Those self pep talks really do work. (Getty Images)
The
term “self-affirmation” may call to mind a meditative yoga class or the
classic Al Franken “Saturday Night Live” Character Stuart Smalley
(Remember? “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people
like me!”). Self-affirmations are sayings, like Smalley’s, that are repeated to oneself in order to improve confidence and self-image.
But self affirmations are not a joke — recent research shows that using positive mantras can decrease stress and improve performance on challenging tasks. And they may even help you make healthier decisions.
When you’re stressed out, your problem-solving skills diminish, but studies show that self-affirmation practices can combat this effect. “Under stress, our brain defaults to its most common setting,” Caroline Miller, MAPP, the author of “Creating Your Best Life,” tells
Yahoo Health. “But if we practice reinforcing something positive — like
the affirmation ‘You can do this’ — in stressful situations, we can
learn to default to a place of positive self-regard.”
In
fact, Miller notes, athletes who experience stress have found that
repeating an encouraging phrase to themselves, like, “This is going
well,” or “Persistence breaks resistance,” can keep them going
physically, thus building their faith in their ability to persevere.
Self-affirmations have also been shown to help people make healthier choices. A new study
in “Psychology of Sport and Exercise” shows that athletes who practiced
self-affirming mantras experienced decreased temptation and intentions
to dope for performance enhancement, compared with a control group.
Miller says this is because by creating an “implementation intention”
for how to behave in tempting situations, you can triple your chances of accomplishing hard goals.
“If you decide ahead of time that you will say something positive and
proactive to yourself when you encounter temptation (for example, ‘When I
see someone light up, I will tell myself I am a non-smoker and I will
leave the room’), then you will have created a contract with yourself
that is often unbreakable,” she explains.
To
incorporate self-affirmations into your life, Miller recommends
starting with mantras of love for yourself, for others you care about,
and for people you’ve had challenges with. Do this at home on your own,
repeating the upbeat and affectionate phrases to yourself daily, so the
feelings are already there when you encounter those people.
“If you practice saying positive things in non-stressful situations, it’s been found that you can actually change your brain’s reactions,”
Miller notes. So when the more stressful situation does arise (an event
with a boorish co-worker or during a holiday party with a meddling
relative, for example), you already have a habit of affirming love as a
response.
Related: In Praise of Spacing Out
If
you’re looking for more daily-life, goal-oriented changes — like
getting healthier or ditching a bad habit — Miller suggests an
affirmation that pairs an environmental cue with a desired behavior
change. That could mean anything from, “When my alarm goes off at 5
a.m., I will get up and go for a run,” to “When we order dessert, I will
have a delicious peppermint tea.” “The more you practice and succeed at
this type of self-regulation, the bigger and better your stores of
willpower for future needs,” says Miller.
Of
course, self-affirmations aren’t just phrases to be plucked from thin
air. “If you have no history of being an athlete, self-affirming that
you will finish an Ironman may only reinforce that it’s not your thing,”
says Miller. “Affirmations have to be based on some reality around what
you do well and character strengths you possess, for them to be
useful.”
Working
with self-affirmations may feel a little hokey at first, but the
positivity that they can bring about is worth it, according to Miller:
“If you practice deliberate self-talk followed by proactive behavior,
you can create positive habits and emotions within yourself that lead to long-term change.”
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