“You become what you believe. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed.” -Oprah Winfrey

Your ability to accomplish anything starts with your mindset. One of the best ways to change or improve your mindset is through the use of positive affirmations. 

There’s a reason why successful people incorporate positive affirmations and the law of attraction into their lives.  If you practice the use of affirmations, you’re in great company along with Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and many more. 

Developing a positive mentality that’s ready to manifest your dream life might be a challenge for some.  For others, it can come as second nature.  Either way, the introduction of positive affirmations is a method you can use to help your dreams and life goals become a reality.

What Are Positive Affirmations?

The official definition of an affirmation is “the action or process of affirming something or being affirmed.” To affirm is to “state as a fact; assert strongly and publicly.”

Affirmations in themselves are not positive.  You can affirm that you can’t do it.  You can affirm that you’re not smart enough.  You can affirm that it’s too hard.  You can even affirm that you’ll never reach your goals.

It’s sad and unfortunate, but those are affirmations people make too often, without the understanding that their thoughts and words have power over their lives and the outcomes they want to see. 

Positive affirmations are statements that boost your confidence, increase your self-esteem, improve your belief in yourself, and uplevel the desire within to make things happen no matter what. 

You can affirm that you are magical.  You can affirm that today will be a great day.  You can affirm that you are a go-getter and will achieve your goals.  You can affirm that nothing is impossible. 

You’ve heard of many influential people using affirmations to manifest their dream life, dream husband, dream career, dream vacation, the list goes on and on.  But how does a statement alone cause your life to change?

The Power of Positive Affirmations

There is scientific evidence that the use of positive affirmations literally changes your brain. 

A study found ”MRI evidence suggesting that neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks.”  

This basically means that parts of the brain involved in expecting and receiving rewards are more active when positive affirmations are stated. Your brain actually begins to expect good things to happen to you.

If this isn’t enough evidence that your words, thoughts, and beliefs have an impact on your body, health, brain, and eventually your life, we don’t know what is. 

How To Start Using Positive Affirmations 

If you want to begin incorporating positive affirmations into your life, it’s a simple process. 

• Take inventory of what needs to happen so you can have your dream life. 

• Do you have low self-esteem? Search for self-esteem affirmations so you can start replacing the negative thoughts in your head with positive ones. 
  Are you struggling financially?  Find abundance, business, or career based affirmations that speak to you. 

• Do you wish your love life was different?  Seek out affirmations related to this topic to incorporate into your day. 

• There is no limit to the number of affirmations you can say daily, but you might want to start with 5 or 10.  Write your affirmations down and read them aloud every day, 3-5 times daily.  Say them with conviction, power, and the belief that they are true.  Every time you repeat them, your brain believes you and is preparing for that affirmation to come true.

• Check out this recent article from Fortune for additional tips.

Do you believe in the power of positive affirmations?  What’s your go-to affirmation? Let us know in the comments. 

NOURISH TIP: You can go to sleep with positive affirmations playing in the background.  YouTube has tons of affirmation videos that last from a few minutes to many hours.  Allow your subconscious mind to soak up all of the positivity while you sleep.  You might not be aware of what’s happening behind the scenes, but your body is still receiving the positive blessings you’re pouring in.