I want you to take a moment and finish each of the following statements with the first thought that comes to mind.

1. I can…
2. I have…
3. I believe…
4. I am…

Did you finish those statements with positive thoughts about yourself or negative thoughts about yourself?

In a perfect world, it would always be easy for us to affirm positive thoughts about ourselves, but sometimes we can end up in a mental space that causes our brains to be overrun by negativity. When we find ourselves there, it can be hard to see our way out.

Self doubt is something that we’ve all struggled with at some point in our lives, so if you’re currently struggling, you shouldn’t feel like you’re in this alone. It’s a human thing to go through, and you happen to be human.

Turning any negative thoughts you might have into positive ones takes deliberate decision making. Even when you’re feeling confident and good about yourself, you have to be fiercely diligent about doing the necessary work to keep that mindset.

I talk about the practice of writing daily affirmations so much here, because in my experience, it really works. I started doing it myself after a long period of time where I was struggling to control my mood and unable to keep a positive outlook. I would literally allow my negative thoughts to run my days. They would multiply and fill my head with doubt, frustration, and sadness, because as long as I doubted myself, I felt like I didn’t know what my future held for me.

Writing daily affirmations made me start being deliberate about what I wanted to spend my time thinking about, feeling, and doing for that day. From the beginning, I chose to write them first thing in the morning, because I wanted to set the tone for my entire day.

I noticed an immediate difference in my mood. Now, I don’t want to mislead you into thinking that you’ll never have negative thoughts or self doubt again once you begin the practice of writing daily affirmations, because you will. But when those thoughts come up, you’ll have already established a way to counter them by thinking and speaking a positive affirmation immediately.

I even keep the daily affirmations, that I’ve written down for the day, in a visible place on my desk so that when I feel negativity creeping in, I can quickly read my affirmations and get my focus back.

Here’s how the practice of writing daily affirmations helps me:

• It helps me reinforce positive thoughts!
• It helps me refocus on my success!
• It helps me get motivated to make every day an amazing day!

Life happens, but you’re still capable of being exactly who and what you want to be, and that includes happy. 

So again,

1. I can…
2. I have…
3. I believe…
4. I am…

Fill in those blanks with positives instead of negatives and start believing all the great things about you that everyone else sees! You can do that by adopting the practice of writing daily affirmations.

To help you, I created the 30 Affirmations for Success Journal that you can download for free on my website. This journal gives you a powerful new affirmation every day for 30 days, and you can write your own daily affirmations and thoughts there too. 

Again, it’s absolutely free, so download yours now by clicking the link below.

Do you have a daily practice that helps you stay positive? Find me on Instagram or Facebook and let me know.

Do you know someone who could use this article? If so, please share it with them.

Also, visit my website to check out the courses and training programs I offer and to listen to my podcast, Master Your Mission, for daily motivation and inspiration to pursue your dreams.