Positive affirmations ..

I've always thought positive affirmations were kinda cheezy.

You know like..." I am beautiful"
"I am totally and utterly loveable."

How can people honestly say those things in front of the mirror?
They're lies, aren't they. Are for me anyway. I know I'm only totally loveable to my dog. Even then, it depends on the treats I give him.

How about the following?

I can become a famous singer/song writer.
I can eat this whole packet of potato chips.
I can lose 20 kg in the next 2 months.
Women are magically drwan to my charisma..
I do have the talent to enter X Factor.
I can earn half a million dollars a year.

Positive affirmations were what my therapist told me to do to myself to overcome my problem of feeling unworthy. It did help. Eventually. Took a long time though.

I don't think they're lies though. Because positive affirmations should be based on things that are achievable with effort. It's not applicable to everything in life.The effects of reaffirming oneself positively doesn't just happen by saying it in front of the mirror. There needs to be actions and effort as well as belief... and these positive affirmations are what keep you motivated to reach that goal.

Thanks for your reply ladyfor s.

For me ,realistic positive affirmations would work much better ie. more specific as opposed to vague.

example:
"I am coping better at work these days. It's not perfect yet but I am at least showing some courage and determination. This morning I found the right words to say in a situation requiring assertiveness."
or
"I'm getting better at distancing my thoughts recently. Therefore not taking things so personally. I handled that interaction yesterday quite well."
"I'm not the world's best dog trainer but my dog respects me most of the time. I didn't need a lead the other day and he followed me closely all the way home."

The idea of a positive affirmation isn't to boost up someone's ego with ridiculous or impossible (20 kg in two months) lies. It is to change someone's perspective about themselves and turn self-destructive thoughts into self-helping thoughts. Considering something like beauty is a subjective and entirely personal concept, a person changing his or her belief about his or her looks for the better cannot do any harm. No one can tell you how good looking or ugly you are. They can tell you how they think you look, but it is all mere opinion, and whose opinion matters more - yours or theirs?

The reason positive affirmations have a chance of helping certain individuals is because of how easily the brain can be taught through routine and inculcation of a certain concept (regardless of how "cynical" or "realistic" one thinks he is) and the lack of evidence against the positive thought that is being affirmed to oneself.

You are a physically attractive person. What is the factual evidence that disproves it? There can't be any, because beauty itself is a matter of opinion. So why don't you think you're beautiful? Because you allow yourself and others to tell you that you aren't, as though it were fact. So whose fault is it that you don't think you're beautiful? Yours.

If you can allow negative affirmations to sway the way you think so easily, why can't positive affirmations work the same way?

If you can allow negative affirmations to sway the way you think so easily, why can't positive affirmations work the same way?

Click to expand...

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I enjoyed reading your post.