Do You Believe in Positive Affirmations?

RazWaz

I can shout till I'm blue in the face that I want my joints to start working, but it isn't going to happen.

If low confidence is holding you back then yes it may well work, but other than that...well it's all just to sell a few books.

pigpen

No.. I am a sane and sensible person (IMO )

peachyprice

It depends entirely on your frame of mind in the first place and your goals.

If you're in a negative, self loathing frame of mind and all you want is to live a happier life, then yes, you can learn to love yourself and achieve a better life.

If you aspire to be/do something, have/want something completely dependent on factors you have absolutely no input or control of then no amount of PMA is going to guarantee getting that for you.

j.e.j.

I'm not a fake-it-till-you-make-it person. I think your subconscious will throw it out if you say positive things to yourself that just aren't true.

alyth

Dunroamin wrote: »

Rather strangely, I think I do.

It was the French Psychologist, Emile Coue, who introduced the method, which became popular in the 1920s, with the most well known maxim being,

"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Cou%C3%A9

I have that right in the middle of my pinboard in my office :-) I don't believe in affirmations per se, but I do believe in waking up with positive mindset. I was in an awful job perhaps 4 years ago, and instead of walking to work dreading it, I changed my mindset to "I wonder what will happen today". It made me more positive and able to cope with the challenges that this job threw up.

Another one is "if you can dream it you can do it" (Walt Disney). As a previous poster said, you can't dream of becoming the US President, but if you have a dream that you want to do something specific - as I have, then you can work towards it.

londonsurrey

I don't think that they're the complete answer, and can see how an overload of them would make me gag.

However, I can see circumstances in which they can be a good thing.

For instance, my mother constantly told my little brother how she loved him, and whenever he enthused about something someone had done (a teacher, a friend, an actor he'd seen), she tell him how rubbish he was, and did he think they'd want to know him if they knew about his less desirable foibles (untidiness, laziness, etc)?

And then she'd tell him how she loved him. Essentially, he was rubbish, and wasn't he lucky that she'd have him and no one else would.

He eventually killed himself when he was 17.


Whilst I don't think that the only reason he killed himself was that she was always telling him how rubbish he was, I don't think it helped.

And I do think that a bit of positive affirmation would have helped to nudge him towards a better place.

southoftheriver

Chant your affirmations whilst actively pursuing your dreams otherwise they're just words.

VestanPance

Don't believe in them at all. Always aim to do your best in what ever you do, but words aren't going to alter the outcome.

Johnmcl7

I guess this boils down to whether you feel lucky or not in a sense, I went to a lecture by Richard Wiseman a couple of years ago and in part of it he talked about luck, some of which was obvious but not all of it:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky-its-an-easy-skill-to-learn.html

John

podperson

I don't think it's as simple as some people try to make out - ie if you just say some positive statements in the mirror then all your problems will be magically solved.

But I do believe that positive thinking in general can help you get further. A lot people can hold themselves back and be afraid to go for things they want due to insecurities, doubts and general negative worries. I think if you can push through that and find belief in yourself then it can often help you achieve your goals.