10 Powerful Affirmations for Lack of Confidence

Effective affirmations are highly personalized and often situational.  The same word can ean different things to different people.  The positive affirmation statements given below are for inspiration and not to be used directly unless they make complete sense to you.  Make sure you have read this before you proceed.  To explore techniques that go beyond mere repetition, click here.  Affirmations are not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment.

An affirmation practised under Nidra is a hundred times more effective than when practised consciously in normal waking state.

With every breath, I inhale confidence and exhale my fears and anxieties.

I approach people with enthusiasm, confidence and boldness.

I love, accept and approve of myself exactly as I am.

I am always safe and secure and live life courageously.

I choose to take charge of my own life and it is safe to do so.

I easily and effortlessly adapt myself to new situations.  I love change.

Every aspect of my personality exudes confidence and enthusiasm.

Every action that I take is full of courage and confidence.

I am self-reliant, creative and persistent in whatever I do.

I live joyously in the present moment and look forward to the future with courage, conviction and confidence.

10 Powerful Affirmations for Anxiety

Effective affirmations are highly personalized and often situational.  The same word can ean different things to different people.  The positive affirmation statements given below are for inspiration and not to be used directly unless they make complete sense to you.  Make sure you have read this before you proceed.  To explore techniques that go beyond mere repetition, click here.  Affirmations are not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment.

An affirmation practised under Nidra is a hundred times more effective than when practised consciously in normal waking state.

I am cool, calm and collected all the time.

I love myself fully, completely and unconditionally.

I accept myself fully, completely and unconditionally.

I am fully confident about resolving all that life has in store for me.

I live in peace and tranquility.

All is well in my world and I am safe.

I love, accept and approve of myself exactly as I am.

I look towards the future with faith, hope and joy.

I am always safe and secure and live life courageously.

I have complete faith in the process of life.  I trust the universe implicitly.

Affirmation Techniques that Nobody Ever Told You About

If you have been following this blog, you have by now learnt all about affirmations, started working on identifying limiting beliefs, got an insight into dealing with core beliefs and read the little known ways of adding muscle to your affirmations, which very few people share.  In fact, most books you read on positive thinking and affirmations would not have given you the bulk of the information that you gained through those four articles, don’t you agree?

This article then deals with a number of different techniques that you can use to supercharge your affirmations.  Remember, An affirmation is a statement that is repeatedly uttered with confidence and assertion about a perceived truth to program your subconscious mind and bring about a significant change in your life.  Acknowledge that these are beliefs, not truths! When you argue for your limitations, we get to keep them. You choose!  What you believe is true for you!!

Also remember one other very important thing – to combine behavioral conditioning with affirmations to ensure it works for you every time.  A toast to your success – I am happy for you! You do not have to attempt all the techniques simultaneously, but you do have to work with all of them, to check what feels just right for you and what works most effectively for you.

Verbal affirmations

Say your affirmations aloud if it is possible and say them silently if it is not possible, but do say them as often as you can.  Remember, affirmations are several times more effective in a state of mind where you are connected with your subconscious, then when you are migrating them into your subconscious through your conscious mind and the critical filter.  This is precisely what Nirmiti Nidra is all about.  The workshop also teaches you the optimal time and repetitions each day.

Written affirmations

Remember, speaking is a conscious activity, writing is a subconscious activity.  Writing your affirmations down makes it powerful and energizes it with willful action. Yet, writing with emotion mechanically is only a fraction as effective as writing it charged with emotion and feeling what you would like to feel when what you are affirming manifests in reality in your life.

Replacement affirmations

Become Aware (Beware) of your thoughts and observe each time you slip into a negative pattern of thinking.  Remember to acknowledge your thoughts, thank them and cancel them.  Thereafter, replace them instantaneously at that very moment with your positive affirmation.  If there are multiple repetitive thoughts across different areas of your life, replace each of them with an appropriate positive affirmation.

Walking affirmations

When you are out for a walk, take a note of all that the universe has gifted you by way of the nature around you.  Take time to notice each tree and every flower, acknowledge the divinity of the universe and thank it silently.  In that moment of focussed attention and acknowledgement of the divine, repeat your affirmations.

Yogic affirmations

To transform your life, you have to influence your subconscious mind.  One way is through Nirmiti Nidra, which imparts you with an easy, effortless way to get in touch with your subconscious mind.  Another way is through meditation.  Meditation gives your mind a break from the incessant stream of thoughts and allows you to devote your attention to one particular key subject.  So when you meditate by using breathing techniques, word techniques or by employing a guided meditation, once you can feel yourself to be in a meditative state meditate on your specific affirmation.   

