How to Write Effective Affirmations: Six Easy Steps

Knowing how to write affirmations can be difficult with all of the often conflicting information out there. Affirmations can be a powerful tool for changing your life, but one expert will say to write them one way; another expert will say that their method is the best. How would you know who is really correct? It’s hard to say which method is the best because everyone is different. What works well for you may not work as well for somebody else. Fortunately, even with all the different methods available, it is possible to find a few common areas that almost everyone seems to agree on.

These common areas are the basics of writing an effective affirmation. You really don’t need to follow a long set of rules to come up with an effective affirmation statement. If you stick with these following guidelines, you should be able to come up with something that will work well for you.

First Figure out What You Want

Before you begin working on writing an effective affirmation, you need to figure out what you want. If you already know the answer to that question, please feel free to skip down to the next section.
Maybe you’re not sure about what results you would like in your life. This is common so don’t feel bad. In order to figure out what you want, it’s often much easier to start by looking at what isn’t working well for you right now. You can then figure out how you would like things to be instead.

On a sheet of paper draw a line down the middle, going from the top to the bottom of the sheet. On the left side, write what you’re not happy with within each of the following areas of your life. Try to be as specific as possible.

• Finances
• Relationships (with yourself and others)
• Health
• Career or business
• Emotions and Attitude
• Spirituality

Now, on the right side of the sheet, across from each item on the left side, write down what you want instead. So if one of your list items on the left side was something like “I only make $25,000 a year and it isn’t enough to pay for what I want,” on the right side you would write how much money you think you need to make to be able to pay for what you want.

If you’re still not sure what you want, you might try writing down something along the lines of “I want to be clear about what I want. “Now that you’ve got your list, pick 5 items from the right side of the sheet that you desire the most in your life right now.

Done? Excellent!

Now you’re ready to tweak that wish list into effective affirmation statements. Take each of the 5 items from your list and reword each one according to the steps below.

6 Easy Steps to Write Affirmations

1. Begin with the words “I am,” which are very powerful. Your subconscious brain takes those words as a command to begin working on whatever follows those two words.
2. Keep it in the present. You want your subconscious mind to see your goal as existing. If you phrase it in the future tense, you’re training your subconscious to keep you in a state of waiting for something to come. Here’s an example: “I am energetic and alive at my ideal weight of 175.”
3. Keep it Positive. Remember we’re talking about positive affirmations here. To create an effective affirmation, state what you want. Your subconscious mind thinks in pictures, so you want to avoid thinking about what you don’t want. For example, if you state that you are no longer sick, you probably still get a picture in your mind of you being sick. Rephrase it to say what you want instead. If you want to be healthy, say so. Try something like “I am healthy and energetic. My body is in perfect working order.”
4. Keep it short. Just because it’s easier to remember that way.
5. Be Specific. It’s hard for your brain to work on making something real if the goal is fuzzy. It’s also hard for you to measure how far you’ve come in achieving your goal if you’re not specific about what you desire. Specifying 175 in your weight goal, for example, is better than simply saying you want to be slimmer.
6. Put some emotion into it. What would it feel like to achieve your goal? Try to come up with one or two key emotions and include those in your affirmation. If you look again at the weight example above, you’ll notice it included the feelings energetic and alive. If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what it would feel like, just use the words happy and grateful. Example: “I am so happy and grateful now that I’ve reached my goal of weighing 175.”

Daily Positive Affirmations Examples

Affirmations For Growth

• Every day in every way I am becoming better and better.
• I act differently because I am different. I am growing each day.
• I am free of any consciousness of personal limitation, lack, doubt, or inferiority.
• Creation and change are continuous in the universe. I am a part of this magnificent flow, becoming a more complete person each day.
• I am entering a new level of understanding and consciousness of a richer, more meaningful life.
• I am vitalized by new ambitions, dreams, and excitement for living.
• I am growing day-by-day by a natural and beautiful process of mental involvement that will enable me to experience my life from a wonderfully expanded perception and consciousness.

