If you’re keen to start incorporating self affirmation into your daily routine but aren’t totally sure how to get started, then you’ve come to the right place. You don’t have to uproot your entire morning schedule to start using self love affirmations, they can slot into any activity you do, whether that’s making your morning brew, brushing your teeth, or folding the laundry! The more dedicated you are to affirmations, the more they work for you, but if you’re just trying them out then starting small is the best way to go. Trust us, once you start practicing self affirmation, you won’t want to stop!
If you haven’t figured it out already, Morale are big believers in the theory of self affirmation. We want everyone to realise the power of affirmations and the impact they can have on your daily life, so we’re always talking about them. Affirmations can really turn your mindset around and help you start realising all your goals and ambitions, but they need to be used properly for them to work to the best of their ability. There’s no magic or superstition involved, just straightforward science.
How does self affirmation work and why should I start using them?
The average person will think upwards of 40,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Most of these are subconscious and will happen automatically, but what happens when we take control of our thoughts? You take control of your life! By incorporating self love affirmations into our mental narrative, you can start to instil a whole new belief system that supports your goals and aspirations. By consciously thinking positive thoughts and self affirmation regularly, they will soon become as part of your subconscious too, and start happening automatically.
When used correctly, positive self affirmations have the potential to rewrite the neural pathways in our brains and trigger feelings of optimism and confidence. When this happens, how we view ourselves (our self image) is altered and this is where the exciting stuff starts to happen. Self image is intrinsically linked to our actions, decision-making, behaviour, and how we interpret the world around us. From birth, your experiences and actions will start determining your self image, but this doesn’t have to be a permanent fixture. Once you start re-writing your self image through self love affirmations, you open yourself up to realising all your desires. Believing in yourself as more confident, positive, capable, and worthy of success will start to make everything you set your mind to more attainable.
So, THAT’s why you should start using self affirmations…
How to start incorporating self affirmation into your daily routine
Starting and committing to something new can be an overwhelming or daunting task, but quite often simply starting is the hardest part and things become a whole lot easier when you get into the groove of it. There’s no need to completely change your morning or daily schedule to start practicing self affirmations. The beauty of them is that you can start doing them anytime, anywhere! Brushing your teeth? Say an affirmation. Making your morning coffee? Say an affirmation. In the lift up to the office? Say an affirmation… it really is that simple!
As we said before, affirmations work best when they’re practiced every day, so however you decide to introduce them into your routine, make sure you can stick to them. There are tonnes of ideas you can try to start using self affirmations that require minimal effort, making it even easier to form the habit. Turning your life around really is as easy as ABC!
Start small and simple
We’ve touched on this already, but don’t over-face yourself. Giving yourself a huge list of things to do every day is only going to overwhelm you and kill the motivation. Instead, just start practicing affirmations whilst doing other tasks.
As you’re getting out of the shower, take a moment to say to yourself “I am kind, loving, and happy”. And as you’re writing out your daily task list, remind yourself that you’re “creating the life I deserve to live”. Introducing affirmations really is that simple, it doesn’t have to be super complicated to be effective! Once you’ve got into the rhythm and you’re starting to feel its fantastic effects, you can try upping the ante and using some other self affirmation techniques. But in the meantime, just keep it straightforward- it’s just as effective.
Record your affirmations
If you’re always on the go then finding a bit of quiet time to sit and practice your self affirmations or journal might be a bit tricky. Recording your affirmations and listening to them back is a great way to get your daily dose of positive vibes whilst still doing your other tasks. Perhaps you spend a lot of time on the road driving, or your job is of the hands-on or outdoorsy variety, you won’t spend a whole lot of time sitting at a desk. That doesn’t mean self affirmations are unattainable or not for you! Listening to your affirmations is also highly effective for people who need a little extra motivation and self confidence when working out. Play back your affirmations whilst you’re on the road, doing activities, or in the gym, it’s hands-free so no excuses! It might feel a little awkward recording them at first and hearing yourself speak back to you, but persevere, the end result is more than worth it.
Make a playlist
On a similar thread to the top tip above, listening to motivational or empowering music can have a huge impact on your mood, confidence, and mindset too. Going hand in hand with the self affirmations you’re practicing (don’t neglect these!), making a playlist jam-packed with songs that make you feel like you can take on anything can help to solidify feelings of self confidence and self belief. It’s a great way to continue instilling a positive mindset whilst you’re travelling, at the gym, or at the supermarket for example! If you feel yourself slipping or you’re struggling a little that day, listening to music can be a fantastic pick-me-up and set you back on the right path.
Take photos
Whenever you see something that inspires you or sparks a positive emotion, take a photo. It could be a stunning view, a beautiful house, a gorgeous dress, a cityscape, or pretty much anything that makes you feel. Look at them back whenever you feel like you need it, or need reminding of what you’re working towards. Coupled with self affirmations, you will be mentally reinstating that you’re capable and worthy of achieving your goals, whatever that looks like for you. It differs from individual to individual, so it’s quite possible that your camera roll will look a little different from someone else, but it doesn’t matter so long as what you see reaffirms what you’re telling yourself.
If you want to go one step further, use all the photos to build a vision board and use that to visualise who you are and where you’re going.
Try journaling
Whilst journaling is a little more time-consuming, don’t underestimate its effectiveness. When you incorporate writing into your self affirmations, you are taking that extra step to really implant the belief in your mind. Journaling is also a fantastic way to document your thoughts and feelings, track your progress, and remind yourself what you’re grateful for every day. You may have heard of a little something called ‘positivity planners’, and these are a one-stop-shop if you’re interested in entering the world of journaling. Putting journaling onto your daily to-do list is a fantastic way to enforce the habit of practicing affirmations every day and ensures you dedicate sufficient time to it. Writing your affirmations down gives you something tangible to go back and look at if you need a reminder of how far you’ve come.
We could talk all day about affirmations, but we’ll leave it there for today. Morale is an app dedicated to boosting people’s self belief through the power of self affirmation, so if you’re interested in finding out more about how affirmations work and all the ways they can benefit you, head over to the Morale Blog. With the help of our app, you can actively start spreading positivity throughout your network by sending daily anonymous affirmations to your nearest and dearest. And because what goes around comes around, you’ll be making steps to improve your own mental health at the same time.
Simply download our app from Google Play or Apple’s App Store. It takes no time at all and it’s so easy to slip into your daily routine.
Make sure to check us out on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! We aim to boost people’s moods where ever we go, so if you’re looking for more positive vibes then you know where to find us.
We love hearing what you guys have to say, so don’t forget to send us an email to contact@moraleapp.co.
