Why? Because I wanted more security and protection for my Gmail account.

I enabled 2-step verification, and it basically works like this:

To access an online service, you use

• something you know – like a password, and also
• something you have – like a mobile phone.

It’s quite easy to do:

First you use your username and password to login, and then you enter a code that you will get right away on your mobile phone.

So if your password gets cracked, it’s still useless for the hacker because he would also need your mobile phone to get access to your webmail or whatever online service you’re using.

Yes, it’s an additional step you have to add, but it’s much better to have a slight inconvenience than to have your webmail hacked.

If you’re using Gmail or other Google services, you can find more about it here:

How it works: 2-step verification

Here are some other services where you can enable 2-step verification:

• Dropbox – Another layer of security for your Dropbox account
• Facebook – Introducing Login Approvals

I recommend to also start using two-factor authentication for these services – it’s one of the best ways right now to get more security for your online life.

The original post is located here: How to Protect Your Webmail

Sometimes I’m in a dream world where I can really think.

Where I can think what I want. Where there are no rules, no one is there that says what I can or can’t do.

Sometimes I’m in a dream world where there are possibilities.

Endless possibilities that lead to fulfilment of your life.

Where there is a vast space that means freedom. The freedom to think new thoughts, good old ones, different ones.

Because I know that I can.

Sometimes I’m in a dream world where I feel a burning desire.

A burning desire to express my Divinity.

Deep within me there’s a fire that burns.

I believe everybody has this fire.

It is within us. It is the cry of our soul to do something meaningful, to change the world in small and even big ways.

II

And then I remind myself that this is not a dream world. It is possible. It is my real world.

But it is a dream world for the majority of people.

And I wanna say “come and see! It is there! Tap into it!”

And I wanna say “you can do it!

Then some people see it. And some aren’t ready yet. But that’s OK.

III

Sometimes I cry, and often I laugh. And I am happy.

Because life is good.

Life is so good.

The original post is located here: Dream World

I don’t know how long I’m going to be writing articles for this blog (hopefully very long!), but the possibility is rather high that I will change some of my opinions.

And that’s OK.

Because we all grow. And I’m growing, too. So don’t be surprised about such a thing. In fact, expect it.

The freedom to change

It’s about the freedom to change.

Do you still adhere to old beliefs that you once thought were appropriate, but hinder you now?

That’s not to say you shouldn’t have your set of core beliefs which stay relatively stable. But if you’re wrong, you can change your opinion. If you see things in a new way, it’s only natural to change.

Where do you know your belief or situation has changed, but you are afraid to let it go completely? It could be a habit. Or it could be a relationship.

Are you afraid to change, because your environment expects you to be a certain type of person?

Did you already change in the inside, but are you afraid of showing the real you?

Do you think you have to keep a facade up?

Change is natural

Your body changes all the time.

In fact, almost every part of your body changes constantly, you replace cells all the time.

There is one constant in our life, and it is change. It may sometimes not be obvious, but just look at some older pictures of yourself.

Compare those pictures from 10 or 20 years ago with a current picture. Yikes! Did you really have this terrible haircut back then? And the colour of those shoes! Apparently so. You liked those things back then.

Shape your world

“This is your world. Shape it, or someone else will.”
–Gary Lew

Embrace change. Shape it, so that it works to your advantage. If it’s possible, be the one that initiates the change, so that you decide what to change.

Life is change.

Opinions can change.

Beliefs can change.

So give yourself the freedom to change and do and say new things, even if they’re completely the opposite of your old self.

“What do I care about my chitchat from yesterday?”

–Konrad Adenauer

The original post is located here: The Freedom to Change

So, you find that you’re too happy and you finally want to do something about it? Peter comes to the rescue! Here are my 7 tips to be unhappy.

I know, it may sound like really hard work, but you can do it! Or maybe you’re already a master at those things. Come and find out if that’s the case!

1. It’s easy to be unhappy with the word “should”

“Should” yourself into all kinds of things.

One of the most important things to unhappiness is the word “should”. It is of utmost importance to use it all the time.

Here are some thoughts that your mind can play over and over – sentences that really work:

• I should do that because society says so. (I don’t really want it, and I don’t think it’s really useful to do it, but people might judge me if I don’t do it!)
• I should buy that because everybody bought it. (I don’t really need it – but everybody has it!)
• I should go to that event because my mom told me I should be there. (I don’t have time for that, and don’t even like the people. Sigh.)