Gratitude affirmations

Write a thank you note to the Universe.  State how you will feel when you have achieved the outcome you desire.  State how thankful you are and how grateful you would be to the Universe.  Thank the universe and creation umpteen times till you feel you have thanked it enough and then some more.  Make sure you describe all your feelings when your dream comes true.  And if you can also add what you will give back to the society and the universe when your affirmation manifests as reality, super!

Secret : There are a few other unknown, un-revealed, un-shared techniques that you can use – visualized affirmations, vibrational affirmations, creative affirmations and turbo-charged affirmations.  To learn these secrets, visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nirmitinidra/ click “like” to become a follower, then click here.  You have to be a registered user to access this page (registration is free).

Identifying Limiting Beliefs That Are Hindering You

I had promised you a few tricks to identify the limiting beliefs all by yourself.  So this article is to tell you how you can go about doing just that.  But before you get down to identifying those limiting beliefs (some deep rooted from childhood) there is one thing you need to bear in mind.  Eliminate all biases that you may have had accumulated because of an ingrained belief.  For example, if you believe that you cannot trust anyone, all evidence to the contrary is probably being filtered out by you because this is deeply entrenched in your subconscious mind. 

The only manner to identify the biases you have developed is by being watchful, by being aware of your self-talk.  You have to consciously become aware of your self-talk and monitor them throughout the day.  All of us indulge in self-talk, a few may be so caught up with it that even their lips and hands may move simultaneously.  Indulgence without awareness defeats the purpose.  So become aware of your self-talk and how you often tell yourself that you are not capable of ______________, you cannot __________, you are not good at _________, etc.  Enhancing awareness is one of the things we impart at the Nirmiti Nidra workshop.

Quite obviously, you cannot overcome limiting beliefs unless you identify them.  And whereas quite a few would need professional help to identify them, many of you can easily do so using the following hacks –

Hack 1 : Set a bold goal for yourself.  Not an ordinary one, but a really bold goal.  For example, that you wish to be a millionaire/billionaire in 3 years from now.  Now start identifying all those thoughts that flit across your mind as to why this is difficult.  Isolate all the negative thoughts that surface automatically and you have a list of limiting beliefs – almost certainly more than one.  Even the thought that you will lose your close friends if you become rich is a limiting belief.

Hack 2 : Become aware of all the times that you feel doubtful, trapped, sad, helpless, frustrated, impatient, fearful, nervous, anxious, suppressed.  All those things that you are thinking of which result in these feelings is a limiting belief. 

Hack 3 : Ask yourself questions.  What is a goal I haven’t reached yet?  What stops me?  Is this belief true?  How does this belief make me feel?

Now comes the kicker – the most difficult part.  Acknowledge that these are beliefs, not truths! Evelyn Waugh wrote, “When we argue for our limitations, we get to keep them.” You choose!  What you believe is true for you!!

Adding Muscle to Your Affirmations Whilst Dealing With Limiting Beliefs

This is a continuation of the previous article which gave you an understanding of core beliefs and how one goes about dealing with them.  Do remember that you may need help in identifying the core limiting belief in some cases, which is beyond the scope of this article.  No article can substitute the work of a trained practitioner or therapist. 

Read on if you have identified a limiting belief which you are now choosing to overcome through positive affirmations.  Examples of limiting beliefs are –

”I can’t do X because of Y”

”I am not a good speaker”

“It’s too late to pursue my dreams.”

”I am not lucky”

”I am not good enough” or ”I am not good enough for...”

”It is hopeless”

”I am worthless” or ”I am useless” or ”I am lazy”

At this stage, you probably have that little voice in  your head which goes, ”Now how am I going to identify a limiting belief?”  If you have already identified the limiting belief, brilliant.  If you havent, I am going to share a little trick in my next article which you can use to identify them with relative ease.

Remember that a very deeply entrenched core limiting belief cannot easily be overwritten with an affirmation.  The belief needs to be deleted with professional help.  You cannot hide a dark stain on your dress permanently by wearing a jacket, can you?  The stain has to be removed.  However, you can certainly working on your limiting beliefs RIGHT NOW with positive affirmations by adding muscle to them.  Here is how.

Step 1 – Tell yourself every single day whenever you indulge in self-talk or whenever you remember that going forward, ”all my beliefs are in harmony with my goals”.  ”I am constantly being more aware of my limiting beliefs, ”I am reviewing, editing and transforming my limiting beliefs into empowering ones.”

Step 2 – You want to accept that whatever you believe about yourself is what you become. You want to accept that who you are is a reflection of what you believe. Acceptance is very important for anything to change as I have explained earlier.

Step 3 – Identify the limiting belief.  I have explained this above and will shortly share a little trick that you can use.  At other times, catch yourself every time you have a negative thought or belief about yourself, similar to the examples I laid out above. Now read Step 2 again.

