Dare to Win -Chapter on Affirmation Part 2

Belief



"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve."

—DR. NAPOLEON HILL

In order to achieve your goals, you've got to believe you can do it. Just giving lip service won't do. The principle is this:

Your beliefs determine your actions, and your actions deter­mine your results. Take massive right action and obtain mas­sive right results.

Consciously believing is the key to achieving. But how do we arrive at our beliefs? As noted in the previous two chap­ters, we first set out a goal in writing. Then we visualize that goal. Finally, we use affirmation to drive home our belief in our abilities to achieve that goal. Affirmation is the key that unlocks the door to belief.

Will Rogers is reported to have said, "I only know what I read in the newspaper." While he may have meant something else, the truth of that statement comes from the fact that we all tend to believe things that are written down.

Another truth is that we all tend to believe something that's been affirmed. Repeated affirmation lends credibility. When we say it out loud, we always have an audience of at least one—our own subconscious mind. And when our subcon­scious hears us affirming, it at least gives us the benefit of the doubt. It at least says, "Well, he could be right."

When we affirm in front of someone else, we really put the squeeze on our subconscious. It's forced to say, "Wow, you really did it! You committed yourself. If you don't follow through, you'll look the fool and be embarrassed. Now I have to get off my behind and save you on this. I guess I'll have to go to work!"

Can you see the power of affirmation? It forces our subcon­scious to believe that we really can.

How to Affirm

Once we understand the vital importance of affirming in achieving our future greatness and living up to our potential, our next question must be, "How do we affirm?"

In our seminars we suggest that people use the following technique. As you read this book, we suggest you follow it yourself. At first you may want to do it alone until you get the hang of it. Later on, you'll probably feel comfortable doing it in public.

1. The first thing you must do is stand. Standing brings your full consciousness to attention. We always suggest that people stand whenever they're doing something important— for example, making a phone call. The next time you're mak­ing a phone call, instead of sitting down, stand up and listen to yourself. You'll be amazed at your increased energy, bril­liance, newfound enthusiasm and power. You'll dazzle the people on the other end of the line with your heightened energy level.

2- When you're affirming, take your index finger and the center finger of your hand and jab yourself in the center of your chest. This engages the sense of touch and feeling. The index finger is the most sensitive instrument of touch in our bodies. It is the portal to our mind. What the index finger touches, we "see." The middle finger adds strength to the index finger. When we jab both of these into our chests, our minds know instantly that we're talking about ourselves, and there can be no doubt. We engage our full attention by doing this.

3. Finally, as you jab yourself in the chest, make a statement of affirmation. Make it loud and clear and be sure that your voice isn't quavering. Mean it!

In the Star Wars sequel. The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda, the Jedi teacher, tries to implant into Luke Skywalker the means of engaging the "force" that is the greatest power in the uni­verse. He says to his pupil, "Luke, there is no try. There is either do or not do." The "force" is the felt power of affirma­tion. You make it so by saying it is so.

In those simple words is a world of meaning. When you say something such as "I'm going to try to be the greatest," or "I'm going to try to be beautiful," or "I'm going to try to suc­ceed," remember that it doesn't cost any more to affirm great­ness than it does to affirm mediocrity. So why affirm anything less?

Affirmations don't have to be fancy, long or drawn-out. Sim­plicity is the key. And they should be in the present, not the future tense (remember, the subconscious doesn't operate in the future, it only has now!).

Your affirmation should be spoken with as much conviction as you can give it. If you find yourself stumbling over the words, start over. A hint here is that if you just can't make yourself say it, shout it- Go for loudness. Blow the lid off. You'll get the message across to your subconscious.

Do It Often

The more you affirm, the sooner you'll put your obedient sub­conscious to work and get results. You master your mind; don't let it master you.

Touch yourself and say, "I've got greatness in me. I am a genius and I am applying my genius."







According to Indian thought, once we state something ten
thousand times it becomes a mantra, a frequently repeated thought form that molds and shapes our future. When you af­firm regularly, you'll find yourself tuning in to the depth of your being and eavesdropping on yourself and your future. We affirmed we'd sell 1.5 million copies of our book Chicken Soup for the Soul, using a technique called "by-pass marketing," and now we're doing it.

Your inner knower—the part of your subconscious that gets things done—will start parroting back your affirmation, say­ing, "You're the greatest!" Repeated affirmations will eventually block and edit out the counterproductive, negative and self-sabotaging old thoughts.