I believe you have the power to be and have everything you desire in life and that it starts with reshaping your thoughts using “I am” affirmations.

Helen Reddy sings “I am woman,” Christina Aguilera sings “I am beautiful.” Jerry Herman wrote “I am what I am” for La Cage Aux Folles. When I hear or sing the lyrics from these songs, and others with powerful “I am” statements, I feel an immediate sense of strength and self-assuredness. Why is that? It is because they force me into positive self-talk. Instead of beating myself up and feeding myself negative words they infuse me with affirming statements.

I first heard about the constructive impact of saying and reading positive personal affirmations each day when I was a teenager. A friend of my mom is an Astrologist who opened a metaphysical bookstore called “Body, Mind, and Soul Books,” in 1981. It is still open today in Houston and has an active following. My mom was reading Jose Silva’s “The Silva Mind Control Method.” My mom walked around snapping a rubber band on her wrist when she caught herself thinking negatively. The idea that we could change our life by changing our thoughts was taking shape inside of me. On one of our trips to “Body, Mind, and Soul Books” I picked up a copy of Louise Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life.” I still have that copy and refer to it to this day. I was becoming more grounded in my beliefs.

When I began studying hypnotherapy in my twenties, I learned that our thoughts and words were the foundation of the practice. During a hypnotherapy session, the clients receive a prescription or directive in the form of positive statements spoken expressly to the subconscious mind. The quieted state of the conscious mind allows an unreserved avenue to the subconscious mind to correct erroneous beliefs. Many people are uncomfortable with the thought of being hypnotized, but it is just a relaxed state allowing the conscious mind to rest. You can use a slow breathing technique or a mindfulness meditation to achieve a similar effect.

Scientific studies have shown how positive and negative words impact the body and the way we feel. Studies also show that we need five positive statements to overcome the negative effect of one adverse remark. Think of all of the injurious images and words that we use every day. Sometimes we use them against others, but mostly we use them on ourselves. This is why the practice of using positive affirmations is so crucial on a daily basis, and you do not need to be in an altered state of mind for this.

How do you begin to reshape your life with affirmations? First, decide on how you want to feel, how you want to be described by others, how you want to live, and what you want to have. Write those ideas down beginning with an “I am” statement. Pick your top three “I am” affirmations. Put them on your phone, put them on post-it notes on your mirror, on your dashboard, on your computer, on the refrigerator, put them wherever you will see them and read them. Say them out loud. Declare them to yourself and the universe to be true multiple times a day. I suggest you start with only three to five for at least thirty days before you add others. It has taken a lifetime of programming, and it will take some serious work to change, but it will happen, and it really is that simple to start. You become what you think and what you say.

On a side note, if you are trying to tackle a big issue such as weight loss, smoking cessation, addiction, or another significant health issue, remember these are typically the by-product of another underlying problem. Consider using at least three of the following in your affirmations:

1. I am loved
2. I am loveable
3. I am smart
4. I am worthy
5. I am good
6. I am deserving
7. I am grateful
8. I am healthy
9. I am powerful
10. I am at peace
11. I am reliable
12. I am desirable
13. I am capable
13. I am admired
14. I am brave
15. I am accepted