Does affirmations really works ?

[Gabith]

If I tell myself 50 times day "I am happy" will I feel more happier within days of affirmations ?

[Hugo Oliveira]

Check the book Psychocybernetics and watch Leo's video about law of attraction to get a better understanding of how it works. 

I believe that feelings and thought + feelings are like muscles. As you exercise them, they get stronger and easier to be activated. But there is more about it. 

[Seeker531]

To answer your question. In the first days you'll have only the short positive feeling after it. You'll have to really invest in that at least 5 min daily. But it will really pay off. 

It has many positive effects on your mind. There is actually so much about it, but I'll try to keep it short. Not only is it that this thought feels good, it even feels better and more true over time, the feeling grows stronger the more attention you give. Then this subconscious thing. Then one positive thought tends to pull other positive thoughts after it. 

You might want to think consciously other positive thoughts and replace negative ones that dont feel good to you. Think about peace and love and acceptance and the better you will feel. Due to the fact that there is no seperate person, only thinking, you can consciously create those thoughts and therefore this personal traits and you will better get along with the present moment which is yourself and get less distraction. Ive been doing this for almost a year and there's still lots of negative thoughts and work to do but it got so much better and slowly I realize how happiness is created. The thing is other thoughts change how you see and interact with the world. I'd recommend Leo's series on emotional mastery.

 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Seeker531

[Gabith]

Thank you

[JonasVE12]

Affirmations work, but the example you mentioned is something complex where you can't rely only on affirmations to get to that state of fulfillment and happiness. It only works to the extend that you not achieving happiness has to do with negative beliefs and mind. But we humans are complex. We have different desires that need to be fulfilled in order to feel at ease. When you are living on the street, homeless, deprived of social interaction, connection and intimacy, you don't have goals and passion, you only have yourself, It is difficult to be happy in this situation. Many so called spiritual people will tell you that even in those circumstances, you can be completely happy and it all has to do with the thinking mind that has a tendency to escape from the present moment, creating suffering. That's not completely true. Of course the mind is responsible for a lot of suffering that can simply stop by meditating and getting to the present moment. But we should not forget that it is our nature to want to fulfill certain desires. We are human.

Affirmations can be used as a tool, but never as a replacement for other self help modalities. It should be combined with healthy eating, meditation, working on your life purpose, social interaction, bonding, intimacy and exercise. These are the key aspects that make up happiness.

They also work better when you use them for specific things. Your goal, for example, is achieving happiness. Identifying the things/beliefs holding you back from it and then using affirmations to help you replace that belief with a more empowering one is a better approach imo. 

But also, just repeating 'I feel happy' on a bad day will also do wonders for your mood.

[Setzer901]

Affirmations are just sweet-smelling bandaids covering the inner stench of your psyche.

You cannot plaster over your psyche with happiness if there is something opposing it. If you feel sad inside, repeating 'I am happy' will just cover the sadness with 'false happiness'. It will cause your psyche to be more fragmented.

The better way is to heal the sadness. Then your soul will automatically supply you with Inner Happiness. 

P.S. This is work takes months (if not years). Affirmations are just a short-cut leading to nowhere.

[mmKay]

On 22/2/2021 at 7:04 PM, Gabith said:

If I tell myself 50 times day "I am happy" will I feel more happier within days of affirmations ?

If repeating to yourself " Im ugly and worthless " makes you depressed why cant it work the other way?  Different things work for different people. 

Give it  a honest try and you tell us. 

[Proserpina]

If you can find the right affirmation.

For example, I only respond emotionally to affirmations that have the word 'You' prominently in them, instead of I. Also affirmations tied to oracle cards feel more personal. 

Affirmations that you respond to emotionally can help in finding your resonance. 

[Hardik]

On 22/02/2021 at 11:34 PM, Gabith said:

If I tell myself 50 times day "I am happy" will I feel more happier within days of affirmations ?

Replace your affirmation statment!

[seeking_brilliance]

On 22/02/2021 at 1:04 PM, Gabith said:

If I tell myself 50 times day "I am happy" will I feel more happier within days of affirmations ?

Experimentation is the best answer?

[fopylo]

@seeking_brilliance Personally I've tried it out. For the first month or so it felt good, but at the same time I felt more relaxed and took less action. Also, over the time it started destroying my mental health since I was forcing a change in my thoughts and suppressing ones which aren't serving. It got me stuck and created lot's of tension so I do not use affirmations. Affirmations also means a shift in identity, which means another set of limitations

[Farnaby]

@Gabith there is a high chance you end up bypassing your emotions by doing that. 

If you have a closer look at your question, you can see that you have the intention of repeating those affirmations hoping that it will make you feel better. 

This means you are trying to run away from the feelings you're having right now. 

This resistance to feeling your uncomfortable feelings actually fuels them. Even if you could trick yourself to believe those thoughts, you would most likely be repressing'overriding what you're actually feeling. 

[seeking_brilliance]

@fopylo hmm interesting. I can't say I had the same reaction to affirmations. Though I never used this particular mantra. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by seeking_brilliance