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	<title>Comments on: Positive affirmations don&#8217;t work!</title>
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	<description>Psychology for Students</description>
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		<title>By: Leomar</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-21588</link>
		<dc:creator>Leomar</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:16:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-21588</guid>
		<description>Warren - thanks for replying. You have good intentions, keep doing it. :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Warren &#8211; thanks for replying. You have good intentions, keep doing it. <img src='http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: Warren Davies</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-21564</link>
		<dc:creator>Warren Davies</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-21564</guid>
		<description>Leomar - I agree that these things take more work than the very brief experiment that the researchers conducted.  We wouldn&#039;t expect a CBT exercise to work after just 4 minutes, why do we hold affirmations to a higher standard?  Possibly it&#039;s because some people really do claim that these things have an instant effect, and also because we&#039;d want to test them at different time periods, so we get a better idea of how long it is best to do them for.

Your English is very good!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Leomar &#8211; I agree that these things take more work than the very brief experiment that the researchers conducted.  We wouldn&#8217;t expect a CBT exercise to work after just 4 minutes, why do we hold affirmations to a higher standard?  Possibly it&#8217;s because some people really do claim that these things have an instant effect, and also because we&#8217;d want to test them at different time periods, so we get a better idea of how long it is best to do them for.</p>
<p>Your English is very good!</p>
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		<title>By: Leomar</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-21100</link>
		<dc:creator>Leomar</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:59:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-21100</guid>
		<description>Positive and negative belief are beyond any doubt makes our self-esteem, self-acceptanse, etc. Of course  that  afirmations don&#039;t make belief in 4 minutes and just repeating, no ... 

Positive Afirmation (x times) -&gt; Positive Belief ? Yes I also think is not that simple! This &quot;secret&quot; guys and similar have really exagerated this!

This is what I do:

1 - Find negative belief: 

Example: &quot;I&#039;m a idiot, I am a failure.&quot; 

2 - Debunk the negative belief with the reason and evidence. The more the better. 

Example: &quot;Who tha hell told me I was an idiot, Why ? How did s/he concluded that, wasn&#039;t it because envy... or because I made a simple mistake I did .. Why do I believe that? You know ... everyone can make a mistake .. This is an obviuos exageration ...  bla bla bla&quot;

3 - Then create or find a positive belief oposite to the negative. Make a case with the negative and demostrate the positive is better with the reason and evidence.

Example: &quot;I&#039;m a human being, I make mistakes as everyone. People will try to molest me to discharge their stress in a selfish maner, that&#039;s why they put on me this ridiculous exagerated labels that had nothing to do with reality. In fact I&#039;ve made a lot of great things, I can remmember .. Etc etc etc&quot;

4 - Then conclude that positive belief with a positive afirmation. This would be like a summary of step 3.

&quot;I&#039;m a human being! I&#039;ve a lot of potential! Dispites some mistakes we all do. I&#039;m up to the challange. I can succed with what I propose to miself, I&#039;ve and I&#039;will again get better and better. You know .. What the hell! ... I&#039;m successful, I&#039;m a machine!&quot; (if you get emotional with this the better!)

&quot;I&#039;m lovable, I can share feelings and a lot of people can have great time around me.&quot;

Etc, etc, etc

---

Work with this self talk, repeat them  with a lot of emotion so you remember. If feeling doubt again repeat steps 2 and 3 to re-gain trust in the afirmations. When getting stronger try to develop more positive afirmations in necesity, improve and get better at it.

Everytime the negative afirmation you debunked comes in times of insecurity, you can remmember &quot;WTF? I&#039;ve proven this  this to be wrong... The truth is: &quot;

So the positive afirmation can be powerfull but the strength of it comes not only of repetition but how entitled you feel to say it, you add for that reasoning behind it. Then you believe it.

