Do Positive Affirmations Really Work?

I recently read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and loved the book. In it he advocates using positive affirmations to adopt positive behaviors that lead to life changes. While some would say any affirmation needs to start with “I am…” I include as “affirmations” any memorable phrase, quote, or statement that promotes behavior leading to a positive result. Therefore when I say “I’m a healthy vegan athlete and I’m ripped like Rich Roll,” that is an affirmation, but so is reminding myself a few times each day that, as bestselling author Ryan Holiday says, “ego is the enemy.”

I use affirmations to help me in my role as an influencer. When I gave my first TEDx talk I used affirmations like:

I love public speaking.
I love speaking in front of large groups.
I love speaking when it’s being recorded and will go up permanently on YouTube for all the world to see.
I especially love doing all the above when I’ve only had two hours of sleep because I was up until 3 am finishing my slides for my talk and then getting in some last minute practice, even though this is exactly what I swore two months before that I absolutely would not do.
While affirmations can be helpful, they don’t always work. Here are 6 reasons positive affirmations fail, and what you can do instead to make sure they work for you to help you achieve your goals as an influencer. Your affirmations are failing because: