November is positive affirmations month so what are they and how can they benefit you? Positive affirmations have become really popular, especially with the rise of social media, you’ve probably seen Instagram, Twitter and Facebook posts that quote positive affirmations. But what are these magic words that claim to transform your mind and your life? As it turns out, there’s a lot of science to back up exactly how a set of positive words can dramatically improve your mind and body. Positive affirmations are so much more than just feel good quotes and positive statements. In short, positive affirmations are statements that are repeated to encourage and uplift the person speaking them. In reality, a positive affirmation is actually part of the language of the brain. 3 Elements of Successful Affirmations Because positive affirmations are written in the language of the brain, they follow a specific formula. It turns out, our brains are pretty strict and straightforward about their language rules.
How Do You Effectively Use Affirmations? Your brain is a complex and complicated network of information that is always sending and receiving thoughts and instructions at lightning speed. Every simple action you take is really a set of complicated communications between cells called neurons. Because of the amount of information your brain has to process every single second, it takes everything you think and say in a very literal way. When you understand how this literal communication works, you begin to see how this affects your emotions, behaviours and even physical wellbeing. When you think a thought, your brain processes the information literally and prepares you for the action that should immediately follow the thought. For example, if you think to yourself, “I’m going to have a great time on my date this weekend,” your brain essentially hears “good date” and starts firing off all the connections to make your date amazing. The problem is, it starts firing off those connections in the moment. You may get a boost of confidence and even start sending off some feel-good pheromones, but it will be in that moment, right then and there. This effect is highlighted when you start to fear something that might happen in the future. Have you ever thought about why you can have such a strong physical reaction to things you know are fake? Take a scary movie for instance. Your heart may pound and you might even sweat and feel dizzy. This happens because your brain can’t tell the difference between what you’re experiencing right now and what you’re imagining you might experience in the future. Your brain reacts to your thoughts in a very literal way, in the present moment, and prepares you for the perceived danger. This is why it’s really important that your positive affirmations are always in the present tense. “I will do great in my job interview,” tells your brain to set you up for success now, but not in the future. “I am a great interviewer. I am a great employee,” strengthens the neural connections that make you feel confident, determined and prepared for your interview. Have you ever had an experience in which you’re overcome with emotion? So, you tell yourself, “don’t cry,” or, “don’t get angry,” only to find you become more upset? There are actually two things happening in the brain that make phrases like “don’t cry” increase your negative emotions. First, when you tell yourself “don’t cry,” you are giving your brain two different commands. The first command is don’t and the second is cry. You can process the two words together and understand their meaning, but your brain hears the word “cry” and begins to activate the neural connections for that command. In the end, you’re essentially telling yourself to cry, over and over again. Second, a simple command like “cry” takes one small process for your brain to interpret. It’s straightforward and simple. A command like “don’t cry” takes further interpretation. While your brain is busy firing off the processes to follow the command “cry,” it’s also going through a multi-step process of following the “don’t” command and then negating the entire command of, “don’t cry.” Unfortunately, after all that work, you haven’t given your brain an action to take instead of crying. It searches for something else to do, but you haven’t told it what to do. So, the next time you’re in a situation where you want to experience the opposite emotion, think of that opposite emotion and command yourself to do that instead. Instead of, “don’t cry,” try, “I am calm,” and see what happens! Repetition is the key to success To understand how positive affirmations work and why they’re an excellent tool for creating the life you want to live, it’s important to understand why repetition is so important. As you start using positive affirmations, you may feel like repeating them over and over again is a waste of time. If the brain responds to positive, present tense statements, then why is it necessary to repeat them several times every single day? The processes inside your brain are set up to help you succeed. To run efficiently, your brain strengthens its connections every time you think, feel and do. This helps you perform tasks with less energy and more focus. Think about driving a car or riding a bike. It can be awkward at first, when you’re learning, but after you figure it out, it comes naturally. This is because your brain strengthens those connections every time you repeat the action and thoughts. Break the tension Sometimes positive affirmations can feel like a lie. If you’re not happy with your weight, repeating the phrase, “I love my body,” and, “I maintain the perfect weight,” may feel like an outright falsehood. For many people, this is where affirmations take a wrong turn. It seems unnatural to repeat something that is completely untrue. Because of this, you may be tempted to change your affirmation into a more comfortable phrase like, “I can lose weight,” or, “I can keep up with my diet.” These affirmations won’t be effective for all the reasons we discussed above, but there’s also something else to be said for the discomfort of repeating a false phrase. We don’t like tension. Most of our life is spent avoiding, preventing and fixing discomfort. So, it’s no wonder that people use ineffective affirmations, because effective affirmations are often uncomfortable. Yet, it is exactly this discomfort that makes them work so well. When you come across an affirmation that makes you squirm in discomfort, it’s a good sign that it’s probably exactly the affirmation you need to repeat. If you feel uncomfortable about lying to yourself, you’ll want to fix it. At FD consultants we can help you or your team challenge negative thoughts, build resilience and promote wellbeing. If you want to reach out for our individual support, team workshops or management training please do get in touch.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
CONTACTArchives
April 2022
Categories
All
|