What are affirmations? 

-       Affirmations in New Thought and New Age terminology refer primarily to the practice of positive thinking and self-empowerment—fostering a belief that "a positive mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything."

What is the percentage of people who actually reach their New Year Resolution? 

-       8% in 2018 reached goals, and 80% gave up by Feb. in 2018. (According to Forbes)  

-       Common resolutions include: 

o   Quit smoking, quit drinking, lose weight, make more money, travel more

-       Common successful habits of successful people: 

o   Meditation, reading, talking to universe, being thankful, prioritizing time, focusing on what you can control, following your intuition. 

Why is it important to start your morning off correctly? 

-       Brain waves alpha cycle is 8 – 13 Hz (cycles per second) “Gateway to subconscious mind”

-       Don’t click Snooze, make your bed, visualize your life, watch a motivational video, repeat affirmations (Steve jobs did it every day), keep a journal

-       https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/291907 (First 20 minutes of your day sets you up for success) 

How the “I AM” affirmations play a role in setting up your day and accomplishing your goals. 

-       How affirmations play a role and the statistics behind it:

o   Aware-affirmation condition vs aware-choice condition 

§  People in the studies performed better when they were able to choose whether to affirm or not. 

§  Study showed choosing to self-affirm can help cope with daily threats that arise 

§  Optimism with illnesses like cancer has shown better health yields for patients with higher optimism levels than their counterparts with similar illnesses

§  “Numerous studies highlight the thinking about self-preferences activates neural reward pathways.” 

§  “Self-affirmation would activate brain reward circuitry during functional MRI Studies.” (Dutcher JM et al, 2016) 

o   https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/embodied-wellness/201704/affirm-or-not-affirm (Leena S. Guptha DO) 

o   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/self-affirmations-boost-performance_n_7079350 (Lindsay Holmes)

-       Understanding the importance of positively affirming your thoughts for the day (recommend starting with 1-2 small attainable goal affirmations) 

-        Get rid of negative thoughts by changing them to questions instead of statements:

o   Am I willing to do this before? 

o   When have I done this before? 

o   What’s the worst-case scenario? 

-       Focus on the progress not perfecting it. 

-       Try small new affirmations every day that help you work towards a bigger goal. 

Why is it important to set small goals instead of lofty resolutions? 

-       Easier wins to build confidence on, and continue pace 

-       Using S.M.A.R.T principle

o   Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-sensitive 

-       Writing down goals, avo