You can get a lot of help with “should” from other people. I bet there is a person in your life that uses this word a lot.

Does that sound familiar to you? “You should do this instead of doing that!”

Thank the person for his/her advice, and ask him/her to continue with it. And maybe you’re really lucky and there are two people in your life who are giving the opposite advice! (He said I should do this, but she said I should do that!)

The bottom line is this: do not listen to your inner self. Try to only listen to advice coming from outside.

2. Admit that now is not the right time

“I’m such a loser! I should have started with the project yesterday!”

Now it’s too late to start new things.

Or tomorrow will be the right time to start new things.

There are 2 times to live in when you want to be unhappy.

Live in the past

Live in the past, because “everything was better in the past.” Just ask certain old men and women, they will tell you exactly this thing. And they are right, aren’t they? Except for some small details that may be better today. Like modern medicine. Higher life spans. Mobile phones. Or the Internet. But who needs these things anyway. Right?

Live in the future

But maybe living in the past isn’t your kind of thing. Fear not, you can live in the future! Yay! Just think about all those marvelous things that will be coming in the future!

But here’s the secret to living in the future: you must not do something to achieve those goals. Because if you would do steps to achieve them it may really happen that your goals suddenly manifest. And that would be really sad, because then you wouldn’t have something to dream about, right?

You can achieve the same effect when you always change your goals and dreams.

Maybe you can’t decide if you want to live in the past or in the future. So if you’re really adventurous, you could try to live in the past and in the future at the same time! Just be careful not to somehow find yourself in some sort of time machine setting.

But it doesn’t really matter what you choose, the most important thing to unhappiness is not to live in the now.

3. Worry. Worry a lot!

There is a lot to worry about.

It doesn’t make any sense to do it, mind you, but please continue to worry about all kinds of things. Because, you know, things could happen – hell could freeze over! – and that should be reason enough to worry, right?

There are a lot of topics you can worry about: your health, your future, your family – be creative! Just use a little of your imagination. Or turn on the TV and watch the news.

So I would suggest to really worry at least for an hour per day. 2 hours would be even better. All this worry energy will affect your chakra and your energy body, will fill you with lots of negative energy, and so it will be a lot easier to be unhappy. Thank god!

4. Don’t be responsible.

Do you think you’re responsible for your situation? Don’t think that. Here’s what you have to do to. Believe that everybody else but you is responsible for your situation. Think that “they” tricked you in that.

These are some helpful beliefs to unhappiness:

“The government is the only one that is responsible for my ill fate.”

“Other people are responsible for my life.”

Just don’t step into your own power and take responsibility for your life – that would just lead to happiness! OMG!

5. Consciously choose to be unhappy.

You have to really, really want to be unhappy! I would suggest to set the goal to become unhappy in the next month.

You can use affirmations to strengthen this goal.

Place yourself in front of your mirror.

Say “I choose to be unhappy NOW!” And please try not to laugh. Because this is serious business!

6. Try to be alone.

Greta Garbo was alone. And she liked it that way. Rumor has it that it gave a nice paleness to her face because she almost never left her home in the later part of her life.

(There’s a really funny sketch from Saturday Night Live, you can find it here: The Greta Garbo I Knew.)

A lot of that might be myth, but it’s still something to think about if you want to be unhappy. And remember: if you’ve got some flowers, then put every flower in a separate vase, so that every flower is… alone.

7. Do what you don’t like to do as your profession.

That’s the best tip that I have for you.

Get a job that you don’t like to do.

Do what what seems to be the safe choice. The safe choice might be booooooring and really unfulfilling, but it’s safe, right? And that’s all that matters.

Just think how unhappy you would be, getting up every morning to a new day of dreadful work.

Oh, you already have such a job? Congratulations!

Now it’s really important to stay on track and don’t think about alternatives!

Just don’t think about doing what you’re really good at and changing something.

Because if you would live your soul gifts, that would only lead to lots of happiness and freedom of expression. And that’s not something we need for your goal of becoming unhappy.

This last point alone is a key ingredient in being unhappy. So, by all means, please continue doing your boring job if you have one. And if you don’t already have one – what are you waiting for!?

* * *

You can tell that being unhappy is a lot of work. You have to use several things to really become unhappy!

Did you already try some of these tips? Did they work?

(Note: just in case it’s not obvious, this article is intended as satire.)

The original post is located here: 7 Tips for Being Unhappy

Flowers in front of the house.

