I’ve used affirmations in the past, as a form of self-help, but I don’t think they worked. I’ve read self-help books – some classics, others more questionable – and I’ve repeated a thousand times that everyday in every way I am getting better and better. But I admit I lacked belief, and belief is core to an affirmation being effective.
Many people view affirmations favorably, including some readers of this blog. There are others who take the opposite view. I’ve read one or two articles recently that say they are detrimental, to the extent that falling short of an ideal, over and over, will impact a person’s self-esteem.
Scott Adams takes up the subject on his blog today, and it gave me reason to smile.
I have a long-time friend who is always full of energy, enthusiasm and goodwill. It sounds sickening but it’s not; without fail he’s a pleasure to be around. Whenever I ask him how he is, he always replies “fantastic”, “brilliant” or “top of the world”. Does he use affirmations? I don’t know. But after reading Scott Adams I think he has a chicken-and-egg thing going!
