Positive Affirmations vs Negative: Why You Need Both To Succeed

Positive affirmations can help keep you on track to achieve your goals. It’s an excellent way to stay focused and motivated.

But being unclear about the difference between positive and negative affirmations is the wrong place to start.

Unfortunately, this happens a lot. It’s common to hear these two terms used interchangeably. For example, a positive affirmation might be, “I love money, and money loves me.” “I don’t want to be poor” Many people would say they are both positive.

Even some of the most well-known manifesting coaches (think Smart Goals) use these terms interchangeably.

Positive and negative affirmations aren’t synonymous. The difference between them is subtle, but it’s significant. It’s also vital to comprehend how they interact to help you stay on track.

We will outline the differences between positive and negative affirmations and explain how to use each to help set you and your company up for success.

Defining the Difference Between Positive vs Negative Affirmations

With everyone throwing around positive and negative affirmations like they’re the same thing, it can get confusing. In reality, the difference between the two is clear.

Positive affirmations vs negative

Positive affirmations are statements you say to yourself to effect change in your life. The goal is to retrain your brain to think more positively.

Negative affirmations are the things you say to yourself that keep you stuck in negative thinking patterns.

The key to success is using positive and negative affirmations to your advantage.

Together, they can help you achieve any goal.

So how do you use both positive and negative affirmations to your advantage? Let’s take a look.

 

What Are Positive Affirmations?

What is your goal? That’s the question every affirmation should answer. Goals provide you and your affirmations with direction.

Affirmations are phrases, words, or sentences you tell yourself repeatedly. They can be an excellent tool for self-growth and help you feel better about who you are and what has happened in your life.

Positive self-affirmations are a powerful tool for changing your life, bringing about positive changes, and ultimately manifesting your goals.

What exactly is a positive affirmation?

A positive affirmation or positive phrase is an uplifting comment that can be repeated as many times as necessary to assist and motivate you in feeling joyful and achieving your goals.

In the 1980s, Louise Hay wrote: “You Can Heal Your Life.” In it, she used the power of positive affirmations to help people heal themselves from all sorts of physical and mental problems.

In her research, Louise Hay outlines three core principles of affirmations:

1. Positive

Avoid stating your affirmations from an opposing point of view. Avoid using words like doesn’t, don’t, won’t, and can’t. These words are frequently used when we do not want something to occur. According to the Law of Attraction, even if you focus on the lack of anything, you are still giving attention to it and thus attracting it into your reality. Instead of concentrating on what you don’t want, a positive affirmation should concentrate on what you do desire.

2. Present moment

Affirmations are designed to raise your vibration. The only way to assume a higher vibration in the present moment is to believe it is true. This is why it’s critical to compose using the present tense as if the affirmation is taking place now. Write in the present tense whenever possible by avoiding words like “I will” or “I am going to.” These phrases imply that the affirmation has not yet occurred, preventing you from receiving the affirmation’s upbeat vibes and outcome – achieving your goals.

3. Personal

Affirmations should be about you or your business. You have no control over how others act or behave. You are solely responsible for your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. As a result, it’s always beneficial to start your affirmation with an “I am…” declaration. Don’t try to control other people’s behaviors by using affirmations, such as “My boss will give me a raise soon.” Affirmations aren’t about influencing others.

Affirmations are a tool to keep yourself and your business moving in one direction: toward success.

What Are Negative Affirmations?

Negative affirmations are the complete opposite of positive ones.

They’re designed to reflect your current reality, which may not be where you want to be.

Just like positive affirmations, negative affirmations should be in the present moment and personal.

Some examples of negative affirmations include:

• “I’m not good enough.”
• “I’m not smart enough.”
• “I’m not worthy of love.”
• “I’m not lovable.”
• “I’m not successful.”

Why You Need Both Positive and Negative Affirmations

A mix of positive and negative affirmations is essential because it helps you stay grounded.

It’s easy to get caught up in the fantasy of what you want to happen, but if you only focus on the positive, you’re more likely to be disappointed when things don’t go according to plan.

