Have you ever been told to just ‘think positive’? Like it’s supposed to take all of your negative thoughts away and magically fix everything… but what if it actually did help?
What if the key to changing your mindset and the key to self love is actually within you, and positive affirmations help bring it all out?
What Are Affirmations?
Affirmations are powerful statements that you say or write that help you to reframe your mindset.
Self love affirmations are used because they help us believe in ourselves and helps to combat low self-esteem.
It sounds super simple, but the thing is, our brain is so incredibly powerful, and it has an inbuilt system that wants to be right and it will look for things that prove to itself that it is right.
This is called the reticular activating system and you would have seen it or felt it before.
You know when you’re thinking of buying a new car and all you can see is THAT car? That’s because your brain is trying to prove to you that you are right and that buying the car you want to buy is the right thing to do.
Positive affirmations work in the same way to help us reprogram our minds in a positive way.
Affirmations aim to change or develop the way we think about something, and in doing so, our brain tries to convince us that we are right in a very powerful way.
For example, if your positive statement is ‘I am worthy of love’ and you say it enough (even if you don’t believe it) your brain will automatically go into ‘prove you right’ mode and start looking for ways to show you that you are worthy of love.
The key part is that you’ll actually start to notice more ways that you are worthy of love, just like you start to notice the new car you want to buy everywhere.
Are there actually more of those new cars around?
Probably not.
You’re just noticing them because your brain wants you to be happy and be right.
The same goes with your positive thoughts – your worthiness of love is the same, you’re just noticing how darn worthy you really are.
What Area Of Our Life Can We Use Positive Affirmations For?
Positive affirmations can be used in many different areas of your life, including self-love, happiness, marriage, money, career and so much more.
They are an amazing tool to help you release negative emotions and negative beliefs, while creating positive changes not only in our life but in our subconscious mind as well.
While it might be easy to only think of using affirmations on bad days, repeating affirmations that align with you on a daily basis is a great way to surround yourself with positive energy, silence any self doubt or negative self talk from your inner voice.
They encourage you to refocus your thoughts towards more positive things, and are even used in clinical and psychological therapies to help overcome low self esteem and low self-worth.
Positive affirmations are brilliant for personal development and are a great first step when looking for new ways to create a more positive outlook in life, and are a powerful tool to help you tap into the real power of your mind.
How Do You Use Positive Affirmations?
Affirmations might sound like they are something you could only do with your eyes closed, chanting them in a dark room, but they are actually very simple.
One of the most important things to remember is that there’s really no right or wrong way to use your affirmations. As long as you’re using them with good intentions and not fuelling any negative self-talk, it’s more about doing something that resonates with you, rather than doing it perfectly.
However, some ideas you might like to try are:
- standing in front of a mirror and repeating to yourself your positive affirmation
- writing your positive self-love affirmations out on sticky notes and putting them all around your house
- selecting your affirmation of the day and displaying it in your home somewhere
- creating a graphic with your favorite self-love affirmation and saving it as your home screen on your phone
- writing out specific affirmations (that resonate with you) over and over again
- using your favorite self-love affirmations as journal prompts
- choosing your favorite affirmations and creating artwork around them
- repeating daily affirmations to yourself first thing in the morning when you wake up
- writing your affirmations on the bathroom mirror in lipstick
- creating beautiful stickers out of your favorite affirmations
Are Affirmations A Real Thing Or Are They Just Woo Woo?
We mentioned a little about the neuroscience behind affirmations, but it’s not just a theory about how the brain works, it’s actually backed up by science and psychotherapy.
Affirmations are even used in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mental health treatments for issues such as anxiety and depression, with the use of positive self-talk and words of encouragement being some of the more simple and easiest ways to start.
Affirmations have been seen to have beneficial effects on the client’s state of mind, both in their therapy sessions and outside of them too.
Here are 101 affirmations for self-love that you can read, you can save for later, you can say out loud to yourself, or you can even write them out and use them daily.
(Be sure to check out the printable version of the following affirmations too – you can find it here)
1 – All of my past mistakes have made me stronger
2 – Everything that I need is already within me, all I have to do is uncover it
3 – I am beautiful inside and out
4 – I am in control of my own life
5 – I am talented and I use my talents to the best of my ability
6 – I give my best to everyone and everything I do
7 – I let go of negative energy and allow positive energy to flow
8 – I make choices that align with my best self
9 – It is safe for me to experience love
10 – It is safe for me to be unapologetically myself
11 – My positive attitude helps me get through difficult times
12 – I choose to surround myself with positive people
13 – Having faith in myself empowers me to do great things
14 – Today the sun is shining for me
15 – I am kind to myself
16 – I am intelligent and make smart decisions
17 – I give permission for myself to become comfortable with what makes me happy and enjoy it fully!
