This morning as I was writing in my journal it dawned on me that I needed to share with you all how important self-affirmations are.

I am often asked how I lead such a positive life, and how I manifest amazing experiences into my experience. And for me it always, always, always comes down to 2 things. 1. Self-Belief/love and 2. Self-affirmations. They seem to be antidote to a lot of negative thinking I have worked years to overcome. If you met me when I was a young woman, and even in my 20s I wasn’t this person born with natural confidence or self-belief that I could do anything I dreamt of. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And I think that’s why I feel it is important for me to share these continued messages that I was able to change my life and live the life that was only a pipe dream for me, because I choose to believe in myself, and speak loudly words of affirmation. Once I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I was able to really implement changes into my daily routine that allowed me to make affirmations a part of my life. That is when I can say without a doubt my life changed. It opened news doors and a new way of seeing my life.

It is important to take the time to look at how you were raised. What were the examples your parents gave you? How did your teachers, friends and others you had relationships with treat you? You are trained at the earliest of ages to know your worth. And we teach people how to treat us. As I did the work in The Artist’s Way I was able to confront ghosts of my past, write them down and tell them they didn’t have the same power over me anymore. I also finally had the courage to leave a relationship where I was continually cheated on and lied to for almost a decade. The moment I left him at 31, I felt for the first time I was truly taking the power back in my life to say, “I AM WORTHY.”

If you are wondering how self-affirmations work they are at the core, very simple. They are just phrases of positive things you want to feel and do in your life, said out loud. The trick is to say them daily, and once you say them enough they become an actual belief. And it’s a form of the law of attraction. If you believe you are worthy of something and can have what you want in life, it makes it that much easier for the universe to bring it to you. Here’s a simple example. I’m sure we can all think of the friends we have that A. Always get exactly what they want in life. Whether it be the raise at work, an amazing relationship, etc. and B. The friend who hangs their head low and always has another story of how someone took advantage of them or their heart is broken yet again. Pay attention the energy your friends typically emit. We all have that energy, and it’s natural for it to be low and high at times. But what is your baseline? Are you usually thinking of what could go wrong? Are you usually thinking that you won’t be paid enough? That people will let you down? Or do you expect things to be more positive for you? These are all things we need to be more aware of.

As the wise words of Oprah I have on my mood board, “You become what you believe.” And just think about Oprah, she got pregnant as a teenager and had to overcome shame and child abuse. She overcame a series of terrible relationships filled with men physically and emotionally hurting her in 20s. And then something happened…she knew she couldn’t live that way and saw better things for her. She chose to change her thinking. And imagine if she stayed in that low place….we would not have the wisdom and inspiration from one of the world’s most powerful and uplifting empaths we have. Her story is one we all can learn from. We can OVERCOME our past. We can LEAD beautiful lives. It’s all up to us.

So here are some affirmations that you can use, and also try to think of specific ones. Write them down in a list. And each morning before you start you day, say them out loud with your shoulders back and your posture strong. Proclaim what is rightfully yours. I got these ones out of the book, The Secret and thought they are really lovely. These are good for everyday. They are general and powerful and will bring your energy up.

The Universe is Conspiring for me in all things.
The Universe is supporting everything I do.
The Universe meets my needs immediately.
I am the creator of my life.
I draw everything good into my life. Be it, people, jobs, circumstances, wealth, health. I am a magnet for what I think about most and I will CHOOSE to think about good things.
I am worthy of love, respect and the dreams I desire.
I will give respect to others and I will receive it back.
I have unfathomable power to in my mind to create an amazing life for myself and those around me!
I will help others and they will help me.
My good thoughts are POWERFUL and my negative thoughts are WEAK.

Now I also think it’s important to have specific ones you say. Every time I focus on being specific I am AMAZED at how quickly they work. (I had ones like, “I will work with Chanel. I will work with Target. I will be published in Vogue & Harper’s Bazaar.” AND THEY ALL CAME TRUE!!! But I also have ones non-work related like “I will find a man who respects me and I will respect him”. THAT CAME TRUE TOO!!! So make sure you really think of things that you see as your dream and then spend a few minutes every day believing that they are going to come to you. Be it big or small, you are allowed to have all the things you want. Don’t be shy.

So take the time to make a list of affirmations. Do it now. We all have the time. So no excuses. Practice them every morning. And I can’t wait to hear how they work for you.

Jess