The Science Behind Daily Affirmations and How to Choose Them

Working on my mindset is one of the pillars of my morning routine…meaning, I do a few things each day that helps me get in the right frame of mind to be happy, fulfilled, and successful. Repeating and reading my daily affirmations is one of the things I do to help develop a stronger mindset by rewiring my brain. 

What is an Affirmation? 

To start…you need to know exactly what an affirmation is. An affirmation is a phrase that you repeat from memory or read on a regular basis to help rewire your subconscious…it’s “food” for your brain.

I use positive affirmations in my morning routine in two ways:

1. During the last 3 minutes of my meditation.
2. As part of my goal sheet (to help me be who I need to be to reach my goals).

The Science Behind Affirmations

Speaking positive affirmations and words to yourself is a good idea… but, there’s actually science behind daily affirmations and how they help your mind, which in turn helps your body and health. Back in the late ’80s, Claude Steele popularized the self-affirmation theory. This theory states that if someone thinks about values that are relevant to them, they feel less defensive when something threatens their worth. 

Studies have shown that affirmations can decrease stress and improve performance in other areas. And…the study showed that people who repeated positive affirmations were willing to improve in other areas of their life. 

How Affirmations Make You Less Defensive and Help You Reach Your Goals

The self-affirmation theory states that instead of a person having one self-concept (like I’m a good boss), the person develops a flexible sense of who they are. Meaning…if they’re confronted with something at work that “attacks” their abilities as a boss…they are less defensive because they have the self-esteem to focus on other areas where they are strong. 

Being defensive is the least effective way of solving problems….which is why positive self-affirmations help you achieve your goals. You’re not going to be strong in every area of your life at all times…so when something is threatened, you can react the right way and move on. This keeps you from being as prone to self-sabotage and self-limiting beliefs.

How I Choose My Affirmations 

I have one particular affirmation that I repeat during my daily meditation which I got from The Big Leap, which is a book I recommend. 

“I expand in abundance, success, and love every day as I inspire those around me to do the same.”

This one stuck out to me because I think it is in line with my overall personal goals and who I want to become. I use it to help get over any upper limiting beliefs and increase my ceiling (the invisible barrier that keeps me from reaching my goals). An upper limiting belief is basically when you let your ego knock you back down to your comfort zone through negative thoughts…causing you to wreck what you’ve created. 

So…that’s just one of the positive affirmations I repeat every morning. I actually read 15 others with my goals to help rewire my brain and subconsciousness to what’s important to me. 

Here are the basics of how I choose my daily affirmations:

1. What’s Important to Me

2. How I Want to Show up in the World

3. It Ties Back to My Goals

It’s no more difficult than that to pick daily affirmations for your routine. If you’re looking for a list, check out this list of 50 that SHIHORI published on her blog. 

When to Repeat Your Affirmations

Well…obviously for me, I do this as part of my morning routine. But…you can do this at any point in the day. You can do this when you are experiencing a stressful time, for self-care, or when you need encouragement during a difficult day. Neil over at Your Successful and Happy Life talks about 4 ways to implement your affirmations for best results. 

I hope that this article inspires you to add daily affirmations as part of your routine. If you want to see my full daily routine, sign-up here and I’ll send it to you with a worksheet so you can create your own.