August 2011 – The Affirmation Spot Blog

Roadblocks are Shortcuts to Something Better

Today’s Affirmation:
“Roadblocks are simply shortcuts to something better than I had planned.”

Today’s affirmation is a testament to our ability, indeed, our necessity to turn life’s obstacles into opportunities. There’s an old saying that life is what happens to us on the way to our dreams. We think we are so smart and we have it all figured out and yet life, inevitably, throws us for a loop.

We have a choice. We can sit and pout because things didn’t turn out as we’d scripted them. Or, we can push forward with renewed determination.

Sometimes – as much as we hate to admit it – the universe’s wisdom or God’s is sounder than our own. The very thing that messed up our perfected plans turns out to be the key that unlocks a brand new future.

However, we can’t find that key as long as we view the detour as a curse rather than as the blessing that it truly is. When you see these crazy, unrelated things working to achieve exactly what you’ve been asking for, relax and let the universe work its magic.

May your day be filled with roadblocks ready to transform into shortcuts to your success and happiness.

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.

anunnaki_cover_full_color He is the author of the Anunnaki Awakening series (2015). Book 1 – Revelation – is now available in paperback and on Kindle. This trilogy takes Ancient Aliens out of the past and into the present. An interstellar, interdimensional journey ensues with humanity’s future hanging in the balance.

How to Write Affirmations

Thought for the Day:

Affirmations without action are just glorified wishful thinking. Affirmations are “mental armor” supporting empowered action, not a substitute for it.

Over the past several years, I’ve written many articles about affirmations -how affirmations work, types of affirmations, ways to use affirmations, etc., etc., etc. Some of those articles are linked to in this article.

However, I’ve never just written an article on how to write an effective affirmation. Today I had a request from a follower on Twitter to provide a “how to” and decided it was a good time to write that article. Let me begin by saying that there are many gurus out there with many ideas on how to correctly write affirmations. There are also some dogmas around the process. I’m not big on dogmas of any kind. So some of this might be unorthodox. Feel free to use what resonates for you.

Before we begin, let me make a few quick points. Affirmations are a tool to reshape and refocus your thoughts. By themselves, they don’t “make” anything happen. However, as you replace negative thoughts with negative vibrations with positive thoughts and positive vibrations, you do begin to attract better things into your life. Affirmations without action are just wishful thinking. The idea is that as you raise the vibration of your thoughts, you become more inspired to take action to manifest those thoughts as reality in the world. See the thought of the day at the top of the article.

I recommend reading my two part series on Affirmations: Repetition and Belief along with using this list to create your affirmations. Following is 7-step process for creating your own affirmations. This is my way. It has worked for me over the past 20 years. Others might have another way that works for them.

Start with a goal – you must have a goal in mind. The clearer the goal, the better the affirmation and the better chance for success. A cloudy goal leads to an unclear affirmation, and poor results.
Affirm what you can believe – affirmations are not a tool for persuading you to believe something you don’t believe. They are a tool to help you create and multiply thoughts that support the action necessary to achieve the things you believe you can achieve. However, you can use what I call “aspirational affirmations” to help manifest a distant goal. You just need to be able to believe you can achieve that goal one day. (Read more Incremental Affirmations and Unrealistic Affirmations)
Use clear language – the language of your affirmation should be clear and powerful for you. It’s OK to use phrases and terms that are very personal to you as long as the language resonates and feels empowering when you say it. Be as specific as possible.
Present Tense – in most cases, it is more effective to use the present tense when writing, speaking, or listening to affirmations. In other words, state your affirmation as “I am…” rather than “I will..” or “I should”. The lone exception would be those discussed in the Incremental Affirmations article.
First, second, and third person – most affirmation gurus will tell you to always put your affirmations in the first person, such as I am a magnificent dancer, rather than the second person you are a magnificent dancer. I agree that first person is the best if you are only going to choose one. Why stop with first person, though? An affirmation can be very powerful in the second person and using your name. I recommend using all three. I am a great writer. You are a great writer. Ray is a great writer. This holographic language creates a more powerful and holistic affirmation. (Read more Adding the Power of You to Your Affirmations)
Use them, use them, use them – once you have written an empowering affirmation, use it. Like so many other motivational tools, affirmations are created and then cast aside after a day or two. Read them aloud, read them into the mirror, post them places where you can see them throughout your day, record them and listen to them passively (Listening Passively to Affirmations) or actively over and over until they infuse your mind. The goal for an affirmation is to have it replace the negative or disempowering thoughts and become thoroughly embedded in your thought process so that it becomes the automatic response (How Do You Know Your Affirmations are Working?) to your negative thoughts.
Take action – affirmations without action is just wishful thinking. You must think and then act, if you are to achieve.

