1 AFFIRMATIONS

My mother-in-law is convinced that affirmations have changed her life. An affirmation is a short, powerful and positive statement of intent which you repeat regularly. “It has to be succinct,” she says, “because you have to repeat it as often as you can. It has to be positive. It also has to be in the right tense: it is ‘I am’ instead of ‘I’m going to’.”

In an affirmation, you’re talking to your subconscious mind, programming in what you want out of your life. Regular practice will set you up for a calm, stress-free day and start changing how you see yourself and the world. If you don’t believe my mother-in-law, consider this: US soldiers who saw benefits in their deployment and agreed with statements such as ‘This deployment has made me more confident in my ability’ or ‘This job allowed me to demonstrate my courage’ were found to be less likely to suffer PTSD and depression. Affirmations have even been shown to improve problem-solving performance by undergraduate students.