The notion of daily affirmations was first brought to my attention via the Tim Ferriss Podcast. It is the episode he had Scott Adams (Dilbert Author) as the guest. This drove me to read Scott Adams book; How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. It is all about his life story on how he failed his way to success. Well worth the read, in fact I wish I read it when I was 18. It would have made me understand a lot more about life.
Daily affirmations is simply the act of writing down what you want to accomplish. Not just once, but 15 times. That is only rule. There is no special timing or how often you should do it. The explanation behind it, is focus. There is no science, there is nothing rational, or really common sense. What it does produce is results. If you write down what you want to accomplish once a day, fifteen times. You will be thinking a lot more about it. That’s it.
I first started daily affirmations in December 2015. Since then I have amassed quite a few. Quite often they are repeated. While it is not a 100% success rate, the results are clear. Things I have wanted to accomplish, have happened. Here are few that have worked;
I will do a three minute plank in two weeks!
I will practice piano more and keep at it
I will not eat that cookie. I will wait for the good food.
I will delegate more at work, focus on what is important.
Here is what hasn’t worked yet, these require a little more focus;
I will keep my desk clean and organized
Be more positive about the past. They are lessons learned, not depressing moments.
Daily affirmations is a system. Having a system and continually running it, feels good. It makes you happy. This is in comparison to goals. Goals are great but when we accomplish them we wonder what is next. They are almost anti-climatic. Think about the goal you have accomplished in the past, when you achieved them how long did you bask in the glory? Or did you immediately find something else to do? A good system produces constant results and keeps us happier, longer. This is what really resonated with me and Daily Affirmations. I continually try to implement systems that produce the constant results I am looking for.
Daily Affirmations are one of many things and changes I’ve made over the past five years. I want to continually grow and learn and this is just one of the steps that has worked for me. I hope you’ll benefit from it.
