Affirm This...

The Creative Power of "I Am"

Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

What we affirm to be true, our minds believe. What our minds believe to be true, our thoughts work tirelessly to bring those things into existence.

This ancient proverb reveals a success principle that is often overlooked to our own detriment. Failure to adhere to this powerful success principle only serves to limit your potential, cap your ability, and shortchange your future.

Life and death are in the power of our words.

What we speak can (and does) come true.

There is a unique power in the spoken word that reinforces our thoughts, cementing them into our psyche, our subconscious, as a firmly held belief. What we continually speak and affirm, we anchor deep within ourselves. It becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy that defines our lives.

Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." Affirmations take that one step further.

Whether you say you can, or say you can't, you're right.

Your words reinforce your thoughts, much like rebar strengthens concrete. What you speak to yourself, about yourself, becomes how you see yourself and determines how you will live your life.

Let me give you an example.

Joel and his wife, Victoria, pastor Lakewood Church in Houston TX. Tens of thousands of people from the Houston area come together each week to be encouraged, inspired, uplifted, and challenged by Pastor Joel's unique style of teaching. Millions more watch the service on TV or listen to it on radio.

One of the success habits Joel picked up from his father, John Osteen, is the power of positive affirmations. During each service, Joel has his audience stand and speak a series of positive affirmations, words of declaration, over their lives:

"I am blessed, prosperous, redeemed, forgiven, talented, creative, confident, secure, disciplined, focused, prepared, qualified, motivated, valuable, free, determined, equipped, empowered, anointed, accepted, and approved. Not average, not mediocre, I am a child of the most high God. I will become all I was created to be. In Jesus’ name."

What is Pastor Joel doing?

He is helping those in the audience tap into the creative power within each of us by our Creator to reshape how they see themselves, redefining what success looks like to them. He is essentially saying, "Affirm this...and watch it come to pass in your life."

Do you remember the story of the little engine that could?

A train is stranded and unable to find an engine willing to pull it over difficult terrain. Finally, the little engine stepped up and said if no one else is willing to do it, I will. Despite the sneers and jeers, the little engine attached itself to the train, refusing to listen to the naysayers, and began to strain forward to get the train to its destination.

The little engine had never been over the mountain, let alone pull a train up and over, but all along the way, the little engine continued to say, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." using the power of affirmation to encourage, motivate, inspire, and ultimately achieve.

What's the lesson we learn from the little engine that could?

Don't set goals based solely on what you know you can already do.

Far too many of us live far below our potential because we accept the familiar and don't want to leave it. Our affirmations either validate this, leaving us where we are, or they help us to envision something greater, inspiring us to step outside our comfort zone and venture into the unknown.

When President John Kennedy talked about going into space, he boldly declared, "We WILL put a man on the moon in this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard." This positive affirmation statement inspired a generation to boldly go where no man had gone before, and in 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon.

So, what is an affirmation?

Simply put, it's an "I AM" statement.

We speak them all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. And all too often, it's not the type of affirmation that builds you up but rather tears you down.

I'm dumb. I'm stupid. I'm just not good at this. I'm not smart enough. I'm not fast enough. I'm not rich enough. I'm not as good as him or her. I am always messing up, making mistakes. I'm no good. I am worthless. I am a failure.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Of course, they do. We've likely all made negative declarations like that. And the more we say these things about ourselves, the more we believe them to be true.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here's a success principle you need to grasp.

Your "I AM" statements define your life. They create an image in your mind that is continually reinforced each time you speak these words. And, because your subconscious mind sees in pictures, that reinforced image is what the subconscious focuses on and works tirelessly to bring into existence.

Life and death, success and failure, are in the power of the tongue.

Your "I AM" statements are literally building a blueprint in your mind for the type of person you want to become and the type of life you want to experience. Your affirmations, positive or negative, are giving direction to your thoughts that are constantly saying, "This is what I want. Ignore everything else and bring this to pass in my life."

Life and death, success and failure, are in the power of what you are saying to yourself every single day of your life.

Remember, we are creatures of habit.

A habit is an idea we've repeated to ourselves over and over until it has become ingrained in our thinking. Our brains love the familiar and prefer to automate as much of our routine as possible to conserve energy. As we continually tell ourselves, "Do this...and do it this way..." our brains internalize this, automate it, and turn it into a routine.

We are affirming our way into creating success habits that stretch us, challenge us, and inspire us or we are re-affirming the same old thoughts, habits, and ideas that keep us stuck where we are, frustrated nothing is changing for the better in our lives.

Your "I AM" statements define your life. You are speaking into existence, and continually reinforcing by your words, the person you're becoming and what you're capable of doing.

Unless you're being intentional about your "I AM" statements you're speaking over your life, you will surrender what you truly want to do and become because it's easier to simply settle for what is easy, comfortable, and familiar.

If your goal, your dream for the future, isn't big enough, isn't bold enough, you'll go back to what you know. You'll settle for what's easy, comfortable, and familar.

Why?

Because when you're stretching yourself, reaching for the stars, you're going to experience the pain of failure. It's part of growing, maturing, and becoming a better version of yourself. Your "I AM" statements reinforce the version of YOU that you're becoming, even when it is difficult, even when you fail.

Affirmation statements prevent you from quitting on the road to becoming.

Affirmation statements are essential for BIG RESULTS, as they continually reinforce that dream, goal, or outcome, that is just outside your reach for the moment, but you know you will get there if you just keep going.

So, if we are creatures of habit, and a habit is an idea that is continually repeated until it is automated, our "I AM" statements allow us to reprogram our brains to think and act in a new way.

This is how we bring about a more successful outcome in our lives.

But, it requires that we be intentional about the "I AM" statements we are speaking to ourselves, about ourselves, and the world we want to create and experience for ourselves.

Don't forget we are human BEINGS, not human doings. Affirmation statements are about BECOMING more than we are right now. And when we BECOME more, we are capable of DOING more. and experiencing more SUCCESS.

Here are three action steps to help you in this area.

First, you've got to create an image in your mind of what you want, and what you need to become to achieve that. For example, if you want more money, you've got to see yourself as prosperous. If you want more success, you've got to see yourself as successful. Define the person you want to become and is necessary to achieve what you want to achieve in life.

Secondly, create a series of "I AM" statements that clearly outline the person you intend to become and what that looks like. Refer back to the Joel Osteen "I AM" declaration above if you want to use that as a template or visit the COURSES section of my website for more affirmation resources.

Thirdly, declare these "I AM" statements over yourself two or three times a day. For sure when you rise in the morning and right before you go to bed at night, look yourself in the mirror and make your declaration, "This is who I am..." and then speak your "I AM" statements boldly.

Speak in the PRESENT tense, not the future tense. You're training your mind to see yourself this way right now, in this moment. It anchors this declaration deeply in your subconscious, so it can diligently work, as it tirelessly does, to bring this to pass in your life.

If you can also add in a third time in the middle of your day, maybe at the end of your lunch break, that simply serves to anchor this new, improved, more successful version of yourself in your subconscious.

As you internalize this, it will become almost automatic. Why? You're reprogramming your thinking, creating new, more successful habits, and becoming a better version of YOU in the process.

Lastly, keep adding to your "I AM" statements over time. This helps you to continue to stretch yourself, grow yourself, and improve upon yourself.

You're creating a bigger, better, brighter image of yourself, raising your own awareness of who you're becoming and what you're capable of doing, and inviting more opportunity and more success into your life.

As you think, and speak, you become.

Use the creative power of "I AM" to become all that you're capable of becoming.

Affirm this...and you will go far.