I’ve been recommending self affirmation techniques to friends and family a lot over the past few years. Self affirmation being reassuring yourself of your positive qualities by saying them out loud to yourself when you feel down, hopeless, or desperate.
Ever since I went through some of my own really hard times, I found that self affirmation was actually really helpful. (stories for some other time)
It’s a simple process:
Say you’re awesome / a good person / valuable.
Pick a quality that you like about yourself.
Say you’re awesome because of that quality.
You can repeat it as a mantra, or keep picking new qualities to remind yourself that you possess.
I’ve definitely recommended this to my brother, mother and lots of friends plenty of times. It helps to recognize that there may be plenty of reasons to feel down, but there are also plenty of reasons to be grateful and to feel hope for the future.
If you’re struggling, or if you know someone who is, I’d say give it a shot. It doesn’t hurt.
Self affirmation can feel awkward at first, especially if you say the words out loud (like I do, often in fact). But it also starts to incite a feeling of comfort and reassurance pretty quickly.
Reminding yourself of your strength and your desireable qualities can help you to focus efforts toward rewarding and productive tasks throughout the day. It also helps to free up some space in that “emotional cup”, or to reinforce your resillince for the coming day ahead of you.
I read about a lot of strife and struggle here. This isn’t the cure all in any way. But it does help. It’s helped me a lot.
Maybe the tenacity and the drive to keep trudging forward is part of what you or someone close to you needs and self affirmation is a surprisingly effective way to cultivate it.
I do. Need reminders to myself that I’m living a good life, doing the best I can. I also pair this with a few minutes of gratitude thinking every morning, being actively thankful for my blessings. “Change your mind, change your life” I heard once, and it’s true.
I totally agree.
I believe our mind doesn’t just reside in our bodies, but that it is the master of our body and living environment.
Perspective and intent turn into decisions and actions.
Actions turn into events that shape our surroundings.
Our surroundings impact our perspective.
All endeavors and all goals begin with our view of ourselves and our own plans for our future.
@DianeR
Let us know if use this technique to build yourself up!
Tell us if it was awkward, or if it was easy. And let us know if you see any changes from doing it.
It’s probably not the magic bullet for everything, but sometimes it just might be the extra little bit you need!
@wreklus - When I remember to do it, it helps. Also taking an online art workshop where we virtually go to Provence and the teacher is super positive. That helps as well! : )
Perspective is important to peace of mind, but our lifestyle, environment and actions have a big impact too.
If it’s not being too invasive, I might recommend that you take stock of things you do, places you go, people you interact with weighted against how they impact your quality of life and peace of mind.
Evaluate both positive and negative influence.
Positive factors should generate a feeling of comfort, accomplishment, wellness and security. Those things should definitely outweigh the factors that detract from them, but they should also help build enough of an “emotional resivoir” to provide you with the general feeling that you can handle life’s ups and downs.
Habits and hobbies are a big source of either accomplishment and wellness (when they are positive) or uncertainty and poor self-image (when they are negative).
If you paint a lot, but never feel accomplished or at peace with your work, that would be a negative influence. Likewise with a lot of other hobbies and habits.
If you handle the entire budget of your household, but experience a lot of anxiety and frustration regarding bills and saving, that would be another negative influence.
Changing what you do, when you do it, what environment you place yourself in, and who you are with when you take on those tasks all matter.
Keep encouraging yourself. But also take a critical look at your day-to-day and see if you can find specific combinations of activities, places, and people that could be improved.
Making a plan and taking action to effect a change can help add a sense of progress and peace in itself. Accomplishing parts of that plan leads to a more positive view of the future, and by association, a better view of ourselves.
Not saying I know anything you don’t already know. Not saying I am some source of wisdom. Just pointing out an option that might help.
Thank you for your explanation. It seems simpler when you lay it out like that for me to evaluate things. I do need a boost in the “at peace” department. Perhaps a simple list of positive and negative influences would help. Everything seems to be in a constant swirl of motion in my life.