What are affirmations and how they work?

An affirmation is really anything you say or think.
It’s a beginning point on the path to change. In essence, you’re saying to your subconscious mind: “I am taking responsibility. I am aware that there is something I can do to change.” When I talk about doing affirmations, I mean consciously choosing words that will either help eliminate something from your life or help create something new in your life.

A lot of what we normally say and think is quite negative and doesn’t create good experiences for us. We have to retrain our thinking and speaking into positive patterns if we want to change our lives.

Every thought you think and every word you speak is an affirmation. All of our self-talk, our internal dialogue, is a stream of affirmations. You’re using affirmations every moment whether you know it or not. You’re affirming and creating your life experiences with every word and thought.

Your beliefs are merely habitual thinking patterns that you learned as a child. Many of them work very well for you. Other beliefs may be limiting your ability to create the very things you say you want. What you want and what you believe you deserve may be very different. You need to pay attention to your thoughts so that you can begin to eliminate the ones creating experiences you do not want in your life.

Please realize that every complaint is an affirmation of something you think you don’t want in your life. Every time you get angry, you’re affirming that you want more anger in your life. Every time you feel like a victim, you’re affirming that you want to continue to feel like a victim. If you feel that Life isn’t giving you what you want in your world, then it’s certain that you will never have the goodies that Life gives to others-that is, until you change the way you think and talk.
You’re not a bad person for thinking the way you do. You’ve just never learned how to think and talk.

People throughout the world are just now beginning to learn that our thoughts create our experiences. Your parents probably didn’t know this, so they couldn’t possibly teach it to you. They taught you how to look at life in the way that their parents taught them. So nobody is wrong. However, it’s time for all of us to wake up and begin to consciously create our lives in a way that pleases and supports us.

Some people say that “affirmations don’t work” (which is an affirmation in itself), when what they mean is that they don’t know how to use them correctly. They may say, “My prosperity is growing,” but then think, Oh, this is stupid, I know it won’t work. Which affirmation do you think will win out? The negative one, of course, because it’s part of a long-standing, habitual way of looking at life.
However, saying affirmations is only part of the process. What you do the rest of the day and night is even more important. The secret to having your affirmations work quickly and consistently is to prepare an atmosphere for them to grow in. Affirmations are like seeds planted in soil. Poor soil, poor growth. Rich soil, abundant growth. The more you choose to think thoughts that make you feel good, the quicker the affirmations work. - Louise Hay

What Affirmations Do?
They motivate.
They keep the mind focused on the goal.
They influence the subconscious mind and activate its powers.
They change the way you think and behave, and this can bring you into contact with new people, who can help you with your goals.
Positive statements make you feel positive, energetic and active, and therefore, put you in a better position to transform your inner and external worlds. - Remez Sasson