I apologize for my writing if someone feels it&#039;s not good enought, english is not my natural language.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Positive and negative belief are beyond any doubt makes our self-esteem, self-acceptanse, etc. Of course  that  afirmations don&#8217;t make belief in 4 minutes and just repeating, no &#8230; </p>
<p>Positive Afirmation (x times) -&gt; Positive Belief ? Yes I also think is not that simple! This &#8220;secret&#8221; guys and similar have really exagerated this!</p>
<p>This is what I do:</p>
<p>1 &#8211; Find negative belief: </p>
<p>Example: &#8220;I&#8217;m a idiot, I am a failure.&#8221; </p>
<p>2 &#8211; Debunk the negative belief with the reason and evidence. The more the better. </p>
<p>Example: &#8220;Who tha hell told me I was an idiot, Why ? How did s/he concluded that, wasn&#8217;t it because envy&#8230; or because I made a simple mistake I did .. Why do I believe that? You know &#8230; everyone can make a mistake .. This is an obviuos exageration &#8230;  bla bla bla&#8221;</p>
<p>3 &#8211; Then create or find a positive belief oposite to the negative. Make a case with the negative and demostrate the positive is better with the reason and evidence.</p>
<p>Example: &#8220;I&#8217;m a human being, I make mistakes as everyone. People will try to molest me to discharge their stress in a selfish maner, that&#8217;s why they put on me this ridiculous exagerated labels that had nothing to do with reality. In fact I&#8217;ve made a lot of great things, I can remmember .. Etc etc etc&#8221;</p>
<p>4 &#8211; Then conclude that positive belief with a positive afirmation. This would be like a summary of step 3.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a human being! I&#8217;ve a lot of potential! Dispites some mistakes we all do. I&#8217;m up to the challange. I can succed with what I propose to miself, I&#8217;ve and I&#8217;will again get better and better. You know .. What the hell! &#8230; I&#8217;m successful, I&#8217;m a machine!&#8221; (if you get emotional with this the better!)</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m lovable, I can share feelings and a lot of people can have great time around me.&#8221;</p>
<p>Etc, etc, etc</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Work with this self talk, repeat them  with a lot of emotion so you remember. If feeling doubt again repeat steps 2 and 3 to re-gain trust in the afirmations. When getting stronger try to develop more positive afirmations in necesity, improve and get better at it.</p>
<p>Everytime the negative afirmation you debunked comes in times of insecurity, you can remmember &#8220;WTF? I&#8217;ve proven this  this to be wrong&#8230; The truth is: &#8221;</p>
<p>So the positive afirmation can be powerfull but the strength of it comes not only of repetition but how entitled you feel to say it, you add for that reasoning behind it. Then you believe it.</p>
<p>I apologize for my writing if someone feels it&#8217;s not good enought, english is not my natural language.</p>
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		<title>By: Warren Davies</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-7711</link>
		<dc:creator>Warren Davies</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:51:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-7711</guid>
		<description>Mike,

Yes definitely - if you&#039;re talking about making a change or personal development, it would probably be better to use multiple techniques rather than focusing on one thing.  Studies like this are trying to establish what happens with a particular technique under particular conditions with particular people, so the findings are just one piece of a big puzzle, and it can take many years to figure out how all the pieces fit together.  

Warren</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mike,</p>
<p>Yes definitely &#8211; if you&#8217;re talking about making a change or personal development, it would probably be better to use multiple techniques rather than focusing on one thing.  Studies like this are trying to establish what happens with a particular technique under particular conditions with particular people, so the findings are just one piece of a big puzzle, and it can take many years to figure out how all the pieces fit together.  </p>
<p>Warren</p>
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		<title>By: MikeR</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-7698</link>
		<dc:creator>MikeR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:30:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-7698</guid>
		<description>Affirmations - Positive or Negative are part of the overall complex of internal communications that go on constantly within your being.  NLP is the field that specializes in characterizing these communication patterns and establishing protocols to change them, with minimal effort. 

My take would be that affirmations are part of the overall equation, but must be combined with motivation, goal setting and effort.  &quot;Taming Your Gremlin&quot; by Rick Carson is one of my favorites in this interesting topic.

