In a previous post, I discussed the importance of setting goals for your business and I laid out the SMART goal system. Hopefully you did your homework and have some short range and long range goals for your business.

The next part of working with goals is Affirmations. I love Jack Canfield’s explanation of affirmations. He teaches the importance of having at least 1 affirmation that affirms achieving or accomplishing that goal in the present tense for every goal you create. The purpose of an affirmation is that you are going to declare something as if it was already true but it is not manifested in reality yet.  What that does is create a dynamic tension in the brain and in the mind that results in motivation. All motivation comes from having a picture of something that you want in your head that you have not yet created in reality. The affirmation creates and maintains this tension to create motivation.

The other important function of an affirmation is to reprogram your thinking. You have 20, 30, 40+ years of programming. You have spent all of that time seeing the world through a certain lens of who you are and how you are in the world and what is possible for you to achieve. You can’t reprogram that in 60 minutes or even just 1 day.

Jack Canfield offers excellent guidelines for creating effective affirmations:

1. Start with the words “I am”
2. Use the present tense, not “I’m going to”
3. State it in the positive. Affirm what you want, not what you don’t want.
4. Keep it brief. Less is more.
5. Make it specific.
6. Include an action word ending in ing.
7. Include at least one dynamic emotional for feeling word, such as joyfully, proudly, enthusiastically, happily, gleefully . . . .
8. Make affirmations for yourself, not others. This can be really difficult if we continue to think that our happiness is dependant on other people’s behavior, success or happiness.
9. Add the words “or something better”. “Something better” opens up opportunity for things that you didn’t even realize that you wanted to present themselves.

Goals and affirmations are powerful tools for creating change and keeping your life and your business moving in the direction you desire. Create personal goals and affirmations as well as business affirmations. You’ll be amazed at the results.