One of my all-time favorite motivational books is With Winning In Mind by Lanny Bassham.  I love his personal story of how even though he was the “last person picked” on just about every sports team in school, he ended up becoming an Olympic Champion.  Obviously, he has a lot to share about overcoming negative thinking – your own as well as others’!

Mr. Bassham’s “Mental Management System,” is the directive affirmation.  Everything he writes is true, excellent, and useful.  I’ve used his technique many times, often with success.  However, (and you knew that was coming, didn’t you?) I’ve also had affirmations fail me, and I’ve had them work for awhile, then suddenly stop working.

For a long time it puzzled me as to why my affirmations would sometimes work and other times not give me the results I wanted.  Deep down, I think I knew all along, but wasn’t willing to admit it.  So today, I’m going to admit my short-comings in the hope that many of you will change your approach, and start getting results.

When my directive affirmations were related to something fun that I really wanted, I noticed that I got results rather quickly.  For the most part, as soon as I decided to start the affirmation, it was done.  Goal accomplished.

Then there were those areas in which I needed to work on myself.  For example, I decided I wanted to become a “morning person.”  To me that means getting up at 5 or 6 AM, whether you need to, want to, or not.  I could write several pages on why I think that, but let’s just say that it comes from a lifetime of being around those people and leave it at that.  Okay?  Good.  Moving on then.

I wrote my affirmation for becoming a morning person and followed all the instructions.  I reviewed it every morning when I got up and at night before going to bed.  I also repeated it to myself several times throughout the day when I would come across my task (in Outlook) to do so.  After all, I am very disciplined.

Now there’s a situational oxymoron for you!  Why would a highly disciplined person need a directive affirmation to get up in the morning?  Well, that’s kind of the problem.  You see, I’ve always been able to get up early, when I needed to.  When I was a computer trainer living one hour away from my home office, I would often have to get up at 4:30 AM, shower and dress, drive one hour to pick up laptops, and then drive another hour to where I was training.  (Hey, I said I was disciplined, not smart!)  But I had this misconception that to truly be a “morning person,” you had to get up that early every day, and be happy about it.  I was also convinced that truly successful people are morning people and since I want to be successful . . .

So I wrote my affirmation.  “I am a morning person.  I feel great and have more energy throughout the day when I get up at 5 AM.  I love the feeling of success that comes from getting up early and getting an early start to my day.  I am a morning person.”

Thirty days go by. . . nothing.  Sixty days . . . nothing.  As always, I could get up when I had to,  (I counted that as success!), but no lasting change ever took hold.  Why?

Abraham would say that my vibrational offering was not consistent with the words I was using to try to attract my new lifestyle.  Let’s examine that theory for a moment.

My real attitude, the thoughts going on in my brain, toward my “goal” was, “Oh, great.  I have to read my directive affirmation now.  Boy, I hope this works ‘because I’m really tired of dealing with this.  Why can’t I just grow up already?”  Hmmmmm.  I think Abraham might be on to something.

You see, I was trying to change something about myself that I really didn’t want to – or need to.  I get up early when I have an early appointment or long drive ahead of me, and on days I’m working from home, I get up at 7.  If I have trouble falling asleep for some reason, and that’s becoming less and less of a problem, I will allow myself to sleep later.  I now love the feeling that a good night’s rest gives me, and I appreciate that, instead of worrying over whether or not I’m going to be able to get up early, which, now that I think about it, is probably why I’m sleeping better.  Gosh, is this all just one big circle?

So how can you use this to your advantage?  If you’ve been having trouble accomplishing a goal, write a directive affirmation.  Lanny Bassham’s instructions are:

Step 1:  Define the goal.
Step 2:  Set a time limit.
Step 3:  List the personal pay-value of reaching this goal.
Step 4:  Outline the plan to achieve the goal.
Step 5:  Write a Directive Affirmation.

Once you’ve accomplished all of that, start monitoring your thoughts.  Your thoughts reflect your feelings and what you are vibrating into the universe.  Are you positive?  Is this goal something you’re looking forward to achieving?  Do you feel as if you are on the verge of its attainment?  If so, just keep up the good work.  You will get there.

If not, stop and adjust your thinking.  Is this goal something you really want?  Why do you want it?  (Review the pay-value?)  Is it really worth it?

Are you allowing worry to creep in?  Worry is an indicator that you are attracting the lack of what you want.  Thoughts like, “I don’t know how I’ll ever do this,” are worrisome thoughts.  You’ve got to get control over those with other thoughts like, “I can do this.  The universe is going to show me how.”

If it’s something you truly want or the payoff if huge enough, keep working on your affirmation until you do feel good about it.  For example, I had an affirmation for drinking more water.  I tried using the statement, “I love water.”  But my vibrational offering was, “Yuck!  It has no taste.  Who really thinks that?”  But I enjoy the energy boost drinking water gives me in the afternoon. I knew I had to change my thinking in order to change my vibration.  So I changed my affirmation to, “I drink water in the afternoon because of the energy it gives me.”  Period.  Short, sweet, and effective.  Now I drink tea in the mornings, water in the afternoon, and Perrier with grape juice in the evenings.  This is my routine when I’m working from home.  I know it’s an established habit, because I miss it when I’m on the road.

Now it’s your turn.  What affirmations do you need to re-birth?  Work on them until they feel good to you.  My new rule is this:  When you can say your affirmation with a sincere smile on your face, you’ve got it.  It’s on its way to you!

Enjoy this awesome, God-given day!!!

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Posted under Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Leadership, Motivation