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BASIC INFO ABOUT THE METHOD
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The chances are good, that some of the potential readers of this page
have had experience in the past with "affirmation" methods,
have read about them, etc. It's also probable that there are many who
currently use such as daily routines. And, of course, there will be
some who reject the concept out-of-hand. (Sad, but true - it's their
own doing, and their own loss.) What I'm presenting on this page isn't
the standard method of "affirmations" as per the methodology
within the dominant paradigm of pop psychiatry. It's not designed to
bolster weak ego, or repair depleted self-image. It's designed to
"program" the set of tendencies. Ego and self-image will need
to take care of themselves; they'll be what they need to be, as the
circumstances dictate. Tendencies, on the other hand, can and should be
managed in an intentional manner.
Are you disorganized? Do you waste time on irrelevant stuff? Are you
clean enough? Do you indulge in splurge shopping, and end up spending
more than you can afford? I believe these types of shortcomings can be
mitigated, via "programming" the subconscious. The process of
daily living requires a set of ingrained tendencies of choices. The method
of "programming" the subconscious which I'm presenting here, is
based upon consciously deliberating on one's personal condition, reaching
honest conclusions lacking rationalizations, and repeatedly presenting to
one's self those conclusions in the form of better alternative choices.
A choice is a selection between one option or the other. The tendencies
are sets of approximations; vague conclusions regarding what's been most
successful managing affairs in the past. We continuously refer to our
vaguely defined lists of past results, and take what we find there into
account during our rapid deliberations of what to do next.
We also maintain a vaguely defined list of prioritized goals, regarding
hum-drum daily living. This second list becomes another resource during
the deliberations of what to do next. An unmanaged list of prioritized
goals is a set of goals based on the contents of the list of results.
A managed list of prioritized goals, on the other hand, is a set of goals
deliberately modified to cause inclusion of the results of conscious
deliberations.
It's important to avoid rationalizations, when designing a list of
affirmation statements. We each have a gut knowledge of what's morally
"right" and "wrong". This gut knowledge results in
a set of tendencies appropriate to the existence of that gut knowledge.
When tendencies of choices contradict what gut knowledge dictates, it
results in "psychic dissonance" - a psychiatric condition where
tendencies of choices are in conflict with the tendencies of choices that
are most appropriate. I believe it's a foundational element, in many forms
of psychiatric illnesses - as such, something to be strenuously avoided,
whenever possible. Designing affirmation statements that contradict what
is morally correct carries the risk of increasing the likelihood of psychic
dissonance with it, so be careful when designing your list!
The core of this affirmation method, is to speak aloud a series of statements
phrased as intentions. The guiding principle behind doing this, is usually
phrased as "fake it till you make it". In other words, the sustained
effort of stating the details of the list of intentions as being the real case,
will tend to cause that list to become factual; i.e., we adapt to what our
subconscious believes is real. So, the idea is to consciously decide who and
what you want to be, then work to become exactly that.
A guiding belief behind the design of this affirmation method, is that life
tends to happen "in a groove"; that, synchronicity is the rule, not
the exception. Who we are and what we experience are inextricably linked.
Serendipity, which can be thought of as occurances of beneficial synchronicity
(fortunate coincidence), is more likely to occur if the person in question
conducts their actions in accordance with their gut-level understandings of
right & wrong. This could be stated as, we tend to get what we believe we
deserve. Just to make this clear: I'm not stating that this is an overwhelming
universal truth. The world is full of billions of people who disagree regarding
what should happen next, and each of those billions is just as capable of
triggering synchronicity as any other human. Things frequently go wrong and
result in harm, because there are people out there who intend for that to
happen; i.e., they believe that those events of harm are justified, and consequently
guide their actions toward causing them to happen. However, given so much chaos of
intentions, consistency of concerted guided effort gains an advantage toward
triggering synchronicity to influence events. Can a person using this method change
the world? Probably not. But - who we are results in what we experience. To change
what we experience, the method most likely to succeed is that we must change who we are.
