Actively Reprogramming Your Mind with Neuroscience

Keep these findings of active versus passive programming in mind when reading the ‘rules’ for using positive affirmations on the next page. Nevertheless, whatever your age, it is always optimal that you program your mind actively because it places you in the seat of the director of your subconscious mind.

In other words, you want to be the conscious source of its inputs and do exactly what the conscious mind is intended to do, which is to guard the subconscious mind against unwanted inputs. You can use passive programming, such as subliminal recordings if you listen to them, to boost or support your active programming. Subliminal recordings are very powerful, and when backed by positive affirmations that you actively focus on, their power is increased manifold.

How to Use Positive Affirmations Daily

First up, as is the case when learning anything new or different, keep an open mind. Do not judge or over-analyze the statements that you choose to use. If you feel resistance at first or thoughts such as ‘yeah right’, do not react or become frustrated. Just persevere and in time, having repeated the daily positive affirmations often enough, they will feel natural to you and any resistance will dissipate until it disappears altogether because the belief that previously caused the resistance will have been overwritten. Next, let’s take a look at some rules or guidelines for using positive affirmations daily.

Rule #1: Select the Area(s) You Want to Change

It may be obvious but you must know which areas of your life you want to target with your daily positive affirmations. You do not want to attempt to change every area at once because you are more than likely to be overwhelmed and will be unable to perform the necessary repetition effectively. I suggest to start by choosing one of the following 10 areas but you can combine different affirmations from the different areas: your self-concept (i.e. what you think of yourself), self-improvement, health and body image, relationships, love, success, finances, life in general, manifesting and your True Self.

Rule #2: Identify the Negative Beliefs to Overwrite

If you want to super-charge the effectiveness of your daily positive affirmations, you want to target specific negative beliefs that are personal to you and are currently holding you back in life, and/or create specific wholly new positive beliefs that you would like to hold true for you. I strongly suggest you read the article linked below, which goes into detail about identifying core beliefs, both negative and positive with the focus on the negative because those are the ones you want to change. You may be biting at the bit to get started with your daily positive affirmations, but it is truly worth your effort to properly identify those beliefs you want to change so that you can tailor-make your affirmations.

Rule #3: Make a List of Tailor-Made Affirmations

Having selected the area of your life that you want to focus on and having identified the limiting beliefs that you want to overwrite or the new beliefs you want to adopt, you can now make a list of the daily positive affirmations that are tailored to your goals. I suggest no more than 10 affirmations to begin with so as to keep you focused and maximize your success. Importantly, I recommend that you keep a journal and write your affirmations down. The written word is very powerful for cementing your thoughts and finding clarity. I suggest you read the daily positive affirmations I have compiled for you in the article below for ideas that can inspire you. Feel free to use them as they are if they resonate with you, or else use them as inspiration and change them to suit your needs. You will notice that the affirmations on the list are intended to evoke feeling and inspiration.

Rule #4: The Wording of Your Affirmations

Keep the affirmations as broad or specific as you want as long as they do not trigger strong resistance and make sure that they inspire you. Make sure that your statements are not too long or complicated. Remember, it is the subconscious mind that you are wanting to convince or program with the affirmations, and the subconscious mind is moved by feelings, not words. Finally, state the affirmations positively. This means to write them as positive, not negative, statements because the subconscious mind does not understand negation. For instance, if you are wanting to overwrite a sense of anxiety instead of stating ‘I am no longer anxious’, use something along the lines of ‘Isn’t wonderful that I have peace of mind. My mind always keeps me calm.’.

Rule #5: The Optimal State of Mind for Affirming

Something great is happening. You are changing your life. Keep this in mind and maintain a positive outlook when using your daily positive affirmations. Do not force yourself to repeat the affirmations parrot-fashion when you’d rather not. Do not use them with an attitude of ‘oh, here we go again’. Do not question the validity of the affirmations you have created or roll your eyes at their thought. Make a commitment to yourself to use them with a positive attitude. If, however, the idea of affirmations make you anxious or you are feeling too despondent to use them, I strongly suggest using the alternative technique called Autosuggestions linked below, which I am sure you will find very helpful whether you combine it with your daily positive affirmations or use it alone to reprogram the subconscious mind.

Rule #6: The Optimal Time of Day for Affirming

Ideally, you want to repeat the positive statement(s) with your full awareness and focus on what you are affirming because remember that you are programming your mind actively rather than passively. Instead of just repeating the affirmations only when you remember to do so, set aside a time of day preferably once in the morning upon waking up, and once at night before going to sleep to affirm the statements of your choice. This is another reason to choose 10 concise statements so that you have the time and willingness to use them and commit to their daily repetition.

As a booster, you can also record the daily positive affirmations of your choice in your own voice and let them play softly in the background, even as you sleep. In this way, you support your active programming with passive programming of your subconscious mind. Just remember, that active programming is the key to being the conscious director of your mind.

Rule #7: Assume the Consciousness of the Affirmation

The most effective way to use your list of daily positive affirmations is to endeavour to feel that the positive statement holds true for you in the moment, not sometime in the future. Feeling is the secret to programming the subconscious mind. Feeling has and always will be the secret. Assume the consciousness of your statement. Feel it to be real. Gently smiling while saying the statements, is also a very powerful way of creating an automatic positive attitude. The more you repeat your affirmations with feeling, the time will come when the statements feel wholly natural to you. As natural as those statements that you say about yourself today that you just know hold true for you. With this in mind, I recommend you read the article below to get a fuller understanding of getting into the feeling of your affirmations.

Rule #8: How to Feel an Unknown Feeling

If you don’t know what you are wanting to affirm feels like, ask yourself that very question. How would I feel if I, for instance, believed in myself? How would I feel if I loved my body? How would I feel if success came naturally to me? You can also study people that have the qualities and beliefs you are wanting to adopt through your chosen affirmations. Stand the way they stand, listen to what they say, study their reactions, without however comparing yourself to them. In this way, you will get an initial sense of the feeling and you can take it from there. But even if you don’t feel it fully at first, persevere because repetition is your friend.

Rule #9: Ask Yourself ‘How am I Feeling?’

Check-in with yourself during the day in the context of your daily positive affirmations. Ask yourself, how am I feeling and truly listen for and sense the answer. If you are feeling good and your affirmations are taking hold, then continue as you are and be grateful in that moment as you affirm how you are feeling. If, however, you are feeling bad or doubting your affirmations, just relax in that moment and remind yourself that everything is changing for the better. Be patient, and if you can do so without much resistance in that moment, simply say the positive statement that would override your bad feeling, and say it with calm conviction.

Rule #10: 40 Days to Change Your Consciousness

Make 40 days a rule of thumb when reprogramming your mind to change your consciousness by overwriting a negative belief or creating new ones. The reason being that it takes an estimated 40 days to create a permanent shift in consciousness. Repeat your list of daily positive affirmations, morning and night and throughout the day as advised in Rule #9, every day and for 40 consecutive days. Do not skip a day of saying your affirmations, and if you do, start again if near the start of your 40-day plan, or at the very least add a day to the plan. As always, keep a journal to track your thoughts and progress. And last but most certainly not least, do not share your affirmations or your efforts in that direction with anyone. Keep it private – say nothing to no one.