AFFIRMATIONS vs. DECLARATIONS. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE AND WHY IT MATTERS

Chances are if you’ve ever read a self help book you know about the value of affirmations. Say them each day and you can have, be or do whatever you want.

So, we start saying things like:

“My bank account is growing bigger”

“I am going to meet my life partner”

“My business will be a huge success”.

We say these words and a little voice creeps in and whispers in our ear, “when?” What we aren’t realizing is that by saying affirmations we are keeping what we want in the future by continually repeating, “I am going to….” etc.

So we then try saying our affirmations in the present tense. “My business is growing everyday”. Better, but there is still something missing.

Ownership.

And that is where declarations come into play. My curiosity led me to find the distinction between affirmations and declarations. To affirm means to “state positively, confirm”. To declare is to “make known officially, formally, to make evident”

Now on first glance, they may seem to be interchangeable. If I am saying “My business is going to be a huge success”, I am stating this positively and aren’t I also making it official?

Well, not really.

The difference here, and the reason why many people get frustrated when they don’t see results with affirmations is a very subtle, yet powerful one. When you affirm, you are stating something in the positive, many times in the future, (which will always remain in the future) but when you declare, you are owning it NOW. You are coming from a place of being as opposed to trying to get somewhere. Let’s take a closer look at the difference and how they apply to conscious alignment.

Affirmations are statements, which are trying to get you from one place to another. In the physical world that is actually what you are trying to achieve. However, in the non-physical world, which is the underlying current of all that we are creating, you are experiencing resistance to the present. This acts as an obstacle in the path of getting/experiencing what you want. If you state your affirmations as a process, “I am getting richer everyday” this softens it a bit as it is much easier for many people to view it as a process then to just state that they “are”. This is still, however the process of getting from one place to another and you haven’t yet fully embodied that thing that you desire. We can look at this more closely by seeing the energetic difference in declarations.

When you declare something you are stating to the Universe (and also yourself ) that you already are this thing/person that you want. I Am That. When you come from a place of being you embody all the qualities and characteristics of it now from a vibrational standpoint and thus become aligned with it. This all happens before it is actually in your physical reality. You state your declarations in the present tense in the form of I AM statements. I am wealth. I am love. I am beauty. I am success. Can you feel the difference from “I am getting wealthy?” Seems so subtle in the wording and yet a huge energetic distinction.

When you declare something you are making a statement from a place of being , you are already there. You can imagine and feel what it would be like to be this person who has what you want. How would I act and feel if I was now a person who was wealthy or was a successful business owner or a great partner? When you can become this person (you’ve heard of acting as if?) now, you will start to see evidence of it in your life in a short period of time, with consistent practice.

Be-think-speak-act-receive

First you become the person already having what it is you want. When you can feel what that is like, it will start affecting your thoughts throughout the day. Your thoughts carry energy that attract to you what you think about most. Then, as you think the thoughts of a person already having this, your speech will in turn align with your thoughts. This takes a little practice and a lot of self- awareness at first, but soon it becomes second nature. You will start paying more attention to your self-talk as well as the casual conversations you have with friends, colleagues and even strangers. When someone asks “how are you”…you will now think twice before answering as you now understand the true power behind the words, I AM….

As your thoughts and speech begin to shift, so will your actions. You will be inspired to take those actions that will move you to seeing the results you want.

Actions are really just the vehicle in which you can receive.

You desire to be really rich, but your past shows you all evidence to the contrary. So, you start to “be” a person who is rich. You imagine what you would do with the money, how it would feel to have all your debts paid off, you would start planning where you’d like to take vacations, etc. Then you start thinking thoughts throughout the day noticing how rich you already are. You have a car, a lovely place to live, food always when you are hungry and so forth. You then start saying to yourself or others things like “I choose not to purchase this now” as opposed to “I can’t afford it”.

A few weeks later you decide to attend a family gathering that you were invited to. Family gatherings were never your thing, but this time you feel an urge to go. You find out that you are about to inherit $100,000 from a relative who has recently passed. Since you have already been in alignment with being “rich” you are allowing a this into your experience. See how it all comes together?

Here’s how you can make declarations work for you:

1) Start making a list of I AM statements for all the things you desire for yourself. It can be a way of being, the type of person you’d like to be, experiences or physical things you’d like to manifest.

2) Repeat your I AM statements each day (consistency is very important) and throughout the day as you remember. I have found it to be extremely helpful to just say to myself “I am peace” when I find myself in a somewhat potentially stressful situation. You can instantly feel the energetic shift as you remind yourself you get to decide how you will react to or experience your life.

3) Spend some time each day imagining or visualizing already being that person. The more rich details you can add to this, the more powerful the vibration you are sending out to the Universe that you already embody it and therefore own it.

Try playing with declaring statements of who you already are and watch as your life transforms.