Because You’re Worth It
I used to have cringe babies at the thought of telling myself affirmations. Why? Because I was a hella bloody ignorant, that’s why. Self-development used to seem to me as a thing that hippies did to feel more zen. So I parked it in my internal “don’t read” section next to anything to do with yoga or meditation. Why? Cause I was bloody ignorant, that’s why. I know, I know. I can almost hear you screaming, “but what TF changed?! Why now?” And I hear ya. I started exploring positive affirmations when I realised that I told myself too much crap, far too often. The irony is, it is really easy to tell yourself difficult things. We do it every single day. And I blame society, the media and most importantly, myself.
Positively Positive
I went to the toilet one day, and as I sat on that chilly loo seat, I noticed that Aye 2.0 had stuck a bunch of post-it notes to the bathroom mirror. “Some light-reading whilst I poop,” I thought. “How thoughtful of him.” Until I started reading and noticed that these notes were filled with the most difficult words I had probably ever read. “I am worthy, I am beautiful, I am confident, I am happy, I make other people happy.” What the hell was this happy crap? I called Aye 2.0 through to the throne and questioned him on his new-found randomness. “These are positive affirmations,” he said. “If you say these things to yourself enough times, you’ll start to believe them.”
I left the positive affirmations stuck to the bathroom mirror, so I obviously didn’t hate the idea. But telling yourself that you’re amazing is hard. Especially if both you and other people have told you that you aren’t for so long.
What is a positive affirmation?
A positive affirmation is a short phrase that you tell yourself repeatedly. If you do it enough times, you’ll start to believe it. And when you start to believe it, you may even start to achieve it. Here are a few examples;
“I am rich” – even though you are on your last £1.13 till payday.
“I am sexy” – even though you’ve just deep-cleaned the house and smell of sweat and Dettol.
“Ironing is my favourite household task” – that one is a bit of a stretch but you catch my drift.
Funnily enough, I have become addicted to affirmations. And gratitude, but that’s a whole other pot of tuna. Every morning, I have a “me-hour” and during that “me-hour,” I say affirmations. To myself, and to my dog. Occasionally she licks me in either agreement or Pedigree anticipation. Affirmations are a great way to start your day so here are 6 easy positive affirmations that I want you to tell yourself. Because honey, you’re worth it.
1. I Love Myself
I know, right? Let’s go right in there with a humdinger. But I am serious. Every single time you walk past a mirror, say “I love you” to yourself. Don’t be fussy and don’t be specific. Don’t give your brain a chance to give you crap. Just a quick “I love you” will do the trick. Maybe don’t do it out loud in front of 7 strangers in a public bathroom. Or do. Just do you. You deserve a little bit of love now and then you know?
2. I Am Doing My Best
You don’t need to achieve huge things every day. Sometimes just getting out of bed and running some Colgate over your gnashers is doing your best. Like the butterfly effect, it really is the smallest things. So the next time y’all about to kick yourself in the balls for “not doing this or that bla bla,” tell yourself, “I am doing my best.”
3. I Am Confident
This is the one I struggle with the most. Because to everyone else, I come across as really confident. But inside I am a literal shipwreck. I was talking the other day on my Instagram stories about how much I hate networking. Networking makes me cringe to death. But that’s purely because I ain’t done nearly enough positive affirmations about it. And since I am dishing out advice to you lot, I am away to write in my journal about how much I love networking. And I am going to tell myself every single day how great I am at it. Then one day I will wake up and be the goddess of networking. Scared shipless? Just tell yourself you are confident. Put those negative thoughts on the naughty step.
4. I Have the Power to Create Change
Hell yeah, you do! We all do. We just aren’t kind enough to remind ourselves. You are more than capable of more than your capabilities. You can do so much more than you think you can. When I was teetering around in a land of depression, do you think I thought I was capable of building two businesses from the ground up? Hell naw! I wasn’t capable of picking up a hairbrush for a whole week. But look at me? Positive affirmations give you wings. If you have an idea, you have the power. If you don’t have an idea, you have the power. Just tell yourself that YOU have the power to create change. Lawd Jesus.
5. I Am Focused
This is the hardest one for me. I ain’t even gonna lie. I am never focused. So I am training myself to be the most focused person ever. That takes change and a wealth of discipline. That takes cues. It takes throwing your phone out the window and picking up a pen and paper. It takes switching off Netflix at 8pm and reading a book. Sometimes it takes an extra cup of coffee in your coffee. But none of that comes without the intention. If you’re telling yourself that you’re focused, you will by default, become focused. Mad world huh?
6. I Matter
You do. You really do. No-one has mattered more than you matter. Your thoughts, opinions and feelings matter. At the same time, you matter to lots of people. All it takes is a simple reminder. Simple is a funny word, isn’t it? But this is simple. Making it a habit might be a touch more testing. The next time you are feeling like you don’t matter, cut in and just “blah blah” out all the nonsense. If it means dancing around the house in your knickers shouting “I matter, I matter, I matter” then do it. You wouldn’t be the first.
Check out this Top 100 list for more inspirational inspo.