I believe that for this method to be truly effective, the affirmation statements
need to be spoken aloud. There's two primary reasons I believe this:
One reason, is that most of us tend to screen what we say out loud to only fit those
things we're fairly sure of. Since the purpose of the affirmation statements is
to modify one's inner self, it needs to be said out loud to achieve the "fake
it till you make it" condition. If the statements are limited to the silent
inner voicing, then they're not truly being faked - instead, they're being limited
to the range of things just being considered but not ready to be acted upon. To do
this method properly, one must say the statements out loud. Hearing one's own voice
saying those things generates a feeling of "yes, that's really me saying that",
and results in the tendency to choose actions which support what you've said. There
might be a feeling of "What if somebody hears me saying this stuff?" Think
about it - is what you're saying good? Is it proper? If it's good and proper, then
why should you worry about someone hearing you say it?
A second reason for speaking the affirmations out loud, is that it involves using the
physical body. It's a physical action. From a holistic perspective, it causes the
entire person to become involved in the endeavor, as vs. just thinking about it and
failing to act upon it. The purpose of the affirmation statements, is to cause change.
The creation of change requires action. Speaking out loud is a first small action
toward causing changes to occur. Other actions will occur, as and when the moments
are right for them to happen - but, as Lao Tzu told us, "A journey of a thousand
miles begin with a single step." Saying the words out loud is a good first step,
on a personal journey of improvement of self and circumstances.
The following, is a generalized list of affirmation statements which I've come to believe
are fundamentally beneficial to anyone choosing to utilize them.
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A LIST OF USEFUL AFFIRMATIONS
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I intend to become healthy in all respects:
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Physically,
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Emotionally,
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Sexually,
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Socially,
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Psychiatrically,
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Psychologically,
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Logically,
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Intellectually,
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Intuitively,
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Psychically,
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Spiritually,
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Morally,
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Ethically,
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Legally,
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Economically,
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Professionally,
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and, any other measure I can come up with.
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I intend to be more observant, and remember things better.
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I intend to reach better conclusions, make better decisions, and maintain
my actions in accordance with better conclusions and decisions.
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I intend to change and improve my self.
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I intend to change and improve my circumstances.
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I intend to make better choices.
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I intend to achieve better results.
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I intend to be a person I can respect.
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I intend to have circumstances I can be satisfied with.
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I intend to have a professional level of skill in my chosen profession.
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I intend to be competent, productive, successful, and prosperous.
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I intend to apply proper living, to trigger synchronicity and
serendipity, so the good things I want to have happen will actually
happen.
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I intend to manage my resources in a proper manner.
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I intend to have healing dreams.
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I intend to remember my dreams when I wake up, and understand
their meanings.
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CUSTOMIZED AFFIRMATIONS
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What I presented in the previous section was a generalized list of useful
affirmations. To be truly effective, that list needs to be fleshed out a bit
for the sake of customization; i.e., making it a good fit.
To achieve that "good fit", a person should create a secondary list
of affirmations designed to correct shortcomings in who they are and what they
do. For example, if the person is a bit slovenly and can't manage to maintain
their living quarters in a clean manner, they might want to add:
I intend to have a clean living quarters.
If they haven't put out sufficient effort toward repairing the plumbing in their
home, they might want to add:
I intend to have properly functional plumbing in my home.
Hopefully, that's enough examples to convey the essence of what I'm saying. The
person who knows best, what details of living need to be attended to and adjusted
for improvement, is the person whose life those details are occurring within. That's
the purpose of the secondary list of affirmations - to narrow down the focus from
working with general rules, to the venue of manipulating the specifics.
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IN CONCLUSION
I hope you've enjoyed my little discussion about "affirmations".
If I discover at some point that I more to say about affirmations, those
extra tidbits of off-the-cuff scruffy "wisdom" (giving myself
the benefit of the doubt, here) will be added onto this page. If you discuss
this or distribute it in any way, please make sure the title "Scruffy
Affirmations Method" remains intact; authorship, & copyright
notification included. Thank you. May it serve you well!
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Scruffy Eagle
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