Do you forget that you already live in heaven? Because you may live in heaven, but you forgot that you do.

You don’t use the possibilities you have! The potential that is there.

Looks Like Heaven?!

I’ve got a message from someone living in India who saw a picture of my hometown, and he remarked that it looks like I live in heaven. I thought: wow! That’s not what it feels to me. When I look around, everything is completely normal.

Peter is looking around…

There is a forest right in front of the house, like yesterday. Oh yes, that forest. Sometimes I forget about it. It’s actually nice having it, if I think of it. Maybe other people don’t have a forest (nearby) and would love to live near one?

We have lots of mountains, and now when I look at them, they almost look too kitschy, like the mountains Bob Ross paints.

Then I remembered something about two weeks ago:

It was the first time of this year, after winter, when I saw flowers again. I was so happy! There was a bee flying to the flower, it was beautiful.

We forget about beautiful things or we take them for granted. But such things are there, every day.

The mountains I see when I look out of my window.

Focus on Positive Things

It’s just a focus thing.

When you shift your mindset, you’re suddenly able to see those things over and over. It’s just a small shift, but this focus on positivity can help tremendously to brighten your day.

Remember Freedom

Recently I watched documentaries about the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

One of these films was a speech by Horst Teltschik, who played a major role in German reunification (as a foreign policy advisor).

He said young people all take all the freedoms for granted. There are no borders in Europe anymore, we have free trade, peace, etc.

On the one hand I find it very good that people take it for granted – because it’s the normal state, and thank god it is. On the other hand it is good to remember that we have those freedoms.

Find Your Heaven

Maybe you seem to live far away from nature.

Maybe you live in a town, and it’s dirty and loud. But maybe this town would be a heaven for someone from the rural area. You have lots of things you take for granted in this town, lots of possibilities. (And you can always have a garden or lots of plants in your own house.)

This may all sound really naive, but you know what? I don’t care. Because it works, because it brings results.

It’s a good method to be more happy, it’s something that worked for a lot of people, and nowadays it’s even scientifically proven.

Sometimes, be grateful for what you have.

Don’t forget to develop further, either. It’s not about sitting at home and tolerating your fate!

But also remember to be grateful for the small (or big) things in your life. Find your heaven, it is not far away.

The original post is located here: Do You Live in Heaven?

Recently I stumbled upon a thought that was and is really mind-boggling:

According to the Big Bang theory on the beginning of the universe, everything (matter, time – everything) was concentrated in one point. Like in a fingertip.

Then it began to expand from this singularity, and the expansion is still going on.

This means, at one point, everything was one.

Everything.

Every particle was one with all other particles. Time was also one, as time didn’t exist before the Big Bang.

The same atoms you are made of right now were one with every other thing in the universe.

That means we all have the same origin.

Can you feel that everything around yourself is connected? That you are connected?

We Are All Connected

We’re all still connected via the energy that flows through us and everything.

We are energy.

Everything is just energy, dense things are just really small particles vibrating with different speeds.

Expansion is a Natural State

Another thing that comes to my mind is the expansion of the universe. I think that growth is a natural state that we’re in.

Abundance is a natural state.

The freedom to grow and expand are natural laws for a human being.

Respect Nature

Because we’re all connected, it is also natural to have respect for every part of the world that we’re living in. It especially means having respect for the environment.

I think we can grow and be abundant and at the same time respect our environment.

Respect People

Being connected doesn’t necessarily mean to love everybody.

Everybody is on a different path. There are wonderful people on earth. And there are people who have the path of the perpetrator in this life time.

So I don’t mean you have to begin to love every person.

But you can respect them for who they are. For the part they play in this life.

We Share Dreams

You can see yourself in other people, because we’re made of the same stuff.

We also share the same dreams and hopes and fears.

You’re not so different to some of the people as you might think.

Connect

So, if you see a stranger today, maybe smile to him. Or even speak with him.

Can you feel that we’re in this together? I can.

The original post is located here: Why We Are All Connected

When you’re interested in spirituality or even in health in general, you may have heard that meditation is a very good thing to do.

Harvard lecturer Shawn Achor, author of “The Happiness Advantage”, writes that “meditation takes practice, but it’s one of the most powerful happiness interventions.”

He continues to say that “research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness, lower stress, even improve immune function.”

So even science begins to see how useful meditation can be.