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.He’s spent the past 21 years in sales and sales training for major companies.

He is the author of the Anunnaki Awakening series (2015). Book 1 – Revelation – is now available in paperback and on Kindle.

What is Your Opinion of the Book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill?

Today’s poll asks about an all-time classic book in personal development. What’s your experience with Think and Grow Rich?

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams. He is author of the ebook The Power to Be You and the forthcoming The Power to Be You 2.

Who Determines Your Happiness or Success? – The Affirmation Spot for Thursday August 12, 2011

Thought: “Whoever or whatever controls the criteria for your happiness and success, controls your happiness and success.”

raised_arms_horizon Think about that statement for a moment. Now consider who or what is setting the criteria for your success and happiness in life? Is it you?

Giving up control of your happiness and success has become a common trap in our society. People allow institutions, other people, or their own rigid beliefs to limit or squelch their happiness and success. The barriers become so many and so high that hardly any happiness or success can be enjoyed. Sadly, many people do not even realize they have done so.

Advertisers, politicians, and religious institutions are often active players in asking people to cede their happiness or success to the criteria they set. They set a standard and rely on fear, base instincts, and subconcious/unconscious programming to embed their controlling messages. We can have tremendous reason to be happy or feel successful, but someone is telling us that we cannot be, until we…[fill in the blank].

Here are a few examples of the conscious or unconscious criteria that begin to impact our ability to achieve and enjoy happiness or success. Sometimes these criteria even have noble purposes or great goals behind them, but they are not reason to put your enjoyment of life on hold.

“I drink beer brand A because I can only be happy if I have the attention of attractive women.”
“I can only be happy as a size 4 because when I look in the magazines that’s who gets the attention.”
“I can only be happy when I have a bigger house or more clothes.”
“I can’t be happy because I’m an imperfect sinner and not worthy.”
“I can’t be happy until all poverty is wiped out.”
“Success means having a foreign sports car and a summer beach house. I’m not a success until I have those.”
“Success means having a championship ring. All my accomplishments are nothing without that.”

Sometimes we give other people the power to set the criteria for our happiness or success. Sometimes they will it away from us as a means of control.

“I’ll never be happy until I’m one of the popular kids.”
“I can’t be happy until my son is married.”
“I cannot be happy as long he is the president.”
“I can only be happy when my husband or wife approves of me.”
“I cannot be happy until I have my dad’s approval.”
“I’m not be a success until I prove to “them” that I am a success.”

Our words have power! And when we place preconditions on our happiness and success or allow others to, we lose. Our lives pass by unfulfilled.

All of these things are worthy goals when you choose and pursue them on your own accord. It’s fine to work to change who is president, to make your spouse as happy as possible, to purchase clothes that you like. What’s not OK is to allow these things to be criteria for your success or happiness.

There is no secret, objective happiness gained from being a size 4, a millionaire, or having your dad’s approval. Of course, the easy proof of this is that there are plenty of unhappy size 4s and happy size 18s, there are miserable millionaires and happy janitors, and there are just as many unhappy people who have dad’s approval as don’t.

Goals are fine. Aim for the size 4 or the million dollars. Just don’t make it prerequisite for enjoying a satisfying life. When you do you are placing your hope for happiness or success in an external, future condition that does not even guarantee the success or happiness when achieved.

You are allowing your experience of happiness or success to be held hostage to these criteria. You are placing your happiness and success at the mercy of subjective criteria and circumstances set and controlled by others. Why? Your happiness and your success are right here for you to access and enjoy right now.

