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If you have spent any time at all investigating the self-help industry in the last 20 or 30 years, you have likely heard of affirmations. Affirmations are statements intended to support belief in an idea.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- What’s a Gratitude Affirmation?
- What’s the Purpose of a Gratitude Affirmation?
- How Often Should You Recite a Gratitude Affirmation?
- Early-Morning Gratitude Affirmation
- Gratitude Affirmations About Jobs or Money
- Gratitude Affirmations About Relationships or Friendships
- Gratitude Affirmations to Say at Night
The word “affirm” has two definitions: 1) to state as a fact and 2) to offer emotional support and encouragement. When you use affirmations, you’re applying both definitions. You are stating that something is true and, by doing so, supporting positive thoughts and emotions about the subject.
For example, you may wake up every day and say, "Something good will happen today." This is expressed as a statement of fact and, when said, it encourages your emotions and thoughts to seek curiosity and excitement.
You can find or compose affirmations around any subject or concern. Affirmations can calm anxiety, encourage healthy habits, foster confidence, or manage chronic pain. The following will focus on using affirmations to support a gratitude practice.
What’s a Gratitude Affirmation?
To be grateful is to identify aspects of your life you appreciate. These can be simple things: food to eat, a roof over your head. Or they can be much more complex, like gratitude for the lessons learned in a divorce or a pet teaching you about love. Expressing gratitude is free, easy, and one of the most valuable tools we can use to support our mental and physical health.
A consistent gratitude practice has been found to decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Gratitude increases feelings of well-being and purpose. It supports a healthy immune system, reduces the likelihood of heart disease, and supports pain management. Collectively, these consequences result in a more joyful and healthy life.
More joy and health mean more to be grateful for. This is called the “positive cycle of gratitude.” The cycle of thoughts affecting your perspective on life was first identified when examining the consequences of cognition on depression. When people experience depression, they experience negative cognitions or thoughts. These negative thoughts make it easier to find and think about negative memories.
When you can remember only bad things, and your thoughts are negative, it creates a vicious cycle of:
I have negative thoughts --> I remember negative things --> Negative memories make more negative thoughts --> Worse mood, worse memories. And so on.
Gratitude reverse engineers the cycle to create the positive cycle of gratitude:
I have positive thoughts -->I remember positive things --> Positive memories trigger more positive thoughts -->Better mood, better memories.
A gratitude affirmation is a statement identifying and stating as fact a part of life to be appreciated. It is repeated at either scheduled or unscheduled times. You can use the same affirmations daily or change them frequently.
What’s the Purpose of a Gratitude Affirmation?
The purpose of gratitude affirmations is to support the positive cycle of gratitude. When we focus on the positive in our lives, it helps to rewire the brain to look for the positive rather than the scary or threatening. This is important because the animalistic parts of brains are naturally wired to be on the lookout for danger.
It was essential to be aware of potential predators in caveman days and be ready to fight or flee immediately.
Primitive areas of our brain and nervous system are still on the lookout for the tiger that wants to eat us. When it believes we are in trouble, the nervous system turns on the fight-or-flight response. This causes a cascade of physical changes and anxious thoughts. We sweat, our heart rate increases, and glucose is dumped into our bloodstream, all so we can escape the tiger.
Although most of us are not in life-threatening situations daily, our brains are still looking for the tiger. When our modern brain doesn't find a tiger, it assumes other things might be trying to kill us, like your teen's messy room or a project at work. If your brain interprets dirty underwear on the floor as a tiger, it triggers that fight-or-flight response. This stress response turned on repeatedly is not good for our physical or mental health.
The solution? Teach the brain to stop looking for the tiger and start looking for your environment's safety, beauty, and abundance. This is the purpose of gratitude affirmations. They keep you focused on the good so frequently that the brain starts to be grateful before it is afraid.
How Often Should You Recite a Gratitude Affirmation?
Gratitude affirmations can be done whenever it fits in your schedule or as you are hit by inspiration to be grateful. Unfortunately, there is no specific prescribed or best way to recite gratitude affirmations. (We can add this to our gratitude list for those who hate being told what to do.)
If you want to establish a habit of gratitude, a schedule is highly recommended. Some studies have found five to ten minutes of gratitude affirmations in the morning and evening are sufficient to experience positive results. However, for beginners, choosing the morning or evening only may be the right fit.
If you don't like the idea of sitting quietly and repeating affirmations, you can weave the practice into other daily tasks. For example, you can repeat affirmations for two minutes while brushing your teeth. Then, you can do another for three minutes in the shower, waiting for your first cup of coffee, or making the bed. Commuting is an excellent opportunity for affirmations. There are podcasts and Spotify playlists that include affirmations. You could even record yourself and play that as you drive along.
Don't make the process of gratitude affirmations stressful; just do the best you can. Be grateful every day is a new day, and you can try again tomorrow.
