Image Source: Getty / Margo Ovcharenko
I’m calling it: affirmations are the new New Year’s resolutions. They start the impending 365 days off on a positive note and keep us going without the added pressure of sustaining goals we might not meet in the long run. Of course, goal setting is still essential for growth — healthy, even — but from my track record alone, New Year’s resolutions specifically never come to fruition. Ahead, check out the three affirmations I’m beyond ready to incorporate into my daily routine in 2022.
1) Words Matter
A close friend of mine got me a Little Words Project bracelet for the holidays, which I was not expecting but graciously accepted. On it, beads spell out “words matter,” and that phrase is so important to me as a journalist. It also means a great deal outside of work: Words, no matter how they’re expressed, should be stated, written, shouted, whispered, texted with care. We’re often buzzing with forward-thinking energy to the point where we may not actually stop and think about what we’re communicating to others. This is a reminder to take a step back and communicate in a way that’s respectful and purposeful. (What are you really trying to say? Are people understanding what you’re telling them? What is the best platform for getting your message across?)
Amid the continued stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial to monitor the words we say to ourselves as well. As you enter 2022 in full stride, remember to treat yourself with kindness. Remember to be your own hype person and elevate your own feelings instead of tearing yourself down. If you need help with that, Ashley Graham spoke with me (aka POPSUGAR) around this time last year to reveal the self-affirmations she uses:
- I am bold.
- I am brilliant.
- I am beautiful.
- I am worthy of all.
- I love you.
You can simply apply this awareness to the everyday conversations you have with yourself in general as opposed to using affirmations like Graham’s. How you treat yourself matters immensely.
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sam Brodsky
2) Own Your Wanting
This is from Glennon Doyle’s bestselling book Untamed. It’s part of a chapter that’s about digging deep into your surface-level desires to see what it is you truly wish for. Doyle also encourages women especially to claim what it is they want because we’ve historically been silenced or led to believe that we should put everyone else’s needs above our own. Here’s the phrase within the last section of this chapter:
“If women trusted and claimed their desires, the world as we know it would crumble. Perhaps that is precisely what needs to happen so we can rebuild truer, more beautiful lives, relationships, families, and nations in their place.
Maybe Eve was never meant to be our warning. Maybe she was meant to be our model.
Own your wanting.
Eat the apple.
Let it burn.“
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sam Brodsky
3) My Thoughts Are Passing Clouds
This phrase is from a Presently mindfulness bracelet (different from affirmation jewelry). Sisters Emily and Lindsay Stetzer started their brand with a base of eight different phrases inspired by therapy practices they learned over the years for OCD and anxiety. This tip — “my thoughts are passing clouds” — reminds you to be a spectator of your thoughts as opposed to getting sucked into them. It can be easy to succumb to the weight of worries and fall into a spiral of anxious thoughts. I experience this often. Read the full interview with the Stetzer sisters here.
Headspace cofounder and former monk Andy Puddicombe once described this useful concept. Similarly, when learning to meditate, it’s helpful to think of your thoughts as cars: you’re sitting on the side of the road and watching these cars; you’re letting them go by. This aids in accepting what comes along while meditating without getting too caught up. Outside of meditation, this way of interacting with thoughts seems beneficial for your mental health, as Emily and Lindsay came to find in therapy.
Image Source: Presently
Here’s to entering 2022 with more acceptance, direction, and intention. Here’s to treating yourself and others with kindness — and, with these affirmations in mind, doing well by both. Who’s with me?