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation can

• reduce stress
• improve focus
• lower blood pressure
• lead to a happier life

Meditation also helps with psychic development, because your mind becomes clearer and clearer, and so it’s much easier to get messages from spirit.

Then, why don’t more people meditate? Because meditation is hard! Or so they think.

OMG – it’s sooo hard!!

Don’t you have to sit in strange positions when you meditate? Maybe you’re imagining a monk, sitting on a mountain top in a position that looks complicated.

Or even funny. But complicated, nonetheless.

And you may think “now you tell me I should do that kind of stuff, too?”

Um, no.

But let me tell you a story: I also thought meditation was hard.

As a teenager there was a time when I was fascinated about having a clear mind. So I decided to start to meditate, and I wanted to meditate for hours!

Aim big, right?

The problem was, I didn’t really know how one would meditate, so I just sat there, still, and didn’t move my body.

After a while I experienced a lot of tension because I think I had a very uncomfortable posture! I had to stop.

I tried it again the next week or so, but I failed again. It was too hard! Or so I thought.

It would take years after that that I finally managed to try meditation again. But this time it worked.

This time I had the right instructions.

8 Minute Meditation

I don’t remember exactly how I found out about the book 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. by Victor N. Davich, but I’m glad I did.

I like books where you have a clear program, a step by step instruction what to do. This is such a book. And it’s written in a great style to keep you motivated to continue meditating.

The main premise is that it only takes 8 minutes every day to meditate – the space between two TV commercials.

It’s enough to do the 8 minutes to get some really nice benefits. At the end of the book there are some suggestions to “upgrade” your meditation practice, but it’s completely optional.

The 8 Minute Meditation program is designed as a baby-steps program, so it’s rather easy to do it.

I really recommend this book if you want to start a daily meditation practice.

A Simple Meditation Technique

There are many different techniques in the book, but the most simple form of meditation is this:

• Sit comfortably on a chair. Yes, it can be a chair in your house. No mountain top necessary!
• Relax yourself with a few deep breaths.
• Close your eyes.
• Watch your breath go in and out.
• If thoughts arise, bring your focus back to your breathing.
• Don’t worry about your thoughts.
• Do that for 8 minutes per day.
• And don’t forget to open your eyes again. Otherwise you could stumble upon things when you get up.

Sounds not too hard, isn’t it?

The only thing that may be hard is to do it consistently, but that’s with every new activity that you learn.

One way to overcome this is to add meditation to something that you already do each day.

You could do it right after getting up, or also just before going to bed. Or add it to any other daily activity or habit.

Do it

Do you want to have the benefits of meditation?

Then really start to do it! It’s just 8 minutes a day. What do you have to lose?

You can try it for a while and see if it’s something that you like.

Do you say “oh that’s a nice idea, I’ll do it some day” – but then you’ll never do it.

Or do you buy 8 Minute Meditation (or something similar) and start today?

The link to the book is not even an affiliate link. I just want you to be more happy, and I think meditation is a good way to achieve that.

Do you already meditate? Do you decide to start meditating?

The original post is located here: How I Learned To Meditate – 8 Minute Meditation

When you spend a lot of time behind the computer, you often forget to make small work breaks. At least I do.

It’s easy to forget your whole body while you do something interesting. Sometimes I’m so immersed in an activity that I only begin to notice my body when it’s already too late–my neck aches and I feel tension everywhere. Ugh.

The truth is that the human body is not made to sit in the same position for hours. We are made to move our bodies. We are made for walking through nature. Our human body just doesn’t adapt very quickly to our modern lifestyle, so a lot of things we do is rather unnatural for our body.

That’s why it’s useful to consistently make work breaks while you’re at the computer and get up and change your posture and position to reduce tension.

For me these work breaks are really important, because my body really needs some exercise or movement here and there to feel good. That’s at least what my physiotherapist said to me, but she’s right.

Your mileage may vary, and the amount of work breaks your body needs might be lower or higher.

Work Break Timer Software

So how do you remember to actually do those breaks?

Use a break timer software. This is a small program on your computer that gently reminds you to make work breaks.
The one that I currently use is Workrave. It is free software, you don’t have to pay for it. This program runs on Windows and Linux, and it also has a nice white sheep icon, so I think you’ll like it.

Workrave is actually designed to help you “in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).”  But you can also use it if you don’t have RSI, just as an advanced break timer.

To continue to quote from their homepage:

“The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.”

Rest Breaks

Rest breaks are your regular work breaks.

