Sunday Serenities – A New Affirmation to Start Your Week
Each week we will be sharing a new affirmation. The introductory information will remain the same, but if you are new to affirmations, please check out the first two sections on “What is an Affirmation?” and “How to Practice Your Affirmation.” If you regularly read our weekly article or already do affirmations, feel free to skip to the section titled “Read Today’s Affirmation.”
What is an Affirmation
Many have heard of affirmations, but if you haven’t tried them yet, you are missing out! Simply put, an affirmation is a statement you use to affirm yourself – you know, to say something positive. There are many different types, and as long as they are positive, there really is no wrong way to do an affirmation.
Affirmations can be a simple phrase, a list of related statements, or a focused paragraph. All of these work well depending on the situation you are working on, the time you have, and your intention – your intention being the most important part of the equation.
Do Affirmations Work?
According to an article by Catherine Moore, Psychologist, MBA in PositivePsychology.com “There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016). If you want to be super specific, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016).
The results of a study by Falk and colleagues suggest that when we choose to practice positive affirmations, we’re better able to view “otherwise-threatening information as more self-relevant and valuable” (2015: 1979).”
So the bottom line is yes – affirmations work. It’s not a magic bullet. You do have put in the time and effort to practice them regularly. Do some research and find the affirmations that resonate with you, then begin to put them into practice. You can begin your search with the affirmation for today.
How to Practice Your Affirmation
Here is how to practice today’s affirmation. It is not original – but it is so good, I had to share (with permission of course and the promise to keep the originator anonymous). If you are comfortable with the idea, I like to recommend that people do this in front of a mirror. Read the affirmation a phrase at a time, then pause after each phrase. Take time to look yourself in the eye and then repeat the phrase back to yourself aloud. When you are finished with the affirmation, take time to breathe and reflect.
Finish your time by answering the self-reflection questions below. You can answer them any way you like, but I prefer to have a journal where I can have both my affirmations and the answers to my questions together. You may be surprised when you look back at them one day and discover the answers may be totally different.
Read Today’s Affirmation
I keep my word. Keeping my word is one of my basic core values.
When I give my word, I keep it because I am a trustworthy person. In everything I do, I choose truth over a lie because honesty is always the best choice.
If I commit to doing something, I complete it quickly before my time is filled with other tasks and I forget about my commitment. I leave reminders in plain view where I can see them so I can be reminded of my task.
I keep myself organized by using any tools available to remind myself of my commitments. I set alarms on my phone and computer to remind myself of important upcoming events or due dates.
When I give my word, I make a promise. I give my word with every intention of fulfilling it. If I ever doubt that I will be able to complete a task or make a deadline, I simply say it upfront before agreeing to the task.
When I agree to something, I do it because I want to and because I know I can fulfill it. I am free from the need to be agreeable simply to appease others. I would rather say “no” to a request than to say “yes” and then not fulfill my word.
My word is important to me because it says a lot about my character. People take me seriously because they trust me to keep my word. My reputation as a person of integrity precedes me.
Today, I choose to value and respect my word and honor others by speaking openly with them. I refrain from committing to tasks I cannot fulfill.
Answer the Self-Reflection Questions:
1. Have I been living up to my word?
2. What motivates me to take on more tasks than I may be able to complete?
3. How can I help myself keep my deadlines in order?
I hope you enjoyed this issue of Sunday Serenities. It is my mission to help provide you with the tools you need to have a more peaceful life so you can:
Find your purpose – Find your joy!
Would you like copy of Improve Your Mindset? Just click on the link – it’s my gift to you.
Did you find a few more ideas of your own? If so, I’d love to hear about them in the comments, and as always please reach out with your thoughts. I appreciate that you take the time to read this blog post and hope that it is helpful to you. Let me know if there are other topics you would like to learn more about and, if I am able and qualified to speak about it, I will share a blog post on your topic.
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Email: info@SerenitiesNow.com
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