18 – I take pride in myself for who I am
19 – It is safe for me to feel uncertain
20 – It’s okay to be different from everyone else
21 – My words are filled with wisdom that can help other people on their journey of life
22 – Every day is a new beginning for me to become the person I aspire to be in life
23 – I acknowledge and honor my feelings
24 – I am capable
25 – I am loved
26 – I am worthy of my own love
27 – I have a lot to give this world
28 – I take time to rest
29 – It is safe for me to forgive
30 – My attitude empowers me to accomplish my goals
31 – People respect me because I respect myself
32 – Every day is a new chance to make positive changes in my life
33 – I allow myself to become vulnerable with those I love
34 – I am confident in my own skin
35 – I am worthy of love
36 – I attract positive people into my life
37 – I know who I am and what is right for me
38 – It is not my role to be liked by others, it is my role to be liked by me
39 – It is safe for me to let go of my self-limiting beliefs
40 – My body is a gift that allows me to accomplish everything I want in life
41 – The more positive I become, the more positivity I see
42 – Every day is a new opportunity for me to be my best self
43 – I am a good person
44 – I am creating the life of my dreams
45 – I am my own person
46 – The good I put into the world returns to me
47 – I let go of negative energy and allow positive energy to flow
48 – It is safe for me to ask for guidance
49 – It is safe for me to make changes in my life
50 – My body is always healthy and strong
51 – Today I will do something that makes me happy
52 – Every day is an opportunity for me to grow
53 – I am a lifelong learner and actively seek knowledge
54 – I am doing the best I can, and that is enough
55 – I am powerful
56 – I can do anything I put my mind to
57 – I deeply and completely love and accept myself
58 – It is safe for me to ask for help
59 – It is safe for me to not have to prove myself to anyone else
60 – I live a beautiful life
61 – Today I wake up excited about what wonderful things are going to happen in my life
62 – Every day is an opportunity to do better than yesterday
63 – I am a powerful and strong woman
64 – I am enough
65 – I am proud of who I am
66 – I can handle whatever comes my way
67 – I love being the best version of me that I can possibly be
68 – It is safe for me to be a work in progress
69 – It is safe for me to say no
70 – My future is filled with happiness, joy, and success
71 – What other people think of me does not define me
72 – My life is getting better and better in every single way
73 – I am able to trust others
74 – I am filled with gratitude
75 – I am safe
76 – I celebrate all of the amazing things in my life
77 – I love spending time by myself
78 – It is safe for me to be happy
79 – It is safe for me to say yes
80 – I am confident and ask for what I want in life
81 – When I love myself, everything flows easily
82 – Anything is possible
83 – I choose to focus on what makes me feel good
84 – I am filled with self-love
85 – I am strong
86 – I choose to live a peaceful life
87 – I love who I am
88 – It is safe for me to be honest with myself about what makes me happy and what doesn’t.
89 – It is safe for me to take action toward my goals
90 – My life is full of joy and happiness every single day
91 – When I love myself, everything in life becomes easier
92 – Everything is working out for me
93 – I am beautiful and unique and no one else is like me
94 – I am happy
95 – I am surrounded by people who love and care about me
96 – I deserve to be happy
97 – I love who I see when I look in the mirror
98 – It is safe for me to create my own boundaries and insist others adhere to them
99 – I trust my intuition
100 – My past does not define who I am, and my future is full of endless possibilities
101 – With my words, I can create great things in my life
Whether you are using positive affirmations to overcome a lack of self-love, increase your self-esteem, boost your positive self-talk, manifest your wildest dreams, or tap into the loving energy of the universe, these positive self-love affirmations (that you can and should use daily) will certainly help you head in the right direction.
Remember, the best way to use these affirmations is in whatever way feels right for you.
If you want to write them out, go ahead, if you want to share them on social media as self-love quotes because that makes you feel good – then do it, or if you want to print them and hang them around your space like a work of art, then do that too.
There is no ‘right way’ there’s only what works for you.
