In my elementary school days, the first-level corrective action for bad behavior was “sentences.” Write I will not talk back to Mrs. King 50 times. Write I will go into class when the recess bell rings 100 times.
Some of the more creative teachers made kids write 70-word run-on sentences 25 times – those were the ones I really hated doing. Because 25 times doesn’t sound like a lot, right? So then you do them, and – ugh!
But doggone it, it worked. I never had to be assigned the same “sentence” twice. Whatever the instructional message was, it got burned into my brain.
And now I’ll stop reliving my childhood long enough to tell you what this has to do with affirmations. Every so often I read about how great affirmations are supposed to be – writing down what you want, over and over again, day and night.
You can imagine how I view the idea of writing affirmations. Like “sentences,” right? Funny thing – for me, belief isn’t the issue. It’s the chore of writing it down I despise!
But writing it down is vital for another reason: CLARITY. Because once you have it down cold – and I mean with numbers, dollar amounts, dates, percentages – your brain (and the universe, the collective unconscious, God – take your pick) can start getting to work on the “How?” part of the equation.
That was my little “A-Ha” on a quiet Saturday evening. Even if you think you know what you want, write it down. Write it again. And again. Until instead of being a little desire that floats around your head, the thing you want gets burned so deeply in there, you have no choice but to get it.