MikeR
.-= MikeR&#180;s last blog ..&lt;a href=&quot;http://positive-affirmations.blogspot.com/2010/02/can-you-make-candy.html&quot;&gt;Can You Make Candy?&lt;/a&gt; =-.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Affirmations &#8211; Positive or Negative are part of the overall complex of internal communications that go on constantly within your being.  NLP is the field that specializes in characterizing these communication patterns and establishing protocols to change them, with minimal effort. </p>
<p>My take would be that affirmations are part of the overall equation, but must be combined with motivation, goal setting and effort.  &#8220;Taming Your Gremlin&#8221; by Rick Carson is one of my favorites in this interesting topic.</p>
<p>MikeR<br />
<span class="cluv"> MikeR&#180;s last blog ..<a href="http://positive-affirmations.blogspot.com/2010/02/can-you-make-candy.html">Can You Make Candy?</a> <span class="heart_tip_box"><img class="heart_tip" alt="My ComLuv Profile" border="0" width="16" height="14" src="http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheart.gif"/></span></span></p>
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		<title>By: Fun With Affirmations! *OR* Why You Can&#8217;t Become a Space Vampire. &#124; Unready and Willing</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-7574</link>
		<dc:creator>Fun With Affirmations! *OR* Why You Can&#8217;t Become a Space Vampire. &#124; Unready and Willing</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:41:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-7574</guid>
		<description>[...] I wasn&#8217;t alone in my feeling that affirmations didn&#8217;t work. According to some recent research, affirmations only work for people who believe in them in the first place. If your fundamental [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] I wasn&#8217;t alone in my feeling that affirmations didn&#8217;t work. According to some recent research, affirmations only work for people who believe in them in the first place. If your fundamental [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Life Change Blogger</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-6674</link>
		<dc:creator>Life Change Blogger</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-6674</guid>
		<description>As Jim Rohn says, &quot;affirm the truth.&quot;

Regardless, I don&#039;t think any respectable self help book promotes that 4 minutes of affirmations will do anything. The self help industry as a whole has a lot of problems, but what industry doesn&#039;t? Heck, look at the science in this study being abused! &quot;Positive affirmations don&#039;t work!&quot;... in select circumstances for all people provided the length of time is 4 minutes. ;)
.-= Life Change Blogger&#180;s last blog ..&lt;a href=&quot;http://get-inspired-today.blogspot.com/2010/02/added-joyce-meyer-quote-page.html&quot;&gt;Added a Joyce Meyer Quote page&lt;/a&gt; =-.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As Jim Rohn says, &#8220;affirm the truth.&#8221;</p>
<p>Regardless, I don&#8217;t think any respectable self help book promotes that 4 minutes of affirmations will do anything. The self help industry as a whole has a lot of problems, but what industry doesn&#8217;t? Heck, look at the science in this study being abused! &#8220;Positive affirmations don&#8217;t work!&#8221;&#8230; in select circumstances for all people provided the length of time is 4 minutes. <img src='http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /><br />
<span class="cluv"> Life Change Blogger&#180;s last blog ..<a href="http://get-inspired-today.blogspot.com/2010/02/added-joyce-meyer-quote-page.html">Added a Joyce Meyer Quote page</a> <span class="heart_tip_box"><img class="heart_tip" alt="My ComLuv Profile" border="0" width="16" height="14" src="http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheart.gif"/></span></span></p>
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		<title>By: Warren Davies</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-6250</link>
		<dc:creator>Warren Davies</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:57:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-6250</guid>
		<description>Hi Alice,

Many thanks for reading and responding.  I had not come across Miguel Ruiz before now.  I had a quick look on Google, but I&#039;d have to say that from what I saw, I&#039;d put his stuff in with any other self-help guru - but of course that would mean I&#039;m judging a book by its cover and I understand we&#039;re not supposed to do that!

Sounds like you&#039;ve had some great results from his work though, which is fantastic.  Does he recommend the use of self-affirmations in his books?

Warren</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Alice,</p>
<p>Many thanks for reading and responding.  I had not come across Miguel Ruiz before now.  I had a quick look on Google, but I&#8217;d have to say that from what I saw, I&#8217;d put his stuff in with any other self-help guru &#8211; but of course that would mean I&#8217;m judging a book by its cover and I understand we&#8217;re not supposed to do that!</p>
<p>Sounds like you&#8217;ve had some great results from his work though, which is fantastic.  Does he recommend the use of self-affirmations in his books?</p>
<p>Warren</p>
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		<title>By: Alice Banks</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-6139</link>
		<dc:creator>Alice Banks</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:23:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-6139</guid>
		<description>This worked for me.  I studied Toltec belief system.  Not a religion, but a way of life.  My best author for source information was Don MiquelRuiz.  Bought his books used on Amazion for about $10 each and that included shipping.

