Affirmations, or statements of intent, are excellent tools to influence the manifestation of events and the direction of one's life, and are especially usefull in generating altered states and nonphysical explorations.  The following article outlines perhaps the most effective system of affirmations that exists.

The Afformations Method
By Noah St. John

Traditional success teachers are big advocates of “affirmations” – repeating statements that you’d like to be true. For example, a classic “affirmation” is: “I am rich.”

Okay. Try it. Say “I am rich.”

What just happened? Did you hear a voice in your head that said: “Yeah, right!”?

The problem with “affirmations” is that they don’t work for most people. Why? Because you’re trying to convince yourself of something you don’t really believe.

Have you ever been persuaded to try “affirmations”… and then had… absolutely nothing happen?

Me too. And about a billion other people.

One morning in April 1997, I was taking a shower and thinking about how the human mind is always in the process of asking and seeking the answers to questions. For example, if I were to ask you “Why is the sky blue?”,your mind would start searching for the answer.

So I asked myself a logical question: “If the human mind is always asking and searching for the answers to questions, why are we told to repeat positive statements we don’t believe? Instead, why don’t we ask ourselves empowering questions – questions that will force us to change our thought patterns from negative to positive in order to answer them?”

Take a statement like “I am rich” – to which the brain replies “Yeah, right!” What’s the empowering question you should be asking instead?

That question might look something like this: “Why am I so rich?”

Try it. Ask yourself “Why am I so rich?”

Do you know what your brain is doing right now? Searching for a positive answer to that question!

The staggering realization I made that morning in April 1997 was that you create your reality in two ways: by the statements you say to yourself and others, and by the questions you ask yourself and others. Until then, no one had fully realized, or shown how to harness, the awesome power of what happens when you change your questions.

I named my discovery The Afformations Method.

The 4 Steps to Creating Afformations That Change Your Life
Step 1: Ask yourself what you want.

You can use a goal you’ve previously written down, or start from scratch. You decide.

Please note that traditional success teachers stop right here. They tell you to “set your goals” and then say “affirmations” in an attempt to convince your brain that you will have what you want… sometime, somehow, somewhere.

Let’s use Brandon from Utah as an example. He wanted to make more money doing something he loved. He was an insurance salesman who’d spent $30,000 on every “how to succeed” program out there, with no results. So for his goal, he wrote: “I want to be all I can be in life.”

Now, the breakthrough step…

Step 2: Form a QUESTION which assumes that what you want is already true.

Forming a question which assumes that what you want is already true is the key to creating Afformations that change your life.

Your life is a reflection of the subconscious assumptions you make. That’s why Step 2 of The Afformations Method is to change your communication with the world inside yourself. Afformations are the fastest, most effective way I’ve ever seen to immediately change your communication with the world inside of you AND the world outside of you.

So Brandon began afforming: “Why am I allowed to be, do, and have all that I want in life?”

Step 3: Give yourself to the question.

The point of Afformations is not to find “the answer” but to ask better questions. When you ask better questions, your mind automatically begins to focus on what you have as opposed to what you don’t have.

Once Brandon began to afform what he wanted, his mind automatically began to search for the answer. He started doing things a little differently and talking to people with new confidence.

Which brings us to Step 4 of The Afformations Method – the one you MUST do to get optimum results…

Step 4: Take new ACTIONS based on your new assumptions about life.

Even though Brandon had spent thousands of dollars on every “how to succeed” program out there, he subconsciously assumed they wouldn’t work for him. So they didn’t.

After reading my book, he realized that this was what was keeping him from what he wanted. So he began to take new action on the very programs that had not worked for him.

He began calling more people. He followed up with more confidence. By focusing on what he had instead of what he lacked, positive results naturally followed.

Once Brandon followed the four steps of The Afformations Method, his sales tripled in 30 days. In less than nine months, his income increased 560 percent and he was named Agent of the Year.

The point of Afformations is not to find “the answer,” but to change your questions. When you follow The Afformations Method, you will form empowering questions that immediately change your subconscious assumptions.

For example, Andrea had been trying to get pregnant for more than a year but had a huge mental block. She thought she didn’t deserve it, her body couldn’t do it, and so on. After her psychologist told her about Afformations, Andrea began asking herself “Why do I conceive so easily?” and “Why am I so fertile?” Within a month, she had a positive pregnancy test. Now she’s asking herself, “Why do I carry my babies full term?”, “Why am I free from morning sickness?”, and all kinds of questions that are making her feel great during her pregnancy.

Omar, a car salesman, was selling one or two cars a month and making less than $600 in commissions. Then he started afforming “Why am I so successful at selling cars?” – and in just two days, he sold four new cars, three used ones, and made more than $1,800.

Judy, a 55-year-old grandmother from Texas, wanted to lose weight but told herself she was too old. In November 2008, she joined my Platinum Weight Loss Club. I recommended that she start asking Afformations like “Why do I lose weight so easily?” and “Why do I love eating healthy foods?” During the holidays, while most of America was gaining weight, Judy lost 24 pounds. And by February 2009, she was down over 30 pounds and feeling fantastic.

Can you see how this process must, by definition, change your life? Using Afformations, you can take conscious control of your subconscious thoughts – change the questions, change your results, and change your life!

I think this author taps into part of the way the magic works, but I don't like his method for myself (using questions with the answer in it). 

The key elements of affirmations involves having the wish/statement settle deep down into your subconscious mind as a belief.  This is best accomplished by cultivating the feeling that the desired event has happened already.  Imagine yourself smiling, the joy, the reaction of your loved ones as you state the affirmation.  See it as already accomplished.  This is often best done during meditation or just as you are drifting off to sleep.

I'll give the question method some thought, but it doesn't feel right to me.  There should be no question involved.  Just a feeling of deep knowing belief and the joy of accomplishment.


Matthew

An interesting idea and thanks for posting it OOBD.  I like the turn, the feel, of the idea and will give it a test drive myself.  The only turn off about how it is presented is that it is a little hype-y, and geared evidently, to sell to salesmen, but that doesn't invalidate the idea itself.  That you suddenly turned a grand with a day has you charged, I'll bet!  Good for you! Congrats, by the way.

I've been involved in an extended study of Belief Systems lately, and this little item fits in with it nicely. Again, Thanks.

-Montana

I have always felt that affirmations were a waste of time for me. I'm so glad you posted this.