Transform: Why Your Personal Affirmations Don’t Work and the Mindset Hack to Fix Them!

(The following was originally published at www.CareyGreen.com.)

This one’s about personal affirmations. You know, the “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me!” things people are being encouraged to say to themselves each morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I think personal affirmations are a powerful way to start the day, at least as part of the morning routine – they are even Biblical…

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:6)

But the way personal affirmations are created and practiced today is not working. And there’s one good reason why… they aren’t TRUE! Too often, these “affirmations” are merely phrases that we wish were true, when in reality, there may be things in your life that simply prohibit (or at least get in the way) of these things being true. It’s one thing to think positively about yourself, it’s another to make stuff up! I’ve heard the most self-centered person say that they are generous – all in the name of “personal affirmations.”

Another reason why many of today’s personal affirmations don’t work is because they are based on the desire to feel something: confident, good about yourself, healthy, strong, powerful, determined, generous, etc. However, mindset is not about emotions. In fact, feelings often derail our mindset.

Mindset is about setting your thinking on truth. And the truth that matters is God’s truth.

If personal affirmations are going to work it’s vital that they are true, because truth is what’s at the root of a healthy strong mindset.

We Christians have long been encouraged to do what we call a “Daily Quiet Time” or “Daily Devotional”. At first, these moments were designed to be a Christian version of “personal affirmations” – a time to dive into the Scriptures, read God’s truth, and allow that truth to feed your soul. But, over the years, the Christian “quiet time” has become an obligatory drill and a guilt ridden exercise in futility. Many 21^st century Christians read their Bible, do their devotion time each morning, and get absolutely nothing out of it.

This is due to the fact that we don’t think about God’s truth in the right way.
So, instead of beating yourself up each morning, engaging in a “quiet time treadmill”, re-think your time of learning and being encouraged by God’s truth as a Morning Mindset Reset, where you hit the “reset button” on your thinking every day!
And, we need to do this every day because, to put it simply, we leak. We leak truth, confidence, and certainty that God is there. Not to mention, life circumstances hit us from all sides each day, which erode away at the fortress of our mindset and foundation of truth. This makes it incredibly hard to maintain a proper mindset throughout the day.

This is why we need to hone in our mindset reset and understand why we do it.

We do it to reset our thinking each and every morning. We need to set it on the foundation of God’s truth. Every day we need to start off with a fresh attitude and mindset toward God and His promises.

To achieve this, we need to daily think truth about ourselves, God, other people, and life situations. Say them out loud to yourself in a manner that, like David in the Old Testament, encourages yourself in the Lord!

And be honest. Because it really doesn’t matter what we hope we are or what we hope we might be. What matters is what God says we are and what is true of us. And, when we read God’s outlandish statements about us and rest in their truth, we are then able to set our minds on real truth! This helps us live in a powerful way each day.

Here’s one (out of hundreds) example of God’s truth from the Bible:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Now, let’s slow down and read this verse and realize how personal it is. Just like the author, Paul, we Christians have also been “crucified with Christ”. So, when Jesus died on the cross, over 2,000 years ago, somehow part of me died also. What part died? According to the Scriptures, the “old part” that is prone to sin, habitually fails, doubts nonstop, and sets its mind on wrong things that are contrary to God’s will. That’s the part of me that died with Christ.

So, when feelings of doubt, failure and condemnation creep up, I have to remind myself – based on Galatians 2:20 – that I have been crucified with Christ and that is not me anymore!

Reading on…

I no longer live, but instead Christ lives in me! Jesus lives INSIDE of me! Stand in front of a mirror, look at yourself and realize that Jesus lives in you! Say it out loud!! This is truth. It isn’t wishful thinking.

Continuing in the verse…

The life I now live today, and all the things that I fill my day with, I live by faith in the Son of God. This isn’t some mystical “otherworldly” sort of thing. It’s belief. I have a firm conviction in the Son of God and in what He says: that He has made me into a new creation; that through Him, my old self is dead; that He lives in me today; the list goes on and on. And, I refuse to let life’s circumstances or my emotions pull this belief away from me. It is anchored to God’s truth!

Finally, imagine that you are going to go on a diet and get into shape. You don’t go onto a diet by studying the menu at your local Dairy Queen, so that you know what not to eat. If you did, in no time, you’ll be shoveling a three-scoop sundae into your mouth! Likewise, you don’t beat the devil, when he throws doubts and accusations at you, by focusing on the doubts and insecurities.

The way you defeat Satan and his lies is by focusing on God’s truth instead. Focus on what God has said about you.

Now, you may have to do this multiple times throughout the day – not just once a day in the morning or during a lunch break. Write the verse or verses on a 3×5 card or sticky note and keep it with you throughout the day; and whenever the opportunity arises, pull it out and remind yourself of God’s truth – even when something tough is NOT happening to you. At any and all moments, it’s good to remind yourself who you are!