He learned English very late in life and sometimes reading his material can be tedious... 3rd grade level.  This is not an insult, just my intellect aspires to very fine writing.   But I have practiced for 5 years, have taught it to my children and grand children and it literly changed my life.  Fear, anger, blame, jealousy, greed, hatred.... all have melted away.  (No I am not a saint and I am not perfect.)  But my life and the lives of others around me are much better through this belief system. It taught me to really recognize where emotions are really coming from.  That releived me of a lot of guilt and self persecution.  It also taught me how to respond to those who do not know or do not want to know the Toltec belief system.  That is their loss and I hope for their sake they find an affirmative plan that brings them true love and happiness.  There are other authors, and only one other do I enjoy and receive a level of inspiration, Ruiz&#039;s student, Dr Susan Gregg.  Her flow of writing (English is her first language) is thouroughly enjoyable.  HOWEVER, Ruiz should be the first step, as she takes up after his basic books.  I have read them all several times.  NO ONE is paying me to sell their books.  I do know that they saved my mental and spiritual piece of mind.  Positive mindset is possible.  I learned that and much more through these books.  I was at the bottom of depression and low self esteme.  If you hurt bad enough, you will try anything.  I suggest you jump start to a source that really works.  Best wishes and my hope that you can benefit as I have.  I consider my Toltec belief system to be the foundation of every minite of every day.  It has blessed me and has ridden me of past emotional injuries that nothing else could accomplish.
Sincerely,  Alice   (Sorry if I spelled incorrectly.  High IQ does not mean one was taught phonics and spelling.)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This worked for me.  I studied Toltec belief system.  Not a religion, but a way of life.  My best author for source information was Don MiquelRuiz.  Bought his books used on Amazion for about $10 each and that included shipping.</p>
<p>He learned English very late in life and sometimes reading his material can be tedious&#8230; 3rd grade level.  This is not an insult, just my intellect aspires to very fine writing.   But I have practiced for 5 years, have taught it to my children and grand children and it literly changed my life.  Fear, anger, blame, jealousy, greed, hatred&#8230;. all have melted away.  (No I am not a saint and I am not perfect.)  But my life and the lives of others around me are much better through this belief system. It taught me to really recognize where emotions are really coming from.  That releived me of a lot of guilt and self persecution.  It also taught me how to respond to those who do not know or do not want to know the Toltec belief system.  That is their loss and I hope for their sake they find an affirmative plan that brings them true love and happiness.  There are other authors, and only one other do I enjoy and receive a level of inspiration, Ruiz&#8217;s student, Dr Susan Gregg.  Her flow of writing (English is her first language) is thouroughly enjoyable.  HOWEVER, Ruiz should be the first step, as she takes up after his basic books.  I have read them all several times.  NO ONE is paying me to sell their books.  I do know that they saved my mental and spiritual piece of mind.  Positive mindset is possible.  I learned that and much more through these books.  I was at the bottom of depression and low self esteme.  If you hurt bad enough, you will try anything.  I suggest you jump start to a source that really works.  Best wishes and my hope that you can benefit as I have.  I consider my Toltec belief system to be the foundation of every minite of every day.  It has blessed me and has ridden me of past emotional injuries that nothing else could accomplish.<br />
Sincerely,  Alice   (Sorry if I spelled incorrectly.  High IQ does not mean one was taught phonics and spelling.)</p>
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		<title>By: Prashant @ Happiness Affirmations</title>
		<link>http://generallythinking.com/blog/positive-affirmations-dont-work/comment-page-1/#comment-6076</link>
		<dc:creator>Prashant @ Happiness Affirmations</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:59:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=1614#comment-6076</guid>
		<description>Thanks for your response, Warren. I agree with you that it is a bit of chicken and egg thing - there is no escaping that, unfortunately. It&#039;s like you need work experience to get on most jobs, but then where do you get that experience from? By working a job somewhere :)
.-= Prashant @ Happiness Affirmations&#180;s last blog ..&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.self-improvement-advice.org/how-to-deal-with-anger.html&quot;&gt;How To Deal With Anger - 4 Tips, Free Anger Management Help&lt;/a&gt; =-.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for your response, Warren. I agree with you that it is a bit of chicken and egg thing &#8211; there is no escaping that, unfortunately. It&#8217;s like you need work experience to get on most jobs, but then where do you get that experience from? By working a job somewhere <img src='http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /><br />
<span class="cluv"> Prashant @ Happiness Affirmations&#180;s last blog ..<a href="http://www.self-improvement-advice.org/how-to-deal-with-anger.html">How To Deal With Anger &#8211; 4 Tips, Free Anger Management Help</a> <span class="heart_tip_box"><img class="heart_tip" alt="My ComLuv Profile" border="0" width="16" height="14" src="http://generallythinking.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheart.gif"/></span></span></p>
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