Contributed by Irene Watson, MA

Awhile back, I talked about making a list of our fears. It can be difficult just to identify what we fear and what we want. Once we realize those fears, we need to convince ourselves we can overcome them. Essentially, we have to brainwash ourselves (yes, it is like brainwashing, it is rewriting the script, it is recording over those negative “I can’t” tapes in our heads and replacing them with “I can” and “I will”). Two of the most effective ways to do this are by using affirmations and positive quotations.

Affirmations are just statements that you believe in yourself. To make affirmations, I suggest you get a pack of index cards. On each index card, write an affirmation.

Examples of affirmations are:

I am a unique and creative person who uses my creativity to enrich the world.

I am a beautiful child of God. I am loved and I love everyone around me.

When people tell me I can’t, I show them I can. Nothing stops me from fulfilling my dreams.

You may only be able to think of a couple at first. That’s okay. Keep the stack of cards by you and keep adding to it whenever you think of one. (You can also buy affirmation cards, but if you do, I encourage you also to write some of your own).

Once you make your stack of cards, keep it somewhere you’ll notice it everyday. On the bedside table is a good place. Every morning when you wake and at night before you go to bed, or whenever you feel the need, take a moment to draw a card from the pile and affirm the wonderful, capable person you are.

Sometimes people like to tape the cards different places as reminders, such as on the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, the computer, the back door, the car’s dashboard. This process can also be effective, and you can change the cards weekly or as you see fit. Do what works best for you.

Besides affirmations, finding inspirational quotes, especially from people you respect or admire, can help tremendously. You can buy a famous quotations book, or just go online. By doing an online search for “famous quotes” you will find several pages full of famous quotations. Find quotations you enjoy, that inspire you or make you think. Write them down; make your own quotations book. Read them over and over.

Here are a few of my favorites:

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.” — Henry Ford

“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture....Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.” — Norman Vincent Peale

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincent Van Gogh

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” – Richard Bach

However you want to affirm your abilities, do what works for you. Believe in yourself. Then watch the world come to believe in you.

Irene Watson, MA,  is author of The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference, and co-editor of The Story that Must Be Told: True Tales of Transformation, and Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers. She is a workshop leader, managing editor of Reader Views, and president of a non-profit Higher Power Foundation. Irene lives next to Barton Creek in Austin, TX, with her husband Robert.