Using affirmations to reframe feelings of stress
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An affirmation is a positive sentence that describes the way you want to be. This could be a challenge you need to overcome or the negative thoughts and self-talk in your mind. Research has found that affirmations, no matter how short, help people to find ways out of problems they are experiencing. They also built self-confidence and self-esteem, having a positive impact on mental health.
Affirmations should focus upon a specific aspect of your behaviour or performance and can be based on your goals.
- Write four to six affirmations (short sentence), each on a card. Each affirmation should be:
1 | Personal:
The affirmation should describe a specific quality that you want, eg ‘I am always confident in all situations’. |
2 | Positive:
Stating precisely what you want (rather than what you don’t want). |
3 | Present Tense:
Written as if you already have the quality. So you would have ‘I am always confident’. Rather than ‘I will be confident’. |
4 | Using Hot Words:
The affirmations should use words that have actions and emotions. Words that are meaningful for you. |
- Read them at least twice a day. This should take 10-20 seconds per affirmation (only a couple of minutes per day).
- As you read each affirmation you should:
- Imagine what you would see
- Imagine what you would hear
- Imagine what you would feel
Learn more about dealing with stress in my best-selling book, ‘How to Prevent Burnout’.