Adding the Power of YOU to Your Affirmations

Today’s Affirmation
Empowerment Affirmation: I embrace the power and beauty within me and water it every day!

When you search the Internet for information on how to create affirmations you find that there is an overwhelming predisposition to phrasing affirmations in the first person – that is using I, me, my, or mine in the affirmations.

There is a good reason for it. Traditionally, affirmations were used by people a narrow subset of the population – people in recovery, super salespeople, or elite athletes. The formula preached by the affirmation gurus who worked with these groups was to write your affirmations in the first-person and sit in front of the mirror (Stuart Smalley style) and repeat your affirmations until – by sheer will – you believed them.

No one can deny that many people used this technique to great effect. The fact is, however, that most people are too busy or find performing this ritual kind of cheesy. The parody created by the Stuart Smalley character on Saturday Night Live, in my opinion, only served to make affirmations “nerdy” and cause people who could use them to shy away.

Today people who want to change their habits, reshape their thinking, or condition their minds for success get their affirmations by listening. My own 20 year experiment with affirmations has found that repeated listening (both with intent and passively) is every bit as effective as the mirror talk.

Listening to affirmations provides the added benefit of being able to augment first-person affirmations with second-person affirmations – affirmations using you or your. The importance of adding ‘you’ to affirmations is that it allows you to tap into one of the greatest powers of affirmations – thought substitution. Thought substitution is a process by which you replace an existing negative thought or belief with a positive one. It is one of the most important benefits of using affirmations.

Most of the negative self-talk you seek to overcome with affirmations originated from outside of you. Other people planted the thoughts and you internalized them and made them part of your thinking. These thoughts are almost always phrased (even in your own mind) using ‘you’ because that is how you originally absorbed them.

For instance, your mother said, “You are so stupid,” when you were 10 years old. For whatever reason, you internalized that thought. Over the years, whenever you mess up you hear the phrase, “You are so stupid,” in your mind.

So, using this example, you create a first-person affirmation that says, “I am smart,” to counter the old thought. The affirmation will be somewhat effective in countering the old thought, but it will not replace it. Oddly enough, there is something about the thought substitution process that requires a one-for-one switch for maximum effectiveness.

The “I am smart” affirmation plays a role in affirming our own belief in our intelligence. However, the old thought, “You are so stupid,” is still floating around in your mind and you wind up with two conflicting beliefs.

What I have found resolves this situation is to complement the first-person affirmation with a second-person version that can – with repetition – actually replace the old thought. The most effective means is to listen to or repeat the affirmation in the first-person affirmation several times and follow it with the affirmation in the second-person several times.

The result is that you are simultaneously planting a new internal thought, “I am smart,” and replacing the old external thought with a substitute thought coming from the outside that confirms, “You are smart.”

Try adding the power of ‘you’ to your affirmations!

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

Ray

Ray Davis is the author of Anunnaki Awakening: Revelation – order your signed copy today at AATrilogy.com – founder of The Affirmation Spot and an advocate for the potential of the human race.

anunnaki_cover_full_colorAnunnaki Awakening: Revelation is turning heads and opening minds. Humanity’s past is checkered, secret, and dangerous.

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Interview with Kelly Meerbott, Founder of You: Loud & Clear, Inc. – The Affirmation Spot for Friday September 16, 2011

Today’s Affirmation:
Coach Affirmation: I earn my gold by helping my clients find the gold within them!

From time to time, I like to shine a light on the amazing people out there who are really shining a light in the world with their personal example and their businesses. Today we are honored to feature an interview with Kelly A. Meerbott, Founder and Owner at You: Loud & Clear, Inc. Kelly. Before we begin the interview, here is more about Kelly in her own words.

I’m a Transformational Coach for leadership executives. This is my story, my mission, and my promise.

My limitations are my lever. I use my limits, fears and life experiences to my advantage — the good, the bad, and the cathartic. I’ve been recruited with luxurious offers by commercial media giants, and fired for standing my ground in the face of harassment. I’ve soothed furious clients and landed six-figure sales contracts — and I know what it feels like to doubt the talk you’re walking. I’ve lived off unemployment checks and unbridled willpower — and built a thriving business in the depths of the Recession.

I’ve invested thousands of dollars in personal + professional development, and firmly believe that high-integrity people attract high-octane opportunities.

I’m LOUD + CLEAR on my desires, abilities and intentions.

I’m here to help you do the same — your way, with my support.

