My Only Daily Affirmation
Two days ago I was a guest on the How Do You Health Podcast and they asked about my affirmations, which caught me off guard because I hadn’t directly thought about my personal affirmations recently.
Affirmations are mantra’s or statements used to reprogram and change thoughts or feelings. They’re personal reminders that help nudge people in a certain direction, usually away from toxic thoughts.
I’m a believer.
I definitely think our minds are insanely powerful tools we need to point in the right direction, which that takes practice, and affirmations are a great method for creating a routine practice.
Programming our minds to take us in the right direction takes daily flexing of the mind muscles. Starting your day with a mantra or affirmation is a great way to flex this muscle to create a routine of positively beneficial mindset.
But I don’t.
I used to, a lot and often.
There was a span of time where every morning I read a full page of my dream day. I would imagine my dream almost to the point of reality. I fully lived the feeling of looking out from my Austonian penthouse. I walked through the garage to my cars, clicking unlock on my Porsche Cayenne. I flipped the switches preparing for take off in my plane, girlfriend sitting co-pilot. I lived that feeling daily.
On top of that I read affirmations that I printed out or wrote on slips of paper that I stashed in my computer bag. I would take daily breaks to revisit those affirmations. I set goals and meditated on the emotion and reality of them coming to life.
But I don’t do that anymore.
I don’t read my dream day every morning. I don’t read mantras.
I think it’s because I paved a solid foundation that engraved these beliefs in my fabric, deep down cementing them as truth. For years I paved the routine of developing the mindset that’s so crucial for a well-rounded life.
The penthouse, the cars, the plane, the freedom, they’ve already happened, time just hasn’t caught up them yet.
But still sometimes I need a reminder.
When the rollercoaster is on the downswing, when things are hard and it seems everything is falling apart, I have to center myself and get back to me.
For me it’s a simple reminder : it’s all part of the story
The downswing is part of the story.
All great stories have ups and downs.
It’s the hero’s journey.
It’s the whole mountain, not just the peak.
It’s the struggle that makes the wins taste so much better.
It’s the full experience. It’s not supposed to be easy.
This is a story and I’m the author.
I get to write how I feel about this situation and how I respond.
Nothing is happening to me. Everything is happening and I get to write my response.
I remind myself “This is Your Story” like a million times a day.
Life is a hell of a ride. I swing the spectrum multiple times a day. Things are cruising, great calls, ideas flowing, the vision is clear. Then a split second later everything is going to shit. Obstacles emerge. Stumbles, falls, bruises.
So I remind myself : this is all part of the story
“This is going to make a hell of a story. Keep going. You’re not doing this to stop doing this. This is part of the experience. Embrace it, sit in the suffering, embrace it, just as you embrace the opposite. It’s the full spectrum. It’s your story, make it great.”
