I used to think that mantras and affirmations were for sissies. Well, not quite, but I did believe that they were superficial and used by people who simply weren’t ready or didn’t want to do the challenging work that would make a difference in their lives.
I was wrong—at least partially wrong. The way mantras and affirmations are promoted as self-improvement techniques keeps them from being effective.
Simply writing down a mantra (a bit cliché) or an affirmation (#QOTD) feels good but doesn’t do what it claims to do…shift you into a more positive mindset so you can manifest what matters to you. You may disagree with me, which may mean you found the secret to powerfully using mantras and affirmations. It took me years to embrace these simple statements until I discovered what to do BEFORE the mantra.
Here are my secrets to make mantras work.
Secret #1
Before the mantra exists, be honest about why you want to use a mantra. Does it reflect what matters to you? Is it concise and clear, helping you envision a positive outcome? Is it a “should,” or do you genuinely care about your desired outcome? This is where the real work begins. It’s the deep dive into your naked self, faults, wrinkles, limitations, mistakes, and regrets. And it’s your brilliance, inspiration, creativity, gifts, dreams, and aspirations that will drive those simple words into the universal melting pot of possibilities.
Secret #2
Accept the shadow and light in you, those things that cause you discomfort or that you’d like to hide, with the unique gifts you bring to the world, where you shine the most and feel enlivened. You can’t be one or the other. You are finding the gift and lessons in all aspects of your life, even the painful ones, which bring harmony into your life. Everything that has ever happened to you contributes to who you are today and will lead you to self-knowledge.
Secret #3
Don’t strive for purpose. Instead, seek self-knowledge. Once you understand and embrace all of you from a place of self-love, purpose stares you in the face, asking, “What took you so long?” Self-knowledge comes from releasing past beliefs about who you should be or were. Humans are constantly growing and evolving. What mattered to you in the past may not matter today. We simply hold on to our past because it’s comfortable and safe. A mantra can help you step into a new future state based on who you are today.
Secret #4
State your mantra publicly. Of course, you’d love to keep these pithy statements to yourself because your inner critic will likely jump in with both feet, telling you how silly they are and chastising you for not living up to other’s expectations of what you should be and do.The only way to make that little gremlin go away and maintain the power behind your mantra or affirmation is to make it public. Tell your friends and those who you know will support and encourage you. Your tribe is there to help. And if someone diminishes you, it’s time to let them go their own way. You’ve got places to go where they cannot follow.There’s one more secret. Without this last secret, your mantra or affirmation will lose the power you’ve instilled in it.
Secret #5
Repetition creates integration and ultimately, manifestation. Repeat it over and over and over again. Read it out loud in the morning when you rise, mid-day when you’re feeling overwhelmed, and before you go to bed at night. Consistently saying it to yourself creates new thought patterns in your brain. It even has a scientific term: neuroplasticity. It’s a way to rewire your brain to increase your happiness.
Every thought you think and feeling you feel strengthens the circuitry in your brain, known as your neural pathways. Neural pathways are the basis of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and habits. There’s a saying, “Neurons that fire together wire together” (Donald Hebb, 1949). Changing the pattern of your thoughts and feelings changes the neural pathways that affect your life. That’s why this last secret, voicing your mantras and affirmations out loud and consistently, is so crucial in shifting your mindset in ways that change your perspective and relationship with the world and others, and habits.
I used to think a mantra was only words. Mantras and affirmations can empower you to achieve your dreams, but only if you practice the five secrets to make them work.
