Self Help Advice Works,You Just Need To Find The Right Trigger!

July 26th, 2009 | Books I Read

I read a recent article in the Times that quoted a Canadian study on positive thinking.

The essence of the experiment was that participants in the study were prompted at regular intervals to recite positive things about themselves. Participants actually ended up feeling worse. In the same experiment those who were commended for doing something positive such as donating money etc felt worse after being praised.

I am sure the above study was based on scientific principles. But 100 years ago the cutting edge science also approved making holes in skulls to relieve headaches.

Now I am a pretty average person myself and granted that even after many years of self help books my life has still remained pretty average. However something inside me clicked when I listened to Zig Ziglar’s program ‘Developing The Qualities of Success’.

I had never listened to a Zig Ziglar program before partly because I knew him as the father of the affirmation mantra and Anthony Robbins always disses affirmations. In fact he compares affirmations to the act of ignoring the weeds in your garden and saying I have no weeds, I have no weeds.

No wonder I was turned off by Zig Ziglar.

But then I listened to his program and tried out his affirmation ritual during my daily commutes.

And then something started happening inside me.

I became more confident, more action oriented … more of everything I affirmed.

And it has only been a week.

This is not just wishy washy subjective feel good crap either.

I started seeing positive benefits that were concrete.

On the very second day of my affirmation ritual I was in a business meeting with my clients. Against my normal submissive style I got very involved in the meeting and made several pro active suggestions that were well received. A few days later I received a commendation and another project from them.

As I write this article it is getting dark outside. Sunday is winding up. I was at the beach the whole of Saturday. Yet today, in just one day I accomplished more than the entire two days of last weekend when I happened to be home throughout the weekend.

I believe the reason why affirmations work for me is that I invest some emotion into it. I don’t normally do this and no wonder self help normally not used to work for me in the past.

So my trigger is emotional affirmations that go to my heart instead of a rational cold brain.

To think I almost missed out on Zig completely because of what I believed Anthony Robbins said about affirmations.

Heed your own counsel…try out everything…put your heart in it.

And then something might click inside you too.

It did for me.