The Power of Words

I remember what it was like to have a non-stop stream of criticism running through my mind. It was a constant commentary of how bad everything was. I’d wake up and within moments the complaining mind chatter would start up and continue until I fell asleep at night with barely a break. Even on the good days, it would steamroll ahead, with negative perspectives I hadn’t even considered coming to mind. I’d walk through a city I loved but rather than enjoy the sights I’d be taken over by a constant dialogue of self-attack. I read that walking in nature is good to calm your mind but the voice would be right there with me, ruining my trip.

Even though I now no longer experience such a turbulent state of mind, I hear many people do. Back then, I realised I couldn’t battle it but instead it was about finding another focus. And how I did that was with Declarations.

Choosing to Focus on the Spoken Word

Declarations are where you speak words as a focal-point to keep you out of thinking. The words themselves are not so important. After all, words are man-made, and have different meanings for different people. And so that’s how I choose to use them: simply as a focal-point to anchor my attention out of mind-wandering. It’s like an on-the-go version of the focal-point meditation I teach. I don’t use the words to try to create anything, it’s purely a way for me to clear my mind.

Dealing with Mind-Wandering

When our thoughts are out of control, we can choose to speak our declarations and as we do so, the thoughts will calm. It may take some time, it’s about keeping on going. You don’t have to repeat your declarations as many times as the thoughts you have — but just do it consistently and, like a sheep dog handling a herd of sheep, your statements will herd dozens of thoughts at once.

Choosing Your Declarations

You want to choose a statement that you find easy to repeat and doesn’t get you into thinking. Some clients ask me for suggestions and although I’ll help them come up with their statement, its important that it’s one that they connect with. Sometimes it’s good to choose something slightly off-subject of the issue and something that you find easy and enjoyable to repeat. So if there is a specific feature you want to change about your looks, for example, perhaps go to words about feeling attractive, and youthful, and free, and confident. You want to get the general feeling of that. Go to feeling happy rather than getting a specific result that you think will make you happy.

Keep on going — get persistent

But it’s less about the words you speak, and more that you make sure that you repeat them. Just like with meditation or going to the gym — the ego puts up huge resistance to stop you following through. It’s why most people don’t get very far with their practice.

I remember speaking with the self help author Louise Hay about Affirmations, a subject which she is known for (Affirmations are another name for Declarations). I questioned whether they worked, and she replied by suggesting that most people just repeat them a few times and then give up. It’s the same with anything in life. Once you’ve found a way that works, it’s the persistence and follow through that makes you a success in whatever you are doing.

Although Louise and I had slightly different perspectives about affirmations and how to use them — I had noticed how it wasn’t just frequency of repetition, but people’s reason for doing them that led to failure, which is why I rarely use the word ‘Affirmations’ — we agreed that it is consistency that is the key to success.

The ego is very consistent in pursuing it’s addiction to thinking thoughts. We can learn from that, and increase our own practice of repeating declarations regularly. Personal development is not only about a morning session, you need an all-day shift in lifestyle to make it work.

Improving Your Life

It took me years to realise the power of practicing the theory. To actually do it, I mean, rather than just thinking about doing it. I thought about the practices many times just like people think about going to the gym. But thinking about doing something won’t do much. My ego had got totally hypnotised by reading (or listening to podcasts about) self-help theory and it was getting me nowhere. It was just a new way to procrastinate. It was when I first developed what worked and then did it that my life began to change, and in a profound way.

Discover the power of Declarations in Feel Better, No Matter What which is published by Watkins Publishing.