The Strategic Utility of Affirmations: The Defibrillator Shock to Kick-Start Positive Thinking

You don't need more books.

You don't need another idea.

You don't need another mentor.

You don't need endless affirmations.

Yes, you do.

This is what I want to talk about in this letter:

• What is an affirmation?

• Why you should use affirmations.

• When you should use affirmations.

• The strategic utility of affirmations.

An Observation

An attitude I've encountered in some of the already super successful is that you don't need more of "xyz"; you just need to start. Start something, start somewhere, start anything. To a degree, I agree with this. "Starting" is key, for obvious reasons, but for me, it wasn't that simple.

When I first began my content creation journey, I had a lot of ideas, but no clarity, no direction, no time, and certainly no energy. My mind was in chaos.

My journey out of 9-5 burnout to part-time content creator took strategy.

One of the very first things I knew I had to do was change my mindset. I knew I wasn't going to be able to think myself out of burnout and into content creation with a negative, chaotic mind. I needed clarity. I needed direction. I needed a lot of help.

Your mindset at the beginning of an endeavor is crucial. It is the means by which you will succeed or fail.

At rock bottom burnout, I needed a way to revive positive thinking. I knew that if I could shift my mindset to a positive energy flow, my mind would gain clarity and direction would emerge.

Kickstarting Positive Energy Flow: The Strategic Utility of Affirmations

Now, if you've stuck with me this far, I can hear the objection already: "affirmations to manifest are a lot like standing in the snow shouting that it's hot outside—no matter how much you say it, the reality doesn't change." This is missing the point.

Affirmations are not meant to magically change your reality—at least not in the way most people think. That isn't the point.

Affirmations are meant to start the process of ordering consciousness. Through ordered consciousness, higher vibrational energy will emerge. Higher vibrational energy or frequency, sets the mind up to attract new higher vibrational frequencies. You must become the thing to attract the thing. You do this through emotion and intention. A strong positive energy charge will attract things emitting a strong positive charge. The same is true for the negative.

What is an affirmation?

An affirmation is defined as the action or process of affirming something. It can mean emotional support or encouragement toward a goal.

To affirm means to show or express a strong belief in or dedication to something, such as an important idea—in our case, vision.

Affirmations are a conscious mental strategy that, through consistent and repeated practice, will gradually rewire the mind's thinking patterns, promoting positive and lasting change.

An affirmation:

This seemingly insignificant affirmative statement became a cornerstone in transforming my thinking at the start of my creative journey.

I would repeat this affirmation three times in the morning, anytime I thought about it throughout the day, and three times before I'd fall asleep at night. Each time I'd repeat it, I'd feel a sense of peace and release of tension throughout my mind, body, and spirit.

This is the point of affirmations. You want to find or create one or two simple statements that resonate deeply with your psyche. You want statements that give your inner environment a sense of peace, encouragement, and calm.

Why is this important? We are no longer coping; we are actively changing old thinking, energy, and vibrational patterns to make room for the "new" to emerge.

The Strategic Utility of Affirmations

Two years ago, I experienced a traumatic event in my work life that changed the way I think and feel about the conventional way of making a living. This event was one of awakening.

At the beginning of this awakening, my mind was in a negative state of anger, resentment, and burnout. I was coming to terms with two contradictory beliefs and values:

1. College was supposed to be the be-all and end-all for a "good job" and a good future, But in reality, it made me a slave to everyone and everything. I was miserable, burnt out, angry, resentful, and medically ill. Now what?

2. Solopreneurship — is this really even possible for the average person? Assuming it is, how can I do this? How do I even begin thinking about this to start this, especially when I'm already burnt out?

I knew what I wanted. I knew what my vision for the future was. I wanted autonomy and agency. But I needed a different, more positive mindset to simply start this journey. This is where affirmations and "thinking positively" became strategically imperative for me.

At the beginning, before I started anything, I used affirmations to change my mental programming and patterns from negative to positive so that I could take the necessary actions toward my vision.

Why Use Affirmations

Affirmations are an easily accessible way to consciously train and reprogram your thinking to align with your vision.

Why would you want to actively train and reprogram your mind's thinking patterns?

It's simple: where the mind goes, the body will follow. The mind must go first before the body follows. All action or behavior begins with a single thought. If your thoughts are negative, so too will your actions be. If your thoughts are positive, focused, clear, and open, so too will your actions be. Actions are the offspring of thought, and consciousness drives thought.

Repeating to yourself an encouraging and supportive statement, along with taking the action you know you want/must take toward your vision, you will positively charge your mind and bring clarity to it.

Patterns of thinking act as the operating program for action. Change your thinking, and you change your actions—change your actions, and you change destiny. Self-control is behavioral control. Control your behavior, and you begin to control your destiny. It's that simple.

Think about it. If you are not consistently thinking clearly, planning, and believing that you can take action toward a vision, why would you? You won't. You won't for many reasons, but mainly because you have no clarity.

• No clarity → no direction

• No direction → distraction

• Distraction → status quo

Why Use Affirmations

Honestly ask yourself, what would you rather have more of? The positive with all its benefits of clarity, peace, and openness? Or the negative with all its confusion, chaos, stress, anguish, etc. etc. ad infinitum?

Affirmative statements are a powerful tool to focus the mind on the positive, even in the midst of chaos. What do you think when standing in the snow? Isn't it more exciting to think about going back inside and sipping a hot cup of coffee with family and friends?

When to Use Affirmations

The egoic mind is a mental construct that is part of the mind and is a byproduct of life experiences, societal conditioning, and personal interpretations of the world.

Thoughts are actions

Use affirmative statements to change your mindset when preparing to take action toward a goal or vision.

It is at the very beginning of a new venture that the egoic mind will present you with every excuse possible not to move forward. It will say you are too exhausted, burnt out, and "don't have the time" to do this or that right now. It will tell you that you don't have the energy anymore for this or that kind of thing. Or it will tell you that you are too old. It will tell you anything to keep you from embracing your vision and embarking on your journey. This is when you should repeat your affirmative statements.

Each time the egoic mind attempts to convince you why you can't, throat-punch it with an affirmative statement.

You are consciousness

Know this now: consciousness drives thought. Thought is action. Action is behavior—a deed. The very act of a thought is itself behavior. Every action has a positive or negative charged consequence or result, which is a receipt of the action.

This is why mindset is everything. Where your mind is will always dictate where you will go, what you will do, and most interestingly, what you will receive.

The actions you take, whether thoughts or physical behaviors, are the manifestation.

To watch over your heart implies that you are consciousness. You have the ability to drive your own thoughts. You are the watcher, the aware one.

Conclusion

In the beginning of an awakening, transformation, "a new," prepare your mind with positively charged statements called affirmations. Affirm that you are ready, that you are making the right and good choice for your new life. Affirm, affirm, affirm.

Mindset is key. Your body follows where your mind leads. You influence this process by controlling your thoughts and providing a new pattern of thinking for your mind to operate.

You are consciousness. You are the watcher, the aware one. You have the ability to strategically change the course of your thoughts by what you allow into your mind. The mind is a gatekeeper.

Thoughts are actions. Each action begets a behavior. Thought, action, behavior, and deed each have their own corresponding positive or negative charge, and each has its corresponding receipt. Control your actions to shape the outcomes you receive. Hint: make your outcome reflect your vision.

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Lawrence

Fortuna Eruditis Favet (fortune favors the prepared mind)