I get around.  In a past life (as a sought-after marketing consultant) I crafted strategies for Fortune 500s like Virgin America, McDonald’s, Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts, Sony Records and Anytime Fitness, as well as niche + boutique businesses like The Ritz-Carlton of Palm Beach, the British Tourism Authority, Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center and Universal Studios.

I bring my sales, marketing and business-building insights to every coaching session. It’s not my sole focus — but if it’s percolating in your world, we’ll unpack all the details.

And I get results.

One client admitted that “my balls were bigger than his” (I took it as a compliment.) Another called me “the best investment” he’d ever made (and he’d just purchased an airplane.)  I work best with high-performing professionals who are already at the top of their game, and wondering, “what’s next?” (The answer may surprise you…)
Question #1

TAS: Kelly, tells us about your vision for You: Loud & Clear. Who are your potential clients and what kinds of services do you provide to them?

Kelly: My vision is to help people live the life they’d love to live. Life is so short and it’s gone in the blink of an eye.  We all should live life passionately, creatively, happily and authentically.  Unfortunately, very few people live their lives that way.  My service is to find out what is preventing them from living that life and work with them to get them there.

The services I provide are: listening and asking questions. The rest of the work is done by my client. When we begin our work together we get very clear on what their goals are and we create a customized plan for them to achieve the success in areas of their lives that they want to achieve.

Question #2

TAS: The work you’re doing is obviously important. You’ve committed your professional life to inspiring others to get better and reach their goals and dreams. Who has inspired you on your journey? 

Kelly: People who have failed fantastically in their lives and still were not afraid to be themselves inspire me.   People who are not afraid of being vulnerable and showing themselves to the world:  warts and all.  I used to strive for perfection.  Now I joke with my clients that I’m a recovering perfectionist.  I thought I had to hide who I was then I realized (with help from my coach, Charrise McCrorey) that my failures and mistakes in life were my best assets as a coach.  They are the experiences that brought me to this point in my life.  They are the best way I can be of service and assistance to my clients during their individual journeys.

Question #3

TAS: Do you have any mentors (personal or from afar) who inform your approach to this work? 

Kelly: My husband:  Brian who is active duty in the military and is truly the yin to my yang.  I learn so much from him.  He lives such an authentic life it takes my breath away.

My coach:  Charrise McCrorey who inspires me daily.  The most important thing she taught me is to be me.  She will tell you that I did all the work but I contend that she was the catalyst.

Steve Chandler who’s work changed my life. 

Byron Katie  who taught me to question the validity of my thoughts.

Lee Cockerell who’s failures during his career made him an extraordinary executive.

My clients.  They are my best coaches.  I learn so much from them EVERY day.

My success team (the people who I went to the Sapien Harbor Coaching Academy with):  Richard Blakeborough, Krystal Levi, Megan McCrorey, Linda  Wilson, Valerie St. Germain, Melissa Flagler each one is a gift to the world.  I consistently stand in awe and am filled with gratitude because they are in my life.

Question #4

TAS: You say on your website that “one powerful conversation can change your life.” That sounds like a big promise. How do you deliver on that promise?

Kelly: With the right person, at the right time, with the necessary amount of openness and receptive spirit, one conversation has the potential to change a life.  The prerequisite is feeling that the other person in the conversation is truly and absolutely listening to you without pronouncing judgments or reaching conclusions based on inadequate or incorrect data.  You must feel as though anything you say is good and right – from there, you are liberated to become exactly who and what you are.

Question #5 

TAS: We all know there a lot of professional coaches out there, what sets Kelly Meerbott and You: Loud & Clear apart from the crowded coaching field?

Kelly: I can only speak for my methodologies and outcomes that are all predicated on one simple premise: I am listening fully and absolutely to who you are and what you seek to deposit in the universe.  With that as the fundamental truth of our interaction, you are now able to develop whatever it is you seek to have happen to your life and I am your coach and your cheering section on that journey.  Everything I coach my clients on: income, communication, executive leadership, etc.  Are based on road-tested disciplines that have worked in my life and in my clients lives.

Question #6

TAS: We are certainly living in transformational times. Many people are trying to find the key to unlock that potential within them and transform their lives. You call yourself a transformational coach. What does transformation mean to you? Can you give us an example (anonymous, of course) of a client you have helped transform his or her life or career?

Kelly: One of our realities in twenty-first century technology is that change is constant. If we are unable to respond to change in a positive and affirmative manner, we are destined to be left in the past, both technologically and professionally. When I speak of transformation, I am embracing change as a necessary factor in our survival, both individually and as a society.  We must transform ourselves from whatever it is that restrains or inhibits our growth; from there we must grow into what fulfills and completes us, both in terms of individual spirituality and our professional behavior.

