Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2017, on 3 January; the references to 2016 and 2017 in its closing paragraph reflect that date.
While communication skills are essential, the communication we most need to look after is probably the one we have with ourselves. That is, the inner dialogue we hold with our own mind (self-talk), whose power most of us aren’t aware of.
Self-talk is responsible for our self-esteem and our level of self-confidence, and it undoubtedly determines the attitude with which we face the day or the week (or life). With that in mind, Marc Chernoff, of Marc and Angel, has put together a number of powerful, positive affirmations that will help you face life’s different circumstances.
These are the ones I find most interesting. Don’t see them as a motivational message: each of them holds the solution to the real problem that stops us from moving forward in a healthy way and from dealing stoically with some of the problems that crop up in life, which are often problems we create ourselves.
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The biggest and most complex obstacle I will ever have to overcome is my own mind. If I can overcome that, I can overcome anything.
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I can’t control exactly everything that happens in my life, but I can control how I respond to what happens. My greatest power lies in my response.
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I’m going to stop focusing on how stressed I am. Complaining won’t change my reality, but a positive attitude will.
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Being positive doesn’t mean ignoring the negative. Being positive means overcoming the negative. There’s a big difference.
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I won’t get stuck on what might have been or should have been. Instead, I’ll look toward the power, the possibility and the opportunity of what is here right now.
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I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. It’s about not letting fear decide my future.
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I will get back up. Again and again. The faster I recover from setbacks, the faster I’ll get where I want to be in life.
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My next step in the right direction doesn’t have to be a big one. (Remember that small steps may not take us where we want to go, but they do gradually get us out of the place we want to leave.)
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Patience is a genuine expression of trust, acceptance, serenity and faith in my own abilities. It is a sign of strength. I’m going to practice it.
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When I find I don’t have time for what matters, I’ll stop doing the things that don’t matter as much.
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I can always feel the real, positive power that comes from my decision to rise above the petty dramas and distractions that don’t really matter anyway.
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Instead of getting angry, I’ll find a lesson. Instead of feeling envy, I’ll feel admiration. Instead of worrying, I’ll take positive action.
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The longer I stay calm, the stronger I become. Inner peace leads to real, meaningful progress on the outside.
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There’s nothing selfish about self-care and self-love. I can’t give what I don’t have. If I enrich my own life, I’ll be able to enrich other people’s lives too.
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If the grass looks greener on the other side, let that remind me to water the grass I’m standing on.
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From now on, I’ll be too busy watering my own lawn to notice whether the one across the way is greener.
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Happiness doesn’t begin when I get this, that or the other, or when something or other gets sorted out. Happiness is what happens now, when I do the best I can with what I have.
And remember, if you didn’t like the life you led in 2016, in 2017 you have the chance to turn it around completely. It’s in your hands.
See also: 8 hard truths you’ll learn sooner or later in life, the easy way or the hard way
Featured image: grace_kat, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
