Discussion Forum > Affirmations and the threshold of believability
Well, to use similar examples to the ones I gave in my earlier post:
1) "I'm a winner". Ok, I agree that in my case it is totally unbelievable in every possible way, but what should I put in its place to make it more believable? "I could probably do a little bit better if I really tried"?
2) "This seminar is going to be a great success". That's not actually in the slightest bit unbelievable. I have experienced giving hundreds of successful seminars. But affirming that fact is just as likely to awaken negative feelings as positive ones.
1) "I'm a winner". Ok, I agree that in my case it is totally unbelievable in every possible way, but what should I put in its place to make it more believable? "I could probably do a little bit better if I really tried"?
2) "This seminar is going to be a great success". That's not actually in the slightest bit unbelievable. I have experienced giving hundreds of successful seminars. But affirming that fact is just as likely to awaken negative feelings as positive ones.
June 5, 2011 at 12:15 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Some observations:
"I'm a winner" is probably global with no feeling involved. "I am about to win the lottery" might be similar - fanciful, wishful thinking unless there is conviction in it. Faith, one might say, is what is required in an affirmation.
We are already affirming to ourselves - every action in line with our beliefs is surely an affirmation of it.
I agree an affirmation can clash with some doubts, but aren't the doubting parts the ones that have been keeping the vision at bay? Don't those parts need showing the greater vision so that they accept the new affirmation? There is no power in the words of course, they have to be an expression of what is a possible truth for an individual, of themselves or a situation
"I'm a winner" is probably global with no feeling involved. "I am about to win the lottery" might be similar - fanciful, wishful thinking unless there is conviction in it. Faith, one might say, is what is required in an affirmation.
We are already affirming to ourselves - every action in line with our beliefs is surely an affirmation of it.
I agree an affirmation can clash with some doubts, but aren't the doubting parts the ones that have been keeping the vision at bay? Don't those parts need showing the greater vision so that they accept the new affirmation? There is no power in the words of course, they have to be an expression of what is a possible truth for an individual, of themselves or a situation
June 5, 2011 at 12:59 |
michael
michael
michael:
<< "I'm a winner" is probably global with no feeling involved. >>
I don't know how you can say that. Being a winner is the opposite of being a loser. If you went around saying "I'm a loser" there'd be plenty of feeling involved, wouldn't there?
And there is absolutely no connection between a statement like "I'm a winner" with "I'm about to win the lottery". One is an attitude of mind. The other is pure wishful thinking about something over which one has no control (apart from buying the ticket of course).
<< "I'm a winner" is probably global with no feeling involved. >>
I don't know how you can say that. Being a winner is the opposite of being a loser. If you went around saying "I'm a loser" there'd be plenty of feeling involved, wouldn't there?
And there is absolutely no connection between a statement like "I'm a winner" with "I'm about to win the lottery". One is an attitude of mind. The other is pure wishful thinking about something over which one has no control (apart from buying the ticket of course).
June 5, 2011 at 14:34 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
It seems to me that the problem with your own use of affirmations is that you are using unbelievable ones. Your suggestion of defensive pessimism it seems is a way of making beliefs believable, less fanciful. In the same way, the evolution of your future reality is tuning the imagination to express a vision that is both desired and believable. It has the effect of lowering resistance. Affirmations need to evolve in a similar way.