Focusing on the negative can help you accept your current reality and take actionable steps towards your goals.

It can also help you to avoid setting yourself up for disappointment.

Types of Affirmations

When it comes to achieving your goals, you can use two types of affirmations: positive and negative.

In addition to that, there are a multitude of specific affirmations, such as morning affirmations, money affirmations, for kids etc.

• positive affirmations for women
• short positive affirmations
• positive affirmations for students
• positive affirmations for anxiety
• affirmations for others
• affirmations for men

What If Affirmations Don’t Work For You?

If you’ve tried using affirmations and they don’t work for you, it could be because you’re not using them correctly.

You already know that there are two types of affirmations.

The first is a positive affirmation, whereas the second is a negative affirmation.

Even though you may be stating positive affirmations all day long, it could be that they’re not working – because your subconscious mind doesn’t believe them to be true.

Negative affirmations function differently because when the mind hears something it doesn’t want to hear, it does everything possible to prevent those words from becoming real.

According to new scientific studies, people with a happy outlook have healthier hearts. You’ll feel better in your body, mind, and spirit.

You’ll even be able to attract more into your life by applying the principles of the Law of Attraction.

So, what’s the catch? Why does it work for some people but not others?

Why doesn’t it always work for us?

The solution is a bit complicated, but it is worth taking the time to understand it because we all know that daily affirmations are essential for our:

• Well being
• Happiness
• Love & Relationships
• Self-esteem
• Healing & Health
• Motivation

Why Should You Use Positive Affirmations?

Because once you grasp what’s going on in your head, you’ll be able to make it work.

And once you get it to work, it will completely transform your life.

• The first thing to understand about affirmations is that they are not magical.
• They work because of the subconscious mind’s power.
• When you speak a positive affirmation, it enters your subconscious and becomes a belief.
• As long as you believe in it, your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imaginary!

Studies show that affirmations improve self-esteem, confidence, goal-setting, relationships, and much more! Whether positive or negative, affirmations can be utilized for anything in life.

The goal is to use them so that you have control over how your life unfolds rather than having things happen by chance.

The challenge of using positive affirmations

First, let’s talk about the main challenge of using positive affirmations.

And that is:

It’s Getting from where you are to where you want to be is difficult. (emotionally)

Why?

Because every day, we have approximately 60,000 thoughts. And most of them are not positive in your favour.

As a result, most of us are walking around anxious and miserable.

• We are aware that we should think more positively
• We know that’s what is needed
• But we’re not sure how to go about it
• Most of us have heard about the advantages of using affirmations

But we don’t utter them since they don’t seem to work.

Let’s have a look at some psychological science studies.

The essay, titled “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others,” appears in Sage Journals.

It will help explain the situation.

The study included participants with both high and low self-esteem. The participants were asked to repeat the positive affirmation:

“I am a lovable person.”

What was the result of this exercise?

1. Repeating positive affirmations made people with poor self-esteem feel worse than before
2. While people who had strong self-esteem felt better.

As a result, most people who needed positive affirmations did not receive them!

What the study ignores is what Law of Attraction teachers have understood all along:

Why was this happening?

The researcher figured out that emotionally, the distance between the want and where they currently were did not add it.

The distance was felt too far away from comfort.

What does this imply?

It means that if you’re feeling down and sad, you and your self-esteem won’t be able to bounce up to feeling high and uplifted.

It’s too much of a leap.

The vibrational chasm is too far away.

It’s why those already thinking positively and experiencing happy emotions can get there.

The distance is not too great.

Why is this so crucial to understanding?

Because boosting your vibration is critical. Knowing how to make yourself feel amazing on purpose can improve your life.

So, what is the solution?

Let’s go over it next.

Taking Stock of Your Situation

The cosmos isn’t paying attention to what you’re saying. Positive affirmations would work for everyone else, right?

All anyone would have to do is say a positive affirmation, and there you have it! You’d be happy, and whatever you desired would come your way.