What I have found is that 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of break time work great. So you have chunks of 30 minutes.

There are different modes to count time. The normal mode is to only count the time when you’re actually doing something, like typing or moving the mouse. When you don’t do anything with your hands, the counter stops.

I use the second option, the “Reading Mode”, which acts like a normal timer.

Exercises for Rest Breaks

During the rest break your monitor will be blocked so that you really have to do something else.

Workrave has an exercise player to display during the rest break. I don’t use that. Instead, I have some cards with exercises next to my monitor.

So when there is a break, I just glance over the card on the top, and I know what I could do right now.

When I have finished the first card, I put it at the end of the pile.

I also use different colours. I have an orange card, this is always the first card that I use.

My exercises for work breaks

One part of my exercises is the Daily Energy Routine by Donna Eden. It’s a really good, easy program to have more energy.

The other part is more traditional exercises like massaging my neck and head and stretching like a cat!

You could also add to just get up and drink some water, if you tend to forget to drink enough. Just think of those things that would be healthy and relaxing for you.

I don’t have time to do all the exercises during one rest break, but as the day progresses I will do a lot or all of them, because it adds up.

I have tried to do all of these exercises in one go (about 30-45 minutes), but that didn’t work. Now I’ve found a way to integrate them seamlessly into my work flow, that’s why it works.

Micro Breaks

Micro breaks are very short breaks.

Recently I also started to use these micro breaks again. I did use them a while back with the standard configuration, but they began to annoy me, so I turned them off. They also annoyed me because I did not know what to do with them.

Now I use a micro break every 7 minutes, for just 5 seconds. It is enough to remind myself to breath deeply or stretch my body quickly, or wiggle my toes, and then to continue with my work. And I don’t get annoyed at it because it only lasts this short amount of time, and because I remember to do something.

After a few days of using the micro breaks I must say that these are almost more important than the rest breaks. You just get in the habit to listen more to your body this way, and this feels good.

Daily Limit

I don’t use this function, but I see its use if you want to limit the time that you spent in front of your computer.

It is important to experiment a bit with the configuration and test different settings. Everybody is different, so don’t assume the standard settings are good for you.

For example, I would suggest to turn off all the sounds.

Here really all the details matter.

You can also turn Workrave off temporarily, maybe on weekends or after work, etc. You have to experiment for yourself what you like and what is too much.

Maybe after a while you do everything automatically, and you could stop using a timer to do it. But in the beginning it’s a good way to install the habit of making regular work breaks.

Conclusion

For some people a break timer software would be the wrong thing to use, and they would get mad at such a thing, but for me it works great. Maybe those people automatically make work breaks and change their body posture.

You can find and download Workrave for free from their homepage.

Have you already tried a timer software? What do you do during your work breaks?

The original post is located here: How To Make Work Breaks to Feel Refreshed

When I started writing blog articles for this website, I was a bit in a hurry. I thought I was late, very late to the game. Everybody has already said everything, did something better than me. And especially already did it, whereas I still had all these things only in my head, but did not act on it. And now it seemed it was almost too late.

But was that really true?

Thankfully sometimes my Higher Self takes over in those moments, and I got those beautiful words into my mind:

Relax. You have all the time in the world. All the time in the universe.

It doesn’t matter if you think it’s already this year and you still didn’t start a blog or a business or whatever. (Unless you think the world ends soon, as some do. )

Relax. Every time is the right time to start something.

You will get there, eventually. That’s not to say you want to wait for eternity – and do nothing – but you will find there is something in you that you just have to express . Maybe you will start doing that soon, even today?

Do it your way. Go for your path. It’s a path nobody else can walk, just you. Yes, it’s that special!

If you can’t make it this lifetime, so what? You will have hundreds of lifetimes to find out how to live.

Every day can be a fresh start. Every day can be a new opportunity. Every day brings a new learning experience.

Even if you think you’re old, and even if you would have just one day to live: you have time! You have beautiful 24 hours!

You can give meaning to the smallest amount of time that you might have, that’s why you have all the time in the world.

You just have to choose. Yes, you’re that powerful!

We have all the time in the world.
– Louis Armstrong

The original post is located here: You Have All the Time in the World

What is an affirmation?

An affirmation is the declaration that something is true – for you. So it’s completely subjective.

When we talk about affirmations, it’s usually in the context of positive thinking. You can also use negative affirmations, but that would be rather stupid.