Affirmations For Health

• I am filled with vitality, energy, and physical stamina.
• The perfect life power that flows through every living being is now animating and vitalizing every cell and function of my physical being.
• My body is constantly being renewed by the center of my consciousness from which flows harmony, peace, calmness, and absolute confidence.
• I am strong, vigorous, and whole. Through me flows the breath of perfect life vitalizing, renewing, and maintaining my body. Any imperfection is immediately eliminated or healed.
• I think, speak, and act nothing but perfect health.
• I possess endless reserves of health, energy, and endurance which I manage positively to make my life an exciting experience.

Affirmations For Self  Acceptance

• I am a unique, confident, interesting human being receiving an increasing flow of life’s abundance. I completely and absolutely accept myself, knowing that any negative conditions in my life are the shadows of thoughts that are now eliminated.
• I hold only good, positive thoughts in my mind about myself, knowing that they will be expressed in my life.
• I am in complete control of my actions and thoughts, doing nothing that will needlessly drain off my physical resources, emotional strength, and energy.
• My perception of my life is heightened, broadened, deepened. Wholeness, beauty, joy, accomplishment, fulfillment, and self-confidence now fill my mind.
• I look at myself with interest, humor, and lightness, realizing that my self-concerns vanish with laughter about them and sharing them with others.
• Today I am specific in considering the perfect thing I choose to demonstrate. I have definite results in mind.
• My outward experience is evidence of my inner convictions.
• I have the power to choose that which enters my consciousness.
• I have special abilities and greatness locked deep within me which will be released as my self-awareness expands. I shall begin to experience success at levels I never perceived or understood before.

Affirmations For Personality

• I know that my personality is a reflection of my attitudes. My attitudes are positive; therefore, my personality is positive. People will react to me positively.
• I am ________ (PUT the characteristic you feel is most important for you to acquire -confident, cheerful, enthusiastic, poised, sincere, considerate, attentive, etc.).
• I laugh. My daughter gives me joy and is a balm to my existence. It prevents dullness, worry, and tension, giving me inner strength and balanced life.

Affirmations For Relationships With Others

• I am conscious only of the good in others.
• I love, like, and enjoy time with _______ (name of spouse, member of the family, etc.)
• I am flexible and tolerant in all my relationships with others.
• I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. (This quotation is over 100 years old.)
• I experience joy from my present friendships and pleasure in making new ones.
• I give to others the same love, respect, and helpfulness that I desire for myself.
• I am filled with love, friendship, understanding, and forgiveness. I hold no resentment, hate, judgment, or self-pity.
• I am in complete harmony with all and within, for I know I can forgive because I can ask forgiveness.
• I find all people interesting.
• Because I now accept myself positively and unconditionally, I know that others will accept me in the same manner.
• I love, believe in, trust, and respect my children so wholeheartedly that I convey this confidence in all my relationships with them.
• I am patient, skillful, and understanding in dealing with all members of my family.

Affirmations For Removal Of Negative Attitudes

• I let go of all limiting thoughts of anxiety and doubt.
• I am free of all  ____________ (Add word that fits – malice, hate, jealousy resentment, grudges, confusion, Frustration, tension, conflict, inferiority, etc.). I replace it with__________.
• I give up every harmful thought, false belief, and negative emotion that has found its way into my body and mind.

If you’re struggling to make your day a great one, try practicing gratefulness. It could be the thought of the rising sun that warms you, the trees that shade you, or even the fact that you woke up to see it all one more time. To fully embrace the beauty of life, tell yourself how wonderful it is. Convince yourself that this day will be one worth smiling for, and watch how your mindset mirrors your positive thinking…..

Have you got your list of affirmations ready? Perfect! Now that you know how to write an effective affirmation, you’re ready to learn how to use your affirmations for maximum effect.