If You Don't Succeed, Affirm and Affirm Again

 By William T Batten | March 13, 2021 

    Politicians repeat themselves a lot - have you noticed that? It's not (just) because they like the sound of their own voices. There's a powerful influence principle at play there. It's the same principle behind marketing. Everyone thinks they're immune to marketing, as if businesses somehow invest billions in it for the fun of it. But it works. Even when you ignore it, it works. The principle politicians and marketers use so well is this: We humans like familiarity. The more familiar something is, the more likely we are to like and accept it. The most familiar ideas are our own. 

    That's why we like it when folks agree with us. You might not know what you're talking about, but your own ideas still seduce you and win you over. This is why politicians run their mouth - when you start to recognize and remember their voice and ideas, you start to believe in them a little more. Not much more - this isn't mind control or anything - but sometimes it's enough. Same with ads, too. Businesses would prefer you to sit and fully absorb their ads... but, hey, just noticing the brand, even for a millisecond, makes it more familiar to you. This doesn't have to be a problem. If you remember to think through your major decisions - like big purchases and who to vote for - this won't get in your way. But while it's interesting to know how to defend against these things.. it's even more interesting to learn how to use them to enrich your life. And chances are, you already are. This is one of the key components of the affirmation engine. 

    Saying an affirmation once won't do much for you. Maybe it'll get you excited and energized, which is a nice start, but the real results come later.  Twice, three times, not so much. It's only once you've repeated it so many times it becomes embedded deep in your mind that you start to see results. Your unconscious mind recognizes it as a familiar idea. And, with your desire driving it, it stops being a sentence and starts being an instruction. But before you write an app to display your affirmations on your phone every five seconds, repetition can also work against you. 

    Repeating the words every day is one thing. But it's repeating the emotions that really gets things moving. Feeling hope, determination and enthusiasm for your dreams, every day, will change your life more than maybe anything else. So repeat your affirmations, early and often. Just be sure to keep the emotion alive. There are two ways to do affirmations: There's the easy way, where you stick a note on your fridge and pretend it'll work. Then there's the right way. Affirmations aren't a shortcut to better things. They take discipline and persistence. But I pity anyone who doesn't sharpen their mind and focus every day. 

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