Every morning and before bed my girls and I say our affirmations. We say fun phrases like “I am kind and patient” I respect my body” and “I am loved”. The girls get a kick out of it and almost have their phrases memorized! It’s the cutest thing hearing your two year old say “I am powerful”, seriously…somebody get this kid on video (I just might have to). At first the girls would giggle when we read their affirmations and they would often question why I was talking to myself in the mirror. After a while and explaining the value of our thoughts and controlling our mindset they got used to it and love it!

Last night as we were reading our affirmations and going through our evening routine I had a realization. I realized that not everyone is aware of this beautiful routine that we share with our family and the positive impact it can make on their confidence, accomplishments and relationships. We all have self talk, just most of the time the things we say to ourselves aren’t exactly the things that are neither going to help us find the good in all things nor ourselves.  Don’t get me started on T.V. and movies either…wowza…those darn pop-culture beliefs and priorities just don’t mesh well with success and healthy life styles. Eek! There just isn’t a class or lesson in school that covers the power of belief and self-talk. Boy do I wish they did, but they don’t so it is up to us to do something about it! I want to share that something with you today and hope you too choose to implement these ideas into your family routines!

So here we go!

I want you to get out a journal or a piece of paper, sit down and make the following list

  1. Family
  2. Financial
  3. Health
  4. Spiritual
  5. Social (entertainment, friendships, community)

For each of the areas I want you to list the positive qualities, skills or actions you have. Then add to your list things that you are working towards or want in the near future

For example:

  1.  Family: communicate well, understanding, patient, spend quality time together, travel the world etc
  2.  Financial: generous, spend money wisely, passive income, debt free

Just make sure you use THE POSITIVE!!! No negatives like….”I don’t argue” “I don’t overspend”. Our minds do not understand the negative, only the basic idea. You know those funny jokes of “Don’t think yellow” or “Don’t spill the milk”…we joke about it because we do the opposite of what you say, right? Well, that is how the mind works. It only hears action words, the negatives are unimportant to the brain. So get creative with your statements to keep them in the positive. The other thing you need to make sure to do is keep these statements in THE PRESENT TENSE!!! Even if you aren’t debt free (YET), you still have to say “I am debt free”…even though you don’t weigh that 20 lbs less you still have to say “I am …. lbs”. The brain can only function in the present, the past has gone already and the future is too far ahead. So we have to trick our mind into thinking these things are already a reality. When you begin to believe these ideas and concepts you will subconsciously start doing the things you need to do to make it true! It’s just like the ol’ saying “Anything you believe, you can achieve”. It’s not just a clever poster for the Olympics or the classroom….it’s true! Oh, oh, I almost forgot….make sure they are “I” statements too!! They are YOUR affirmations after all! (They won’t work on your husband unless he’s the one saying it, sorry moms)

*Hold on….wait a minute! This is pretty hoaky and sounds pretty cheesy to me! Is this one of those “the Secret” things?*

Kind of, but all the really happy and successful people are doing it, there are thousands of books that prove it to be true…so there has to be something to it, right?

Okay, so back to work, once you put a few of these ideas and affirmations together you can connect them in a flowing statement that hits home with your heart and the life you wish to live. You can write it out in a list form or a paragraph. I personally have the paragraph that looks a little like this:

“I, Laura Kraft, live a positive life with passion and purpose. I am totally confident in myself and my choices. I am disciplined, motivated and focused with a high energy level. I grow and feed my mind with reading, new experiences and masterminds. My mind and body are golden temples. Because I exercise daily, eat healthy and drink lots of water I am fit, toned, sexy and strong…..etc”

Ha ha, a little snap shot into my world! Woo! Kind of makes my tummy tickle sharing those with you!

The next piece is really important. After you take the time to write these out you have to actually SAY them to yourself in the mirror before bed and in the morning. If you need to start out slow then start with once a day but work up to the two (or more). You will see an incredible change to your day. You will find yourself repeating specific affirmations in challenging situations and find you are more capable of overcoming obstacles than you thought. You will experience change! Positive change! Since I’m being honest, I do admit you will feel silly and somewhat embarrassed talking to yourself in the mirror. Just like my girls did. But the impact it makes is beautiful! Just like you and your possibilities. Only your opinion matters, so who cares what other people think if you talk to yourself. Who cares if your mother in law or husband thinks it’s just a phase. What matters is YOU and YOUR beliefs!

So get CRAZY and go talk to yourself! You’ll love yourself for it!

Let us know how it goes and what differences it made 🙂17f325ae031a3cadc96a9bddcfeef3e2