The Proven Benefits of Affirmations That Will Transform Your Life

Let’s start learning about the benefits of affirmations with an example here:

Imagine someone who has stage fright, and they’re about to face a big audience. They’re scared, shivering, and their heart is running.

Their mind is buzzing with thoughts like, “Oh, why did I sign up for this? I can’t do it. What if I fumble? What if people laugh at me? What if I run out of words and stand there like an idiot? Worse, what if I trip and fall on the stage? Is there any chance I can back out of this now? I think I’m going to ruin it.”

How do you think they will feel as they walk on the stage and start speaking? How do you think that event will go?

Now, imagine another scenario. It’s the same person, they feel the same emotions. The same thoughts, “I can’t do this. I’m so scared. What can I do now?” - but then a shift happens.

They turn their thoughts and think - “I should take a deep breath… I’ve got to believe in myself… Yes… I think I can do this. I can do this… It’s going to be easy for me. I’ll do a great job. I have all the confidence I need. They’re going to love me. I’m going to do great.”

Do you think they’ll feel better and more confident this time? Do you think they’d find it easier to have a bright smile on their face and hope in their heart? I think, yes.

So, what are affirmations? Affirmations are the words or statements that you say to yourself in response to a situation or feeling. They help us in dealing with challenges and encourage us to do what’s in our welfare.

In the last week, I introduced the concept of affirmations and shared the process of how to write them effectively.

In this post, let’s take a deep dive into the benefits of affirmations. Right off the bat, I want to say that I love affirmations. I think I first practiced them when I was 19.

I downloaded an app that I now don’t remember, recorded myself saying some positive affirmations, and went to sleep listening to them. At that time, I was supremely insecure about myself and the future, had a low sense of self-worth, and really needed to find some support and encouragement.

And, affirmations gave me that. Day by day, I started to feel better. Whenever I would doubt myself, I’d recall the words I’d listened to at night and they felt like a reliable arm around my shoulder.

Fast forward to now, I have recorded more than 600 affirmations in the Gratitude app that thousands of people listen to worldwide. It’s been quite a journey!

I’ve had an amazing experience with the benefits of gratitude and I think you will too.

Benefits of Gratitude

Scientifically-proven benefits of gratitude

Here are the benefits that have shown up in studies on affirmations. The regular practice of affirmations leads to,

1. Reduction in harmful stress
2. Increases openness to adopt healthier habits
3. Less worrying and rumination
4. Increase in resilience
5. Control self-sabotaging thoughts and speech, shaping a positive self-talk
6. Better mood
7. Higher self-esteem

Essentially, affirmations are about shifting to more positive thoughts, about thinking better. The thoughts we think shape our view of the world and ourselves, they influence our actions, choices, and direction in life. So, it is highly important for us to choose the right words and create the right thoughts for ourselves.

They help us,

1. Practice positive self-talk

Affirmations help us to take the good road, the road that will take us to a garden of fragrant, colorful flowers.

In direct words, affirmations help us move from shame, doubt, fear, insecurity, demotivated, and low energy to hope, inspiration, confidence, action, and fulfillment.

What we say to ourselves is fundamental to how we live our lives. Positive affirmations give us the power to choose the right words. They give us the control to take hold of our responses, how we feel, and how we assess a situation.

Examples of positive self-talk affirmations:

1. I am always headed in the right direction.
2. I trust that I am on the right path.
3. I am creatively inspired by the world around me.
4. My mind is full of brilliant ideas.
5. I put my energy into things that matter to me.
6. I trust myself to make the right decision.
7. I am becoming closer to my true self every day.
8. I am grateful to have people in my life who care for me.
9. I am learning valuable lessons from myself every day.
10. I am at peace with who I am as a person.
11. I welcome all new opportunities and experiences.
12. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.
13. Happiness is within my grasp.
14. I am confident in the presence of others.
15. Everything will work out for me.

2. Be consistently motivated

A question is often asked if practicing positive affirmations will make us achieve our goals. I think they certainly will but not in the way that they are expected to. Only saying, “I am getting closer to my dream job” will not give us our dream job.

But, it will encourage and motivate us to look for more jobs, hone our skills, improve our portfolio or CV, talk to more people, and keep going on. Affirmations give us what we need to move toward our goals, face our fears, beat procrastination, be resilient, and take the leap.

Examples of motivational affirmations:

1. I choose my choices.
2. I have control over what I do.
3. I am brave.
4. I have immense strength.
5. I am stronger than I know.
6. I choose my battles.
7. I give my time and energy mindfully.
8. I do what is important to me.
9. I am improving myself and getting closer to my goals every day.
10. I may make mistakes, but I can recover and keep going.  I don’t need to lose hope over a minor setback.
11. I can keep my chin up.
12. Every day, I move forward on a track of healing and self-improvement.
13. I’ve gone through hard times before, and I can overcome them again.
14. I will face the world with confidence.
15. Today I will make progress toward my goals.

3. Grow self-love

Positive affirmations also help us build a compassionate self-relationship. They help us start to believe in ourselves more and treat ourselves like how we’d treat someone we love.

Instead of thinking, “I’m not good enough,” positive affirmations take us to the thought, “I am worthy just as I am.” We become kinder to ourselves. With positive affirmations, our tone switches from harsh and judgemental to understanding and human.

If you want to go deeper into this, try out my 21-day self-love course 💗

Here are some self-love affirmations:

1. Everything is going to be okay.
2. One day at a time, one step at a time.
3. I am in harmony and balance with life.
4. Releasing stress is easy.
5. I choose to feel peaceful.
6. I am a good person who deserves happiness, health, and peace.
7. There are some things I can’t change, and I’m OKAY with that.
8. Good things continually happen to me.
9. Feeling relaxed is my normal state.
10. I am worthy of good things.
11. I am inhaling confidence and exhaling fear.
12. I am accepting myself unconditionally.
13. I have endless strength.
14. I am so much stronger than I realize.
15. I am at home in my body.
16. All is well in my world. I am calm, happy, and content.
17. I listen with love to my body’s messages.
18. I deserve all that is good.
19. My happy thoughts help create my healthy body.
20. Everything is working out for my highest good.
21. I make the decisions for myself.
22. I am independent and in control of my life.
23. I am worthy of good experiences.
24. I am capable.
25. My life is a blessing.
26. I am strong and confident.

And, that’s it! Those were the benefits of affirmations that we can receive when we practice them regularly.

My one big tip to practice them is to do them in the early morning or before you sleep. Our Gratitude app is a great tool to support you here.

We have tons of affirmation collections and you can simply play any of them and complete your practice in a matter of minutes.

I wish you the very best! If you think this post will help someone you know, do share it around. Thanks for being here!

👉 Continue Reading: 101 Daily Affirmations for Mindful, Joyful Days

Aarushi Tewari

The writer and affirmations speaker at Gratitude, Aarushi believes that one of the most effective ways of feeling inner peace is by being grateful and having a loving self-relationship.