Affirmations!

Affirmations. Yes, that is what people call those things I wrote in Monday's post -- the things we use to defend against our negative beliefs. Perhaps you've used affirmations before and maybe they make you think of Stuart Smalley but there's actually something about affirmations and how our brains work that make them pretty darn powerful.

In preparation for a class I teach, I did a bunch of research on the science of storytelling. I could go into a whole long thing but I did that in the last post. Haha!

To quote the great post-modern Stephen Sondheim in Into the Woods "Careful the tale you tell. That is the spell." 

So as you write your affirmations, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
• Write them in the present tense... I am, I have, etc. rather than I want, I will etc.
• Write them in the positive... I am abundant, I am safe... no hidden negatives like I am not poor, I am not scared etc.

And if you just can't find the time, I have a little gift for you. I've written 10 affirmations that you can just adopt for yourself.

Bonus... let's have some fun with this!
1. Download the PDF of affirmations here. I left lots of blank spaces so you can fill in your own.
2. Print them out and cult along the dotted lines
3. Roll them into little scrolls and put the scrolls into a bowl.
4. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and pick one!

This will be your affirmation for the rest of the week/chapter. Say it out loud before you do your morning pages. Say it out loud before you go to bed. Put it in your wallet, tape it to your steering wheel or your mirror or your computer monitor, put it above your kitchen sink, on your refrigerator -- anywhere you will see it often throughout the day.