Affirmations are not only for manifesting a specific goal. They’re meant to encourage a life filled with positivity and gratitude. While they do help you achieve certain goals, there’s more to them than that. Let’s say you manifested the job you wanted. Now what? Do you drop the “I am the boss” affirmation? Yes, you do drop that one but you should replace it with a new affirmation. Something like, “I like my job,” or “I enjoy learning new things every day.” The affirmation plan is a never-ending life practice.

You become aware of your daily thoughts and words, reducing the risk of letting negativity seep in.

You notice more synchronicities in your life, which serves to encourage and motivate you to keep up the practice.

Daily affirmations not only help keep you surrounded by the things you want in your life but they help bring about more blessings and gifts.

A daily practice helps to keep the small things in perspective. In this high-speed world you can easily lose sight of how large the small things really are. When healthy you may forget to think of how much you appreciate it. A simple morning affirmation sentence of “I am healthy” can go a long way.

A recent study shows that optimistic people have healthier hearts, and affirmations help you to stay positive.

As you continue this practice, others take note and you begin to help those around you without even trying. This, in turn, helps keep you focused.

Daily affirmations keep you in a constant state of gratitude.

Affirmations of Gratitude

Gratitude helps you stay positive and should be practiced daily. The problem is that gratitude for certain things can morph over time. For example, you got that great job after scoping it out for months, interviewing five times, and purchasing a new wardrobe to fit the title. At first you were ecstatic, jumping up and down and calling everyone you know to tell them what you manifested. Fast forward two years. The hours are long, you haven’t received a raise, and your boss blames you for things that have nothing to do with you. By now your level of gratitude for this job is different. Perhaps you’re even trying to manifest a new job and have dropped your affirmations of gratitude for this one.

Try this approach instead: Continue with your affirmations of being very thankful for your position and what it provides. The negatives are still there but using the affirmations to help you focus on the positive aspects will give more power to the other set of affirmations in your practice. Affirmations for what you are or who you are aspiring to become are important but should not hold more weight than the affirmations of gratitude for what you’ve already manifested.

SOURCE: Article written by Melissa Carver, first published on The Chopra Center website.