Negative Affirmations
This technique uses a negative focus in a specific way to gain leverage on important things that we procrastinate about. This article is 1400 words long and will take 7 to 8-minutes to read
In my own life I realised that the times when I acted with most drive, with most urgency and to my highest standards occurred when I felt under threat either from tormentors (people out to give me a hard time) or from perceived threats to my ability to provide for my basic needs. Interestingly, when I felt under threat from tormentors I usually felt that way because I feared that they would expose me for not living up to the high standards that I professed and for which I held a high opinion of myself. The need to defend my ego created a huge competitive stimulus for me. When this stimulus disappeared, I found that I had a tendency to revert back to a more lethargic state, simply because the necessity to excel no longer existed. The problem with that situation is that it tends to limit personal growth. In order to create an artificial stimulus and to take advantage to natural survival drives I decided that I might be able to adapt traditional methods of affirmations to come up with a more direct and more powerful spur for creating better personal performance when no real need exists.
With traditional affirmations a person writes down the result that they want in the present tense to suggest that it has already happened and then visualises this result or frequently writes the result down in order to affirm the desire. Then, in a vague manner, the focus on this desire supposedly directs the conscious and subconscious to manifest the desire. The affirmation creates a focus and conditions the mind to think about the desire and to create and look for the opportunities to support the fulfilment of the desire.
What I can appreciate about traditional affirmations is that they create a present moment focus on a desire and that repetition of that thinking can condition new habits in thinking and action that increase the likelihood of making such a thing happen. Overall though, I think that the process is very vague and that by applying knowledge of how the mind works a much better process can be created. Remembering that our nervous and brain system is almost totally dedicated to survival and that it will responded quickly and with great effort to perceived dangers then we can use that to stimulate ourselves to take direct action. On top of this, knowing that what causes most negative emotions and avoidance of issues is attempting to do the impossible then we can ensure that we direct the energy of our survival responses into effective action by clearly directing the mind and body on what to do in order to overcome the stimulus that creates the survival response. Assuming that we already have the competence to do this then action will quickly start and progress will continue. If we do not have the competence yet then we must create an attitude that accepts the reality of the difficulty to come and to resolve to get on with things anyway in a calm manner.
Based upon this knowledge of the how the mind and nervous system works I have created what I call negative affirmations as a much more effective way to get myself to take action. These work by focusing attention regularly on the negative result that will surely occur if I don’t get on with taking required action on something. I then immediately counter it by stating the affirmative action that I want to take and that I consider will almost certainly prevent the negative result from occurring (please see the article on
negative-and-positive-focus for a better understanding of the effectiveness of this process).
For example, when I chose to begin this blog I had many things that I decided that I wanted to write about and communicate but I started to get overwhelmed by the tasks ahead and I also questioned my competence to make it all happen. I live a comfortable life and coming up with ideas about potential rewards simply did provide sufficient reason to follow through on my ideas and desires. I really needed to kick-start myself and build momentum with my writing and so I created the following negative affirmations:
- My tormentors are right about me if I don’t get on with the real tasks
I decided to stir up memories of people that gave me a hard time in the past because it reminded me of how I wanted to best them and how resourceful and dedicated I can act when given sufficient reason to do so. In doing this I quickly accessed powerful emotional desires to get up and do even very difficult things. The ‘real tasks’ refers to any action that takes me closer to achieving my objective rather than spending time on the wrong tasks, such as pleasant distractions. At times I put in something more specific according to what seemed to be troubling me and what I wanted to get done, e.g. if I don’t complete this writing assignment today
- I tragically waste my life and fritter it away if I don’t get on with the real tasks
I sometimes need to get a total perspective on my pressing issues as in the short-term it always proves easy to delay and find reasons for not doing something. This can sometimes continue for decades. Only through thinking about my life in total can I remind myself of what I give up by not following through and I use this perspective to create leverage to get me to act.
- I end up a bullshitting faker unless I get on with the real tasks
I have a great dislike for bullshitters – the people who just talk and talk and do nothing or else promote themselves as a person who does a, b and c but actually keeps on doing x, y and z. I used this affirmation to remind myself of my dislike for bullshitting and that I end up a bullshitter myself if I don’t follow through.
- I refuse to end up extinct as the least fit and so I act get on with the real tasks
I seem to have a default condition called sloth. In the short term I really enjoy sloth but I know that I can never sustain it in the long-term. I like to live a well-controlled life without crises and I know that to maintain that I need to think in the long-term, make plans, develop my abilities, and make preparations and so on. Following through often proves difficult when it goes against my default condition. I artificially induce threats of extinction and ending up the worst to ensure that I keep up my bow wave of consistent actions that protect or enhance my comfortable life.
Please note carefully that these affirmations say nothing negative about me as a person. I don’t beat myself up or talk down about myself. Instead I focus on what will happen if I don’t improve and get on with things. I use the pain of imagined and real losses to steer myself into doing the right thing and to overcome the infantile tendencies just to indulge in instant gratification and idle my life away that otherwise crop up.
I tend to type out each affirmation about five or six times each day. I do so first thing in the morning or before embarking on doing important tasks so that I get my attitude and thinking well-adjusted before starting out. Once I have formed new habits and automatically keep following through then I no longer need the negative affirmations on a daily basis. If I find myself flagging later on then I roll them out again and adjust them as necessary to suit my current conditions.
If I find the effectiveness of Negative Affirmations fading then that usually derives from asking myself to do things that I don’t know how to do. In that situation I focus on lowering my expectations and adjust my mind to accept the almost inevitable difficulty to come in getting through a new and challenging process. Combining Negative Affirmations with thinking out a clear process for getting started or else determining guidelines by which to make difficult decisions has a consistently high-effectiveness in getting me moving once again.