Early-Morning Gratitude Affirmation
Some of us are morning people, and some of us are not. This doesn't change the fact that we need to start our day sometime. As unpleasant as it may be to accept, early morning quiet time to center yourself, practice gratitude, and set an intention for the day has its benefits.
Additionally, the peaceful and cozy atmosphere of the early morning may put you in the right mindset for gratitude. So whether you have always been an early bird or want to give it a try, these affirmations are a great way to start the day.
1. Thank you for this new day. Thankfulness, appreciation, and sincere gratitude are a part of who I am.
This is a beautiful affirmation to begin the new day. It recognizes the incredible truth that you entered an altered state of consciousness (sleep), totally oblivious to the world, and came out again alive and well.
It also sets up an intention to show gratitude throughout the day. It reminds you that thankfulness and gratitude are fundamental to who you are. Finally, it sets you up to look for opportunities for gratitude throughout the day.
2. I'm feeling such appreciation for all the people, places, and things that will make my day joyful.
Just typing this statement generates feelings of excitement. This affirmation helps to establish a mindset that is looking for adventure. It assumes you will meet with things that elicit joy, and there will be more than one of those experiences. A mind that is feeling good and looking for joy is also one that is more creative and better at solving problems.
Gratitude Affirmations About Jobs or Money
Many of us want more money and a new or better job. Others are perfectly happy with their career and economic situation. It doesn't matter which side of the fence you are on. Practicing gratitude for having work and money to survive is always beneficial. Appreciating what you currently have can make you feel like the wealthiest person in the world.
3. I am grateful for what I have accomplished in my career.
This open-ended affirmation allows you to appreciate your career path no matter its trajectory. Any work experience is almost always worthwhile, so it is worth appreciating. In addition, an affirmation like this one could lead you to go to work in a happy and satisfied state.
A Harvard study found that happy employees were 40% more likely to get a promotion than their grumpy colleagues. So starting your day in a state of appreciation is an investment in future career accomplishments.
4. I see abundance all around me; I am grateful.
Money is used to acquire things and experiences. Take time daily to look around and notice what you have been able to use the money to procure. Looking at your life through the lens of abundance can produce feelings of happiness and calm.
When you see your life as abundant, you can find the energy to be kind to others and share what you have. This creates more happiness, more kindness, and more giving. And so, the positive gratitude cycle is complete.
Gratitude Affirmations About Relationships or Friendships
5. I am filled with gratitude for all the beautiful friendships I have, and I can learn new things from each of them.
As adulthood wears on, life can get hectic. A career, parenting, and a partner can all take up a significant amount of time. At the end of a long workday, it can be challenging to try to get yourself off the couch and back out into the world. This affirmation reminds you of your friendships and the benefits you can receive from those relationships.
Friendships can be complicated sometimes. People grow and change. People navigate this unpredictable world in very different ways. This affirmation reminds you that you can learn from the people in your life.
It is actually beneficial not to be exactly like your friends, and you can share life experiences and learn from one another. For example, the friend who doesn't return a text for a day or two may be setting boundaries and managing their time is a way that could be useful for you too
6. I appreciate everything my partner does for me and our relationship.
Relationships are easy to take for granted. In our efforts to protect our hearts, many of us look for what is missing in a relationship. Unfortunately, what is missing can become more important than what is present. Stating every day that you are grateful for what your partner does for you keeps your focus on the positive.
Gratitude Affirmations to Say at Night
The moments before we sleep are the perfect time to reflect on our day with gratitude. It helps us shift our minds from the worries of the day to the joys. Gratitude at night can help you fall asleep faster and improve your overall sleep quality. You can say affirmations as you prepare for sleep or as a tool to focus and quiet the mind while lying in bed.
7. I am thankful for all the blessings in my life.
This simple affirmation helps you focus broadly on the good in your life. It takes you out of the details of the day and zooms out to the general, calming the mind. In addition, it can lead you to think about specific blessings, compounding gratitude.
8. I am looking forward to each new day with gratitude.
This affirmation sets the mind to thinking about the upcoming day positively. It shifts thoughts away from worries onto the adventures that may lie ahead. Finally, it sets a tone for your sleep that may carry over to when your alarm rings.
Gratitude Affirmations, an Easy Path to Joy.
Gratitude affirmations can help you live more fully. The more frequently you look for the positive, the more your brain is taught new ways of looking at the world. Affirmations can help to rewire your brain to look for the joy in the story of your life. When you’re looking for joy, the challenges are harder to find.
Sources:
1. Anchor, S. “ Positive Intelligence.” Harvard Business Law, 12 February, 2012, Hbr.org.
2. Wood, Alex M et al. “Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions.” Journal of psychosomatic research vol. 66,1 (2009): 43-8. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.09.002
