The Power of Positive Affirmations

When I was younger, and even up to a couple years ago, I felt like giving myself compliments was simply me being full of myself. And well, I never wanted anyone to think I was conceited so I thought it was just best to say the complete opposite. That meant instead of telling myself I was beautiful or hardworking or driven or intelligent…I just told myself I wasn’t good looking, I didn’t work hard enough, I was lazy, and I was dumb. That also meant I never received or felt grateful for any compliments that were sent my way and I definitely didn’t believe them. I was in a shame cycle. Ashamed of not feeling worthy, ashamed of not feeling good enough, and ashamed when I actually felt something positive about myself. It was shame on top of shame, no matter how I felt.

Man, even writing all this down bums me out.

I learned from an early age that you shouldn’t say anything positive about yourself. And then those beliefs were continually affirmed by younger friends when I would like something about myself and be quickly scorned for those feelings. So the pattern continued over and over and over again. Because you know what? Sometimes it’s easier to stick with what you know instead of walking into unknown territory.

And for me, that unknown territory was simply liking myself…I didn’t know how to like myself. I didn’t know how to give myself a compliment, actually receive it, and truly believe it. But you know what you do when you don’t know how to do something? You fake it ’til you make it. And then you practice. So that’s exactly what I did. Every time I found myself thinking or saying something negative about myself, I flipped it into a positive. For example, when I would find myself looking at my cellulite and telling myself how ugly it was, I would stop and look myself dead in the mirror and say, “I’m so fucking proud of how hard you have worked the past 13 years.” Then I would move on. I did this every time, sometimes changing up the lingo a bit, “You look absolutely beautiful today” and before I knew it, I was rarely thinking those negative thoughts because I had retrained my brain to think only positive ones. Sure, Aunt Flow always comes to town once a month and screws that up a bit, but since I’ve trained myself to override those thoughts, I can get out of that negative pattern pretty quick!

If these negative thoughts and patterns sound familiar to you, let’s get to practicing! It’s time to reprogram your brain since it’s been programmed a certain way for so long. No more thinking you are the way you are or you can’t change. You can always change. And you can definitely always change for the better. If you don’t know where to start with positive affirmations, let me guide you a bit. You can find a few that sound best to you, but I highly recommend going big. Whenever you think a negative thought, I want you to override it with, “Holy shit, you look so damn good, you fucking hottie!!” You don’t have to believe it at first, it may make you laugh a bit, but if you begin to repeat it over and over, your brain will soon believe it. And guess what? If your brain believes it, you embody it. Here are a few other affirmations to choose from:

• I am so proud of how far you’ve come.
• You are fucking superstar.
• Ummmm excuse me, when did you become a supermodel??
• I am strong, confident, and I’m ready to change the world for the better.
• My body is healthy and I am so grateful for that.
• Damn bitch, you looking fucking good!
• I am so proud of all the obstacles you have conquered.
• I am unstoppable.
• I am stronger and happier than I was yesterday.
• I have accomplished so much.
• I am thankful for my body.
• I have stuck with my fitness program and damn proud of that.
• I am sexy AF and the whole world should know it.
• My uniqueness is what makes this world a better place.
• I am healthy, I am wealthy, I am rich, I am that bitch.

Pick one and start to repeat it any time a negative thought pops into your head. Say it out loud in front of a mirror or repeat it in your mind a few times through. And one of the best parts is that no one can judge you except for yourself. And if you are judging yourself for saying something nice, well honey, we got some work to do! And I’m here to help you along the way.

You DESERVE to be happy. You DESERVE to love yourself. You DESERVE to feel joy. It doesn’t matter where you came from, who raised you, the relationships that changed you…YOU DESERVE THE LIFE YOU WANT. But you have to work to get there. You have to work at creating the life YOU want, it’s not going to be handed over to you. If you’re ready to change your life, you gotta put in the work day after day after goddamn day. So start today. Change your brain and everything will begin to change for the better. You’ve got this!!