Naheed Inspires is a series of inspiring articles by NLP coach - Naheed Khan, as an endeavour to motivate you, and guide you on your journey of life goals and positive living.

You can know more about her and her work in this feature.

Affirmations. How to make them work for you?

Almost everyone today talks about “positive affirmations” and how they are powerful enough to change your life.

Yes, they are powerful when done the right way.

You may have been told to say things like “I am enough”, “I am brave”, “I am the best version of myself”. However, when it comes to their effectiveness, you may see that while it works for some, it doesn’t create any difference for others.

I have had clients come to me with anxiety issues, saying that they have been repeating positive affirmations but they are not making them feel better.

When I ask them what happens when they say these affirmations, they say that they can’t believe in them because their mind says it’s not true.

It is important to understand that affirmations will only work when the mind accepts them to be true. It can’t be forced to become a truth or a reality.

“I am” are status affirmations which are targeted to change the state of your mind and your understanding of reality. But when you are crippled with self doubt, these affirmations only fuel that voice inside your head to doubt you some more and hence they don’t work.

So what to do?

The right way of building the state for affirmations is to start with “process affirmations” and lead them onto “status” affirmations.

Process affirmations state what you are becoming. So it’s a progression of your state than just a sudden change in it which may have been met with resistance.

• “I am becoming more brave with every step that I take”.
• “Everyday I am becoming better than who I was yesterday “.
• “With every decision that I make I step closer to becoming more courageous”

Status affirmations are great for “gratitude” as they instantly direct our thoughts to the abundance in us and around us.

However, personal transformation and change are a process and hence the use of status affirmations in those circumstances may not always deliver the desired results.

Identify the purpose of the affirmations before you use them. It will make them work most effectively for you.