10 Affirmations to guide you through the day

Affirmations can be powerful tools to draw strength from when you feel decidedly shaky. An affirmation is simply a short statement, usually starting with “I am”, that affirms a belief. Any direct statement to yourself can be taken as an affirmation so they can knock you down as well as strengthen your resolve. If you tell yourself “I’m rubbish at maths” often enough you’ll believe it.

So, let’s not give ourselves messages that serve no useful purpose and instead focus on the statements that enable us to move forward with positivity. By choosing an affirmation that you feel good about, it can challenge or stretch you too, you’re more likely to stick with it. Think of what belief you want to strengthen in yourself and create an affirmation to repeat to yourself as often as you can throughout the day. You can make it your phone or desktop wallpaper. Set an alarm to go off every hour to remind you to state your affirmation. Write it on cards and put them wherever you’re likely to see them most often – on your desk, inside your wallet, on the fridge, on the front door…

Your affirmation can be anything you want it to be. You can change it every day, choose one to stick with for a longer period of time, or have several you recall when needed. To get you started, here are ten suggested affirmations, see how these feel:

I am confident

I can do this

I am in charge of my life

I believe in myself

I am brave

I am ready for today

I am open to what today brings

I am proud of me

I am beautiful

I am doing my best

These affirmations are merely suggestions, if they don’t resonate with you create one of your own that feels right for you. I have several affirmations that I use depending on how I feel and what I need. A current favourite of mine is I decide what I give my attention to.

Create an affirmation that empowers you, no-one else need know what it is unless you choose to tell them. And if you do what to share, I’d love to hear about what affirmations work for you so do leave a message in the comments or on my Instagram or Facebook posts.

Discover how you can create the happier life you want with my most in-depth e-course, Choosing Happiness. It’s open for registration now and you can find all about how I use positive psychology research and my own experiences to give you the knowledge, tools and actions to increase the joy and contentment you feel each day, on the course page here. You can join the course now and class begins on 13 February. I’d love for you to join me and choose happiness now.