Instead, the universe is paying attention to how you truly feel. **

You might be thinking, “Oh no, I’m in big danger now!”

But don’t be concerned. There is an effective solution.

What exactly is it?

It’s figuring out how to talk yourself up the emotional scale.

It’s practising soothing phrases to yourself to make yourself feel a little better.

But how does the emotional scale work?

It’s on an emotional scale. The emotions span from low to high, from depression, guilt, and humiliation to love, knowledge, exhilaration, and empowerment.

The actual key is to gauge how you genuinely feel. And this is where things might get problematic:

Most of us develop the habit of not recognizing when we are irritated, angry, or depressed. Then we mentally punish ourselves for not feeling better.

So, first and foremost, be gentle with yourself. Recognize that it is difficult to express how you are feeling.

It’s especially true if you aren’t accustomed to being mindful of how you perceive things.

How do you know where you are on the scale of consciousness?

Consider this:

If possible, find a quiet spot. Take a long, deep breath. “How do I feel right now?” ask yourself. ”

The response is, “I’m feeling quite stressed out right now.”

Could you say, at this time, “Life is amazing!”?

No!

That is the entire point.

That is the entire issue.

That affirmation is too emotionally charged.

The answer is that you should say something similar to where you are now but feels slightly better. Remember, you can’t jump too far or too quickly.

Here’s how :

1. Make progress up the emotional scale of consciousness

Any decent life coach or buddy will be able to do this!

You’ve undoubtedly had a supportive friend who helped you climb the emotional ladder before.

Or maybe you intuitively knew how to do it, and YOU DID IT.

Please keep in mind that you may occasionally say something to yourself that is significantly worse than where you are.

That is typical.

It’s OK to wallow in the muck of vibration at first.

Furthermore, you may say something that is overly emotional. How do you know? On the scale of consciousness, it will appear to be overly high. You won’t believe it until you say it.

Just keep in mind that the goal is to keep climbing.

The goal is to keep thinking positive affirmation for the day.

Let’s continue with the example of feeling stressed out…

Here is an example of what you could say:

• “I am stressed out, but things always have a way of working out.” (Slightly better feeling)
• “It’s my co-worker who upset me the most…” (Slightly worse but true, so it’s OK)
• “I’m a bit angry at myself for letting this happen…” (Slightly worse but true, so it’s OK)
• “But I know that beating myself up never helps…” (Slightly better)
• “I do want to feel better…” (Slightly better)
• “I know that I can choose to think better feeling thoughts!” (Slightly better)
• “I do believe in the power of my thoughts.” (Slightly better)
• “And I know that getting stressed out never helps…” (About the same…)
• “As they say, ‘Worry is a useless emotion!'” (Slightly better)
• “I shouldn’t let my co-worker get me so upset.” (Slightly worse but true, so it’s OK)
• “I don’t want to give (him/her) the power to make me feel bad.” (Slightly better)
• “I can choose to let go of what happened.” (Slightly better feeling)
• “It wasn’t that big of a deal.” (Slightly better)
• “Like they say, ‘What others think about me is none of my business!'” (Slightly better)
• “I’m letting it go now.” (Slightly better)
• “I’m choosing to focus on the good in my life.” (Slightly better)
• “I do have a lot to be grateful for.” (Slightly better)
• “I am grateful for the fact that I have a job!” (Slightly better)
• “I am grateful for my family.” (Slightly better)
• “I am grateful for my friends.” (About the same)
• “I am grateful for my house.” (About the same)
• “I am grateful for myself!” (Slightly better)
• “I am a good person.” (Slightly better)
• “I am a good person.” (Slightly better)
• “And I know that I am lovable!” (Slightly better)

It took a lot of extra work to get to the point of stating, “I am lovable!”

But it is the job.

That’s what you’d have to do to get from stressed to loving yourself.

That is contentment.

It’s only one example. Some of these expressions may not be appropriate for you. And while this example may be too simplistic for most people, you understand the notion.

You are the only one who understands what a slightly better-feeling thought is.

