Affirmations for Strength, Peace, and Confidence

Affirmations are similar to affirmative prayers, except you are not directing them to the universe, but simply reciting positive statements with the intention to shift your focus from fear to love, peace, joy, confidence, or any other empowering feeling.

For affirmations to be truly effective, they need to repeated frequently throughout the day – or even better, on an ongoing basis for longer periods of time.

You can use affirmations written by other people or write your own. Writing your own affirmations is easier than you may think. Simply think about the feeling you want the affirmation to trigger within you and word the statement so that it is in present tense.  

For example, if you feel anxious about an upcoming meeting, you might create an affirmation that states: “I feel calm, confident and centered.” Say this affirmation over and over until you really do start to feel calm, confident and centered.

One common problem with this approach: your subconscious mind may feel resistant and keep returning to the reasons why you are afraid. Consequently, you will engage in a sort of ―tug of war‖ with your subconscious where you keep saying how calm and confident you feel, and your subconscious mind keeps replying, “You are so full of it! You know you‟re really scared!”

If this does happen, you‘ll be able to feel it because the affirmation will feel like a lie every time you recite it. If you persist in saying it anyway, you‘ll probably feel progressively more anxious as you go along.

One effective solution is to turn your affirmation into a statement of conscious choice. Rather than saying, “I feel calm, confident and centered,” you might say, “I choose to feel calm and centered right now.” 

This helps bypass your subconscious objections because you are not denying your fearful feelings; you are simply acknowledging that you choose to feel differently. 

Another solution is to relieve the pressure you feel by focusing on a gradual process of transformation, rather than stating the affirmation as fact. Example: “With every passing moment I am feeling calmer and more in control.” Or, “I am starting to feel a little calmer now.” 

If you find that you are still struggling to make affirmations work for you, there is still another option that can be effective when the others have failed. Try stating what you WANT, rather than worrying about what you don‘t want. 

For example, “I want to go into that meeting feeling very self-assured, very centered and very resourceful. I want to know instinctively how to address the questions I will be asked, and I want to leave the meeting feeling like I made a strong positive impression.” 

As you say these words, try to tune into the feelings of what you are saying. Imagine feeling proud of yourself, confident in your abilities, and knowing that the meeting went well. 

This technique should have a positive effect on your state of mind because you will have reinforced your vision of the outcome you want, rather than continuing to perpetuate the fear.