Affirmations do work! This research summary in the New York Times has some very interesting points:
“Optimism – at least reasonable optimism – can pay dividends as wide-ranging as health, longevity, job success and higher scores on achievement tests.
Pessimism not only has the opposite effect but also seems to be at play in such psychological disorders as extreme shyness and depression.”
I have found in my own life that affirmations are helpful. It requires diligence. I have to avoid relapsing back into negativity in times of great stress, but they do work. Of course, it took me several years to get to that point.
A couple of tips: Affirmations should be framed to avoid the word not. That is to say, instead of “I am not going to smoke.” use something like “I am going to be smoke-free today.” Apparently, the brain does not process not. That is why football coaches never tell a player, “You will not fumble,” but instead say “You will hold onto the ball.”
Also, to successfully counter hardwired negative self-talk, one must say affirmations aloud, especially at first. They sink in better.
@daloon I think you miss the point of “faking it until you make it.” It is not that the affirmations are fake, it is that your overly harsh judgment, self-hatred and criticism are lies. Having practiced them continually and well, however, that voice is very loud. Compared to it, anything positive feels fake, because you are never positive with yourself. The idea is to put at least the same diligence into positive affirmations that you do into scourging yourself.