This example demonstrates the concept of what you are capable of.

The other option is somewhat different

Let’s go over it next.

1. Wait until you feel great.

It’s the third option, and it’s relatively straightforward.

Most people’s moods fluctuate throughout the day.

Have you noticed that?

Sometimes you won’t know why you’re feeling excellent.

Positive affirmations can be used whenever you feel good, no matter how you get there. That’s when they’ll mean something to you. And it is at this point, that you will notice your energy shifting to a higher level.

So, suppose you opt not to go up the emotional scale in our scenario.

Instead, you sit and wait.

You’re driving home from work after a long day. You’re still stressed, but you go for a walk with your dog.

You feel a lot better after the walk.

So, what do you do now?

Try stating your affirmations out loud. Do they improve your mood? Worst-case scenario?

If they make you feel better, take advantage of it.

Say as many positive affirmations as you can about any issue.

But don’t even try them if they make you feel worse. Leave them for another occasion. You’re not emotionally strong enough to say your affirmations.

You might also try working your way up the emotional scale. It’s entirely up to you.

Aside from that, it’s always better if you can recite your affirmations aloud.

If you can’t, reciting them to yourself silently will suffice.

You might also write the ones you prefer on 3 x 5 cards.

Some people like to tape positive life affirmations on mirrors, computers, and anywhere else they can see.

You now understand the significance of walking yourself up the emotional scale. You now understand how to accomplish it gradually.

The second question is, what are some excellent positive affirmations for the Law of Attraction that you may say?

Let’s go over it next.

List of Positive Affirmations

In no particular order, below is a list of affirmations

• “I am worthy.”
• “I was born worthy.”
• “I am smart enough.”
• “I am good enough.”
• “Everything I want comes to me effortlessly.”
• “I am a money magnet!”
• “I love money, and money loves me.”
• “All is well with me.”
• “The universe has my back.”
• “I am a powerful creator.”
• “I can be, do and have whatever I want.”
• “Life is supposed to be fun!”
• “I am worthy beyond measure.”
• “I am abundant in every sense of the word.”
• “I deserve all that is good.”
• “I am a genius!” (All it takes is focus…)
• “I can master anything that I set my mind to.”
• “I am loved.”
• “Everything I want wants me.”
• “I am a vibrational match to everything I want.”
• “I feel good now.”
• “I feel great!”
• “I am invincible.”
• “I am (or have) perfect health.”
• “I am powerful and strong.”
• “I can do it.”
• “I can do anything.”
• “I can do anything I set my mind to.”
• “I have wonderful and meaningful relationships.”
• “I can always reach for a thought that feels better.”
• “My happiness is my greatest gift to others.”
• “All I have to do is get happy!”
• “The Universe adores me.”
• “The measure of my success is my joy.”

Conclusion

To summarize, positive affirmations to say everyday benefit your happiness, relationships, love, and health in various ways. They are also helpful for activating the Law of Attraction.

Before you begin manifesting, reviewing the definition of the law of attraction is a good idea.

A strong affirmation does not have to be about positive thinking; it starts with a simple statement of intent, an action verb (positive statement), and a positive conclusion such as improved circumstances.

However, research shows that positive affirmations can backfire.

According to medical professionals, they can backfire with negative thoughts in people with poor self-esteem.

But this is only possible because you can’t go there from there. You can’t go from feeling low to extremely high in an instant. It’s too much of a leap.

So, by steadily working your way up the emotional scale, you can raise your vibration.

The other alternative is to wait till you feel better. We all experience ups and downs throughout the day. So, wait till you are feeling well before saying your affirmations.

Affirmations can be written on 3 x 5 index cards by hand. Some folks like to distribute them.

Do what feels right to you.

Finally, we have provided a collection of Law of Attraction positive affirmations that you may find helpful.

It is critical to grasp the law of mind and how you feel. As Louise Hay teaches, you may heal your life and reap the full benefits by avoiding negative self-talk, creating positive energy by being happy and thankful, and, of course, saying positive daily affirmations.

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