And affirmations are usually a conscious statement that we repeat, we are aware of the statement and do it on purpose.

Now here’s the thing: every thought that you think is also a mini affirmation.

When you have the habit of telling yourself “Oh! I’m so dumb!!” then that’s also an affirmation.

It’s not that you have to repeat these things after making a mistake. That’s not a given thing, because you can choose. As I said, it’s completely subjective, and you can change the meaning of a situation. You could, for example, also say: “I’m learning from my mistakes.”

If you have the habit of negative self talk, don’t worry. It’s a habit, and you can always change habits. (A good method to easily change habits are baby steps.)

Why is it useful to use affirmations?

Affirmations are a good tool to change your belief system.

Why is your belief system important? Because your reality is shaped by your beliefs. Beliefs are filters for your reality. And if you have lots of limiting beliefs – like “I can’t do this” – you will experience limitations in your reality.

A friend of mine started to use affirmations. He did it every day, for a year, and he told me:

“Every day at night I would repeat to myself things like ‘I love myself’, ‘I really like me’, ‘I’m awesome in many different ways’. After a while you just start believing it, and living it.”

When you start the habit of using positive affirmations regularly, then you will also start to notice when you talk yourself down. It will just feel wrong. And after a while the negative self talk will just fade away.

I’ve used some affirmations for myself, but I’ve decided to use them much more.

That’s also the reason I’m writing this article – to remind and educate myself how affirmations work. (That’s the secret – I write all these articles for myself. But don’t tell anyone! Shh… )

I’ve discovered affirmations when I was a teenager and read the book “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Joseph Murphy. I’ve used them on and off for several years. The important thing–as with a lot of things–is to use them regularly.

Examples of affirmations

My teacher Coletta Long told me one particular powerful affirmation. It goes like this:

“Every day in every way I’m feeling better and better.”

It’s by Émile Coué, a French pharmacist and psychologist. He used it with his patients and found that it worked really well.

Some other examples of affirmations:

 “I am willing to attract all that I desire, beginning here and now.”

and

“As I unclutter my life, I free myself to answer the callings of my soul.”

Both affirmations are by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

How to make powerful affirmations

Always make the statement in the present tense, and always word affirmations in a positive way.

For example:

Don’t say “I don’t feel bad anymore.”

Say “I feel good” or “I feel better and better” if the possibility of feeling good right now is too far away for you.

How do you make affirmations more powerful?

Repetition makes it stronger – when you regularly use the same positive affirmations every day, it will have a cumulative effect. The more you repeat them, the better.

(It just should not get on your nerves, though–that would be a wrong interval. Just imagine yourself saying “I’m calm! I’m really calm!” while what you really think is “I soon will explode doing these stupid affirmations! Only 150 repetitions to go! Yikes!” )

When you add strong feelings to an affirmation, it also gets stronger.

When your feelings and the words don’t match, the feelings will win. So be aware and use affirmations that you can believe in. You don’t have to believe in them right now, but there must be the possibility that they might become true.

One way to achieve this is to put an action element into the statement, like “I now decide to focus on good things”.

Another example: “As I work to achieve my goals, I feel better and better.”

A practical way to use affirmations

This is how I use them.

Get a deck of cards – index cards/file cards 3″x5″. You can clip them together with a binder clip. Now write your affirmations on those cards.

Using a deck of cards has some advantages: you can always change the order of your affirmations for variety, and you can carry the cards with you, so if you have to wait for something, you can quickly look at your affirmations, one by one.

Use nice colours. I like yellow and orange, you might like red or violet. Maybe use similar colours for similar affirmations. Just play a bit with it.

Write only one affirmation per card. This way it’s easier to focus your mind on it.

The act of writing the affirmation in longhand makes them more powerful. And more personal, too.

Use different modalities to make it easier for your unconscious mind to accept the suggestion:

• Read the affirmations in silence.
• Read them out loud.
• Write them down again.

A particular good time for using affirmations is right before going to bed, and after getting up.

The reason for that is the following: when you’re still a bit drowsy, your subconscious mind is more open to receive suggestions. You can get a similar effect when you’re in a meditative state, so you can use affirmations after or during meditation.

“I am in the process of positive change.”

–Louise L. Hay

Affirmations can work really well. They’re not a panacea, but used well they are a good tool for changing your beliefs.

Do you use affirmations? Do they work for you?

The original post is located here: Do You Use the Power of Affirmations?