me introduce you to a tool that’s like a miracle for making your desires a reality. For me, it has been one of the most transformative things I’ve ever discovered.
That tool is affirmations.
What Are Affirmations?
The concept of affirmations is not new. Norman Vincent Peale wrote about it in his book The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. However, I came across affirmations in 2016, thanks to Scott Adams’ How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Scott is one of the biggest proponents of affirmations.
In the words of Scott Adams:
Affirmations are simply the practice of repeating to yourself what you want to achieve while imagining the outcome you want. You can write it, speak it, or just think it in sentence form.
When you’re striving for something—whether it is something material or in terms of any skill—you should say to yourself or write down on a piece of paper several times a day (10 to 15 times) that you will work towards it and achieve it. Doing so would vastly increase the odds of you achieving the desired thing.
My Experience with Affirmations
I experienced the power of affirmations long before I learned about it in 2016.
When I was younger, I used to pray to God every night before going to sleep. In those prayers, I would ask for things. Some of those things seemed nearly impossible at the time, but a lot of those things materialized in my life like miracles.
For example, I did my schooling in a vernacular language, and by the time I finished high school at the age of 15, I couldn’t read or understand an English book. If you’d told me back then that one day I’d be fluent in English, I wouldn’t have believed it. But here I am, fluent. People don’t believe I went through school in a vernacular medium.
In my nightly prayers, I asked God to help me master English. What I was doing back then, without knowing it, was practicing affirmations. I just called them prayers. As I grew older and stopped believing in God, I lost touch with this practice.
But in 2016, when I read Scott Adams’ book, I immediately connected it to my past experiences with “miracles.” Suddenly, it clicked—it wasn’t magic, it was the power of affirmations.
How Do Affirmations Work?
Whether you believe in God, the Law of Attraction, or need a logical explanation, one thing is certain: affirmations work. But of course, the thing you want should be humanly possible.
Here’s how I understand it scientifically: The human mind is complex and doesn’t always function as we want it to. You can’t just say, “I want to achieve this,” and expect smooth sailing. Life throws distractions and demotivations your way. But if you “hack” your mind, you can steer it toward your goals.
Affirmations are that mind-hack.
They help keep your mind focused on what you want. They train your brain to spot opportunities and influences that can help you get there.
Not only do affirmations help you focus on the positive, but they also keep you away from negative influences that might derail you. For instance, if one of your affirmations is “I will stay lean and healthy,” your mind will naturally seek out healthy habits and steer you away from things that could harm your health. It’s like your brain starts scanning for solutions that align with your goal.
The science behind this involves a part of the brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), which filters information and focuses your mind on what’s important to you.
Affirmations employ your RAS. Once you start practicing affirmations, you’ll magically start to see solutions you didn’t see before. That’s because your mind didn’t notice them through all the noise. In that regard, I can’t overstate the importance of affirmations.
How to Practice Affirmations
There are no fixed rules around doing affirmations, but here are a few pointers I’d give you to craft your affirmations.
Don’t be too specific in your affirmations. Keep your affirmations simple. Instead of saying, “I’ll learn guitar in two years,” just say, “I will learn guitar.” Affirmations aren’t an exact science—don’t worry about timelines.
Keep them clear and concise. Here are some examples:
I will learn the guitar
I will own a bigger house and a car
I will be financially independent
Work with 5 to 6 affirmations regularly about the things you most desire. Write them down 10 to 15 times a day, or say them aloud when you have free moments.
Without fail, do them before going to sleep.
That’s it. Now spare some time today and think about what you want to achieve. Write down your affirmations. Even if something seems ridiculously impossible, it’s okay to include it in your affirmations as long as it is humanly possible and you seriously desire it.
It’s not magic. Things will not materialize out of thin air without you doing the work, but do the affirmations and you will find the mindset, the energy, and the external guidance to make things happen.
Even if you’re skeptical, give it a try. As Scott Adams says, affirmations don’t cost anything if they don’t work, but if they do, it will change your freakin’ life!