#1 - Permalink Routine High Productivity December 10th, 2007 at 6:32 am[…] realistic expectations and easy progress I feel weak in my mind and don’t want to act then do negative-affirmations and focus on the losses to come from not acting and of the utter uselessness of avoiding the […]
#2 - Permalink Strategies for staying focused and being productive - Personal Development for Smart People Forums December 15th, 2007 at 10:22 am[…] effectively. It’s a lot quicker and easier than meditation. You can read all about it here Negative Affirmations (Sorry if it’s come too late to help you with your exam this time around!) Take care, […]
#3 - Permalink lizy December 15th, 2007 at 11:43 amI suffered from lack of motivation and constant procrastination until I read your article. It was really helpful in getting me started on the right track. I plan to use this way of motivation for the next 21 days to make it a habit. Lets see how it goes.
Thank you very much for sharing
and please keep writing more 
#4 - Permalink admin December 19th, 2007 at 1:04 pmHi Lizy,
Let me know how you get on. With good feedback I can find ways to refine the ideas and processes - should that prove necessary
#5 - Permalink Fundamental Motivation December 21st, 2007 at 7:51 am[…] negative-affirmations – a useful motivating tool when you’ve been struggling for a while […]
#6 - Permalink Chris January 4th, 2008 at 10:07 pmNick,
About your comments on affirmations…
If competency isn’t an issue, would using positive affirmations be beneficial?
For example, a person who has social anxiety could be competent in having normal relationships and conversations. They just have negative self-talk that prevents them from making achieving those things. Here, they would need to rehabilitate their thinking process by removing those thought patterns and installing new ones.
What do you think?
Chris
Chris
#7 - Permalink admin January 5th, 2008 at 6:56 amChris,
If I truly have competence at something then no affirmations, either positive or negative, are needed.
If a person has a lot of negative self-talk then that normally comes from feeling inadequate and hence not competent to the level that they desire to have.
It could be that this person discounts a lot of inherent ability to their own discredit. They could either seek honest valuations from other people on their level of skill so that they can get a more objective view point or such a person could say “What levels of skill do I really feel totally competent with?” and use this to define the base standard. This person could then seek to make solid and dependable improvements from that base in order to incrementally advance on a robust basis.
#8 - Permalink Do You Live a Fantasy Life, or Do Your Fantasies Control You? January 26th, 2008 at 7:49 am[…] For extra motivation combine the desired result with negative affirmations […]
#9 - Permalink AnnMarie Peterlin March 25th, 2008 at 12:10 pmChris is correct when it comes to self-talk, that positive self-talk will allow the person to achieve more. Nick on the other hand, is referring to a motivator and not self-talk. I have to say most of us probably use similar motivators in our lives to some degree. In fact the line “end up a bullshitting faker…” is not so much negative as identifying what a person does not want (to be). So, Nick, while I have often used similar motivators, how can we get to the next level? I believe we can do the right for right’s sake, but that often is not motivating in and of itself. Although, I have to say the more competent I become and the more control I have over my desires, the more I can motivate myself to do things in a timely manner. Believe me, I was the perfected procrastinator and during college even received very high grades on papers written the night before. I need to reflect some more to articulate my exact thoughts here….
#10 - Permalink admin March 25th, 2008 at 12:34 pmAnneMarie,
I developed negative affirmations at a time in my life when I was very conflicted and struggled to get going on things. They were useful in giving me a kick up the backside to get out of an extended funk. Once I got back into a productive state again I didn’t need to continue with them.
For my thoughts on higher levels of motivation you can read the post http://www.nickpagan.com/blog/.....otivation/
Through careful desire management (and especially not getting carried away with pleasant fantasies) and a well-honed approach to solving practical problems I no longer need much positive or negative motivation. I just get on with doing things and do what I can to make the process of whatever I am doing pleasant from moment to moment as often as I can.
#11 - Permalink AnnMarie Peterlin March 25th, 2008 at 12:53 pmThanks!
#12 - Permalink Chris March 25th, 2008 at 4:09 pmAnnMarie, you should check out Nick’s post about procrastination. Motivation is easy to produce if you have the competency to solve the problem. When was the last time you felt unmotivated browsing the internet, reading articles, etc? I find it hard to be motivated to accomplish a desire that I don’t possess enough required skills. I think to increase motivation you would need to simplify your desire (see the pinnacle goal post also). http://www.nickpagan.com/blog/4/procrastination/
#13 - Permalink Joel April 17th, 2008 at 1:24 amI have also tried negative affirmations in the past, and I sadly have to say they do not help. I actually refuse to listen to them nowadays, because they typically make me more upset / frustrated / negative. I’m at the point where I tell myself I wouldn’t care if I became (in your case) “a bullshitting faker”. Any other suggestions?
#14 - Permalink admin April 17th, 2008 at 2:09 amMy basic theory is that all emotions are generated from the perceived difference between the result that we desire and the result that we get in reality. When we fail to get our desire we feel negative emotions and vice versa. Feeling good on a continuous basis thus becomes a question of setting desires that can be fulfilled. If you are at the end of a long road of trying to lift yourself out of feeling bad and behaving badly then the root cause of the problem is almost certainly related to the fact that you continually seek to fulfill desires that are either impossible to have or that you don’t currently have the capability to fulfill. To turn this around you have to change your desires and/or work on developing the abilities needed to fulfill them.
Can you be more specific, Joel? Is your problem about procrastination or about feeling bad about yourself? What behavior do you currently have and what behavior do you want to have?