A lot of excellent articles list tips on how to construct a “good” affirmation.

It’s generally agreed upon that a “good” affirmation is one that’s personal, in the present tense, emotion-evoking, focused on what you desire as opposed to its opposite or absence, and so on, as discussed in those “tips” articles I mentioned.

For example,

“I am [personal] now [present tense] enjoying [emotion-evoking] living in my fabulous townhouse [focused on what’s desired] etc. etc.”

So, if that’s what a “good” affirmation looks like, what’s a bad affirmation?

A Wonderfully “Bad” Affirmation

Several years ago, a friend of mine began using affirmations for the first time in her life. She’d never read any articles on how to construct a “good” affirmation, and, as a result, she came up with a wonderfully “bad” affirmation:

“Inner turmoil is not necessary.”

Just look at that sorry excuse for an affirmation. It’s not explicitly personal. It’s not explicitly in the present tense. The only emotion it refers to is ‘turmoil’.

And as for the subject of focusing on what you desire as opposed to its opposite or absence, many of those articles I mentioned also say that when you use words like “don’t” or “not” in an affirmation, your subconscious and conscious minds actually filter them out.

For example, they’ll point out that if I say to you, “Don’t think about a pink elephant,” you’ll actually think about a pink elephant. Why?

Because, the theory goes, your mind filters out the word “don’t” and all you’re left with is “Think about a pink elephant,” (which you probably found yourself doing, right?).

And if that theory is actually correct (I’ll leave that discussion for another article), then my friend’s affirmation goes from being “Inner turmoil is not necessary” to “Inner turmoil is necessary.”

In other words, all she’s doing is focusing even more on what she doesn’t want, which, according to the theories, will only produce more of that turmoil she’s intending to leave behind.

An Affirmation That ‘Clicked’

The funny thing about my friend, however, is that by religiously saying that wonderfully “bad” affirmation to herself over and over and over again, she actually moved from experiencing inner turmoil to knowing true inner peace.

How could that be? Shouldn’t the exact opposite have occurred?

My personal theory on the matter is alluded to in a statement made by Florence Scovel Shinn, who was a master of affirmations. She said,

“You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation which 'clicks'.”

It’s really that ‘clicks’ part of the sentence that I think is so important.

You see, when someone would come to Florence Scovel Shinn for help, she’d listen to their situation, and then construct an affirmation and say it to the person.

If the person didn’t get visibly excited by the affirmation, she’d construct another, and another, and another, until finally one ‘clicked’ and the person’s eyes lit up. Then she’d send them on their way.

My Friend’s Affirmation ‘Clicked’

And that, in my opinion, is why my friend’s wonderfully “bad” affirmation, the one that broke all the rules on how to construct an effective affirmation, was able to set about the process of change she desired to experience. It clicked!

Now, would her transformation have been even quicker and easier if she’d constructed a “good” affirmation? I don’t know how anyone could say for sure.

But one thing I’m pretty sure of is this.

While my friend certainly could have constructed a “better” affirmation than “Inner turmoil is not necessary,” if that affirmation hadn’t clicked, I think she’d still be better off with that wonderfully “bad” affirmation that did click.

Bottom line: if the affirmations you’re using don’t ‘click,’ get new ones, no matter how “good” your current ones are.

And a great place to begin is with your own Money Affirmations MP3 or CD. With 90+ powerful money affirmations each, you have more than a great chance of finding at least one that 'clicks' (and sometimes one is all it takes, as my friend demonstrated).

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Copyright (c) Grant Pasay 2009. All rights reserved. You may forward this article in its entirety (including author bio/links) to anyone you wish.

Grant Pasay is just one of the MoneyAffirmationsMP3.com Team, whose lives have been radically changed by the continued use of positive affirmations for money and in every area of life.

Want to enjoy more money? First change your money thoughts. Go to http://moneyaffirmationsmp3.com/ today.