Thought: “Happiness and success are not matters of fate, faith, or circumstance. They are states of mind that we choose or reject.”

The keys to owning your own happiness and success are fivefold.

Identify – recognize the areas of your life where you have allowed someone or something outside of you to set the criteria for your happiness or success. Make a list if it helps you organize your thoughts.
Reclaim Control – take responsibility. Your happiness and success are yours. That entails some responsibility and it is one reason many people give it away to begin with. Recognize that you gave control over your success and happiness away and you can take it back. When other people or institutions have had their control over your success or happiness for a long time they may fight to keep it through guilt or other means. The fact is your happiness and your success belong to you not to them. Claim it!
Lower Barriers – some of us have a difficult time accepting and claiming our happiness and success. You may not feel worthy of these feelings. Even when you gain back control you may establish impossibly high barriers for yourself or continue to use the criteria established for you by others. This gains you nothing. Become friends with the idea of you having success and happiness in your life. If there are hidden emotions or thoughts that are preventing you from enjoying them, get some support or use techniques to identify and handle what is holding you back.
Experience and Enjoy – when you are in control of your own happiness and success and you have an easy, comfortable relationship with them; life is good! Experience your happiness! Celebrate your successes! Share and spread your happiness and success with others.
Help Others – when you experience the emancipation of owning your happiness and success you will want to help others do the same. You will become easily aware of the ways in which people let these influences rob them of their best moments and achievements. There is no reason for us to live in bondage to other peoples’ expecations or criteria. We are as able as they to determine what makes us happy or successful and far more entitled!

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

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Young Living Essential Oils – The Affirmation Spot for Friday August 5, 2011

Today’s Affirmation:

My health is in my hands! Choice by choice, I create amazing health and vitality.

Most of the time I focus on mental empowerment on this blog. Our minds are very powerful tools and can do amazing things in our lives. Of course, we must care for the physical body that houses are minds too. That is the reason for today’s topic.

A few months ago my wife, April, and I were introduced to Young Living Essential Oils by a friend. For years, I’d heard people extolling the benefits of oils, but had never looked into them myself.

We were so impressed by the results we experienced with the few initial oils we purchased, that we decided to become distributors. Over the past few months, the oils have become a part of our daily routines and we LOVE them! I’m also pleased to be involved with a company like Young Living that is committed to creating quality products that contribute to the well-being of human beings and pets, protecting the environment, and giving back to communities where Young Living products are grown and distilled.

The more I use and learn about essential oils, the more convinced I become that these products have an amazing contribution to make in the lives of anyone who uses them. I know they have in our lives.

We both use En-R-Gee and Brain Power. These are two of Young Living’s blends. I have found that using Brain Power on my forehead, temples, and the top of my head provides about 30-45 minutes of enhanced mental clarity and alertness. I apply the EN-R-Gee to my the bottoms of my feet one to three times a day. Within a few minutes, I feel a definite boost in energy. These are just two of the oils we’ve been using and benefiting from. April swears by the Lavender for creating the calm for a good night’s sleep. I recently used Oregano to reduce the risk of infection after a tick bite. The list goes on and on.

Tip: Peppermint oil is great for reducing fevers. I put some on my feet before I took Mia, our lab, for a walk on the hottest day here in 27 years this week. Because of its properties, Peppermint is one oil you can feel moving through your body. I was amazed at how quickly I felt it moving up my legs and the the rest of the body. By the end of the walk, I could feel it on my forehead. This is a great example of how quickly even a few drops of these oils can deliver their beneficial ingredients through the body. Very impressive.

Here’s a quick video providing an overview of Young Living

I’d like to invite you to learn more about these essential oils. I’ve set up a personal site on the Young Living site. April and I primarily joined Young Living to get the distributor discount, but there is also an amazing business opportunity, if that’s your goal right now.

Check out the site and I would love to hear your feedback or personal experiences with essential oils. If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them or get the answers for you.

Learn More Now About Young Living Essential Oils

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

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