Use reminders, not affirmations
New research shows that self-help affirmations only work if you already believe in them. (BBC article: Self-help "makes you feel worse")
So if you’re insecure about something, let’s say, your appearance or your ability to show up on time, don’t use a polar-opposite mantra like "I am beautiful." or "I am always early." You’ll actually end up depressing yourself!
The trick is to translate that idea or goal into something you already know when you’re feeling your best. So maybe try "I have strong arms." or "I love setting appointments in my smartphone." or whatever applies to you. Basically, you can’t teleport your way to a state that is out of reach. Instead, you have to remind yourself of your front-line best real position. Reaffirming this believable but strong starting point, you can maintain that progress and slowly grow with new insights from there.
I personally like using John’s Background Switcher to randomly rotate my inspirational reminders as my computer’s wallpaper. I use it in a way similar to David Allen’s tickler file in Getting Things Done. Using an image editor (like GIMP or even an online tool like Big Huge Labs’ motivational poster generator or Sumo Paint), I drew up a bunch of silly but believable self-reminders for myself. Power up!