I have been quite gratified by the reactions of a number of clients who have been forthcoming about the coaching they have received from me.  The most significant of these is a female client in this area who has said the following:  “Kelly, I have read so many books and attended so many seminars but they all leave me with the same feeling.  If you don’t fit into one of their cookie-cutter paradigms, you are not right.  You are the first and only coach who has encouraged me to identify who I am and fight for the right to be that person.  I will forever be grateful to you for that.”

Question #7

TAS: There may be some people reading this who know they would benefit from a coach, but are concerned about the cost. They may see it as a luxury item at this point in their businesses or careers. What would you say to these people?

Kelly: My first response is likely to be along the lines of receiving exactly what you pay for in terms of coaching and self-actualization.  But I understand difficult economic conditions and I am sensitive to the constraints that they impose.  All I can say with certainty is that while self-development is an ongoing, critically important process, the coaching that I provide is an investment that will justify itself throughout life.  We invest in stocks, real estate, education and other entities that have unpredictable by-products. If you invest in yourself, you win.    My efforts are dedicated toward making this a realistic, vitally important investment in yourself that will have resounding and lasting consequences.

I’m also very big on delivering value.  I ask the question:  what would you have to see to know that you are getting value from our coaching relationship.  My clients and I create very clear agreements that allow us to track their return on investment.

Conclusion


TAS: Kelly, thank you so much for your insightful answers and for what you do to help people reach their goals and dreams. How can an interested TAS reader contact you to learn more?

Kelly: They can either email me:  kelly@youloudandclear.com, call me:  757.262.8329 or fill out the Life Leadership Application : http://www.youloudandclear.com/content/life-leadership-interview and I’ll gift them 30 minutes with me so they can experience what it would be like to work together.

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: 1001 Power Thoughts for Daily Life.

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Bliss Affirmations – The Affirmation Spot for Wednesday Septemeber 14, 2011

Today’s Thought

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”

~ Joseph Campbell
Bliss is a powerful concept and one that this famous quote by Joseph Campbell has caused to resonate in the minds of the current generations of humans living on planet Earth. How to define bliss? Well, this is one of those words where dictionary definitions are simply inadequate. Your bliss is where you feel at home. It’s your sweet spot. It’s those moments and situations where you *know* you are aligned with your purpose. It’s that life that wakes you in the middle of the night and says, “Come live me!”

Today I am sharing a few bliss affirmations to help you live your bliss.

  • As I follow my bliss, my bliss starts chasing me!
  • Prosperity and happiness are mine when I find the courage to truly follow my bliss!
  • Following my bliss can pay the bills as well any job.
  • Today and every day my bliss is my compass for success and happiness.
  • I never miss when I follow my bliss!
  • I do what I love and find my bliss. I keep doing what I love and I live my bliss. I give myself completely to what I love and I become my bliss!
  • Bliss builds in my world today with every conscious decision I make!
  • Today I find my bliss in the sweet spot where my talents and my passion merge.
  • Following my bliss creates magic in my life.
  • I am a bliss magnet!
  • I follow my bliss! I experience my bliss! I become my bliss!

Stay inspired! You are the engine of your dreams!

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: 1001 Power Thoughts for Daily Life.

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Courage Affirmations – The Affirmation Spot for Monday September 12, 2011

Today’s quote:

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
~ Anais Nin

Today I am featuring some affirmations on courage. We are human beings and our courage ebbs and flows based on how we feel in a given moment or based on situations. However, courage is a fire that can burn through fears and doubts, when activated. Each of us has a practically untapped reservoir of courage.

How does the shyest kid in the class suddenly commit an act of utter bravery to save his friends in battle? How does the single mother overcome all the reasons she shouldn’t succeed and succeed anyway? How does the business person have the courage put his or her idea out there in a world that shreds new ideas?

The answer is courage.

Here are few affirmations that I hope will tap your inner hero.

  1. I think from courage! I speak from courage! Today I act from courage!
  2. Today I am filled with the courage to be the person I came to the planet to be!
  3. I have the courage, wisdom, and strength to thrive no matter what today sends my way.
  4. If I must stand alone with my ideals, then SO BE IT!
  5. Today I run to where I have failed before to begin again.
  6. Today I courageously challenge my unknowns and reap big rewards!
  7. Today I have the courage to face up to the people and circumstances in my life.
  8. Even when life is tough, I am courageous!
  9. Breathing in, I feel my courage growing. Breathing out, act from a place of courage.

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: 1001 Power Thoughts for Daily Life.

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