Step 4 – Create an affirmation that negates the old limiting belief and overwrites it.  For example –

“I’m not a good speaker” turns into “I am a great presenter and speaker. Speaking is easy for me”.   “Its too late to chase my dreams” turns into: “I am the manifestation of my dreams. I live my life to achieve every dream imaginable.” You get the gist.  The affirmation you create should ideally be in  your own words.  Read it out loud to yourself and see how it feels.  Does it feel right?  If there is the slightest doubt, revise and edit your affirmation.  Repeat this till it sounds just right to you.  It is immaterial if it sounds right to others, it must sound right to you.

Step 5 – always keep a written copy of your final affirmation. 

To practice affirmations, repeat your statements for at least 5 minutes or 21 times thrice a day.  There are different techniques and ideas that you can use, which again I shall list out in a subsequent article.  Keep in touch with my posts on this blog.

Meanwhile, here is what you do to add muscle to your affirmations.  Ready?

1.      Look at yourself in the mirror when you repeat the affirmation.  Look into your eyes and observe your facial features every day as you recite.  Notice over time what changes in your features and in your eyes.  Be grateful for the change, thank the universe.

2.      Write your affirmations 21 times each day.  Notice over time if your handwriting or style of writing including the pressure applied on paper changes.  Be grateful for the change, thank the universe.

3.      Take a deep breath imagining positive energy being drawn into you and thereby into your affirmation which you are uttering or writing.  Notice how it feels when your breathe into your affirmation.

4.      When you have mastered the basics of awareness exercises (as is taught in the Nirmiti Nidra workshop), you may be in a position to identify that part of the body which resonates with the limiting belief.  At such times, place your hand (palm) over that part of the body that was afflicted with the earlier belief.

By noticing changes you get a vital clue as to how your subconscious mind has perceived, accepted and digested the new concept you are imparting it through affirmation.  Empower yourself, take care and stay blessed!

Dealing With Deep-rooted Core Beliefs

Please make sure you read the previous article before proceeding further.  In this one, I am endeavoring to elucidate the relationship between beliefs and affirmations and how you can add muscle to your affirmations in case of deep rooted unwholesome core beliefs.

A belief is something you think to be true without any empirical evidence or validation of its certainty.  For example, you may believe that all pigeons are grey because you have not yet encountered a white pigeon.  A core belief is something you very strongly believe is true about yourself irrespective of what anyone else says or thinks about you.  For example, if your core belief is that you are an extremely honest person, it is not necessary that everyone and anyone feel or think the same about you.  Core beliefs are the very essence of how we see ourselves, other people, the world, and the future.

Core beliefs could be positive or negative.  What I mean by a positive core belief is that this belief works to your advantage and a negative core belief works to your disadvantage or otherwise limits your progress.  When a limiting belief is deeply entrenced in your subconscious, it has the ability to overrule any positive affirmation that you consciously do.  Remember, the subconscious is thousands of times more powerful than the conscious mind.  No matter how hard you try, the afflicted thought patterns that arise out of a core belief are so strong that they devour the positive affirmation. 

They say one of the most common fears is the fear of public speaking.  Now the fear of public speaking is by itself not a core belief.  This fear emanates from a belief that you hold to be true, irrespective of what anyone else thinks or feels about it.  I have come across colleagues who can go on rambling incessantly with a limited audience and get tongue tied when in front of a larger group.  The core belief in this instance could be that you think you will make a fool of yourself in front of a group of people or that people will laugh at you or ridicule you.  The fear is therefore the emotional outcome of a core belief.

Let us analyse this further.  How would you use affirmations to deal with limiting beliefs? The tradtional method has been to create new, empowering beliefs that will override the old limiting beliefs.  In the above example, if you have identified that you think you lack the confidence in addressing a large group or you feel that you will make a fool of yourself – you would simply affirm that you are knowledgeable, confident and fully capable of addressing a large group.  Repeating this affirmation would enable it to ’sink’ into your subconscious and propel you to think and act in the manner you affirm. 

However, deeply ingrained beliefs which are diametrically opposed to your affirmations can prevent your subconscious mind from accepting these statements, no matter how frequently and how many times they are repeated.  For example, if an authority figure like a parent or role model has repeatedly told you very early in life that you will never amount to anything, your subconscious mind will not easily accept an affirmation that you will be successful, coming as it does from your conscious mind with a critical factor playing a crucial role between the two.  

How then would you deal with this?  A trained practitioner or therapist would be ideal, however there are still a few things you can do yourself to add muscle to your affirmations when you deal with deep rooted core beliefs, which I shall explain in the next article.