Why Affirmations Don’t Work? And How to Make Sure They Do?

Hi, I’m an expert in manifesting my way out of any situation I don’t like, into any that I do. I used to manifest without knowing it, when I was kid, and then grew up and started manifesting being completely aware of the power I had—over my own mind, over the universe, same thing.

But I can understand what people mean when they say they don’t believe in manifestations because theirs never come true. (Talk about digging your own grave). That’s why I’m here with a post to help you understand why affirmations don’t work and then also tell you how to make sure that they do work.

Most of us seem really excited the first time we hear of something called positive affirmations. And manifesting one’s wildest dreams to reality, it doesn’t sound anything less than magic. Especially when people on the internet are always talking about how effortless manifesting is for them.

We are convinced it’d have work for us too—the universe.

We will surely wake up a millionaire tomorrow morning.

That’s the exact reason why it sucks when a week later we’re typing on Google — “Why do my affirmations not work? Why the hell do my positive affirmations not work? I believed in them, I was happy, I didn’t doubt myself, I persisted! So why is it not materializing yet?”

This raises some complications, the more our affirmations don’t reflect into reality, the more are we discouraged and disappointed. Positivity quickly turns into negativity — “I’m not at one with the society, it might work for everyone, but it surely doesn’t work for me.”

Now, that belief in itself is self-sabotage, and I’m here to help you resolve it, and release your inner critic, and make sure your next affirmations do indeed work.

Let’s start with why.

Why Do We Self-Sabotage? (Or: Are We Stupid?)

Of course, no one wants to self-sabotage. No one wants to become their own biggest enemy. The question still persists because despite not really wanting to do it, we’re self-sabotaging all the time, without even knowing it. Worth asking now: why do we self-sabotage?

But How does this Self-Sabotage even Happen?

One way of self-sabotaging might be to become so removed from your own affirmations that even while we’re going through the words and the motions, affirming and persisting, in our minds we don’t truly believe it.

I am positive, you might repeat all day, but have you truly internalized it yet? Are you really happy? Do you really think you are satisfied? That desire you had wanted to see fulfilled, are you really grateful and fulfilled, or are you focused more on the next thing you want?

Louise Hay’s bestselling book, You Can Heal Your Life is a must-read for anyone who’s struggling to overcome other people’s and situations’ hold on themselves and want to take back the reins of their own life, the chapter Resistance to Change forms the basis of thinking about this idea—why don’t affirmations work? Why is it that we might spend a lot of time and mental energy on materializing a manifestation into reality, but in the end it does not end up happening, in fact? The other stuff focused on in this post is to learn how to make affirmations work by understanding why do we self-sabotage and how it directly impacts rhe outcomes we face in life.

The reason why self-sabotaging happens is because there’s something within us that still believes we don’t deserve the good things to happen—not yet. Something in us that believes we haven’t worked hard enough, not yet, something that wants to wait longer—or rather, make us wait longer, something that doesn’t grant us the right yet.

I have been focusing on positive affirmations, and trying to manifest since a long time, but it was only recently that I realized that I was holding myself back and preventing my affirmations from materializing by believing that for me to get the good reward, I had to work and toil and bleed a little bit more. Just a little, because I somehow hadn’t earned it yet (whatever earning it is supposed to encompass). The moment one lets go of this belief, this “self-righteous” belief, is the moment they have their breakthrough, it’s the moment everything suddenly fits and clicks.

You’ve worked hard enough. You are ready, you deserve it.

Just saying this won’t work. Internalize it already!

Another—very common—way self-sabotaging happens is because of the desire of ours to stay in our comfort zone. Of course, having a big name in the industry would give greater exposure. People would see you and you’d be vulnerable and open to both to both appreciation and criticism. It’s better to stay hidden and safe. Of course you’re bound to think that, and you wouldn’t be wrong in it, everyone feels afraid while doing something new and daunting.

But—needless to say, that’s not how one’s supposed to spend their time on earth. You have to change your dreams, risk it all, love your family and friends and of course, be happy. Somewhere along the way you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone. Better do it now and get it over with.

That’s one more way of self-sabotaging that is out of your way. That being said—to why do we self-sabotage? Because something in us needs the old patterns, the old beliefs, the bad habits, the unhelpful traits in ourselves. Something in us needs the comforting space and redundant way of living.

Louise Hay says, “For every habit we have, for every experience we go through over and over, for every pattern we repeat, there is a NEED WITHIN US for it.”

Why Affirmations Don’t Work

Self-sabotaging in itself leads to our affirmations not working their magic.

Let’s get one thing straight—the reason why affirmations don’t work for someone has less to do with a person’s willpower and discipline and more to do with the inherent beliefs ingrained in some deep, unreachable corners of their minds that make it harder to believe in something truly positive.

As I said, if our affirmations are not working, there’s something in us—maybe a childhood belief, maybe something someone told us so repeatedly and so convincingly that the only way was to trust it—that tells us that we don’t deserve it, that we are unworthy.

Affirmations don’t work because we haven’t released these inner belief systems yet; it means we’ve got work to do. The inner beliefs that we foster are different for everyone, because they are directly created by our own circumstances, situations, behaviors and the people around us.

You are deserving of everything you want to affirm. There’s no reason for affirmations to not work except what limiting beliefs you’ve told yourself, even convinced yourself of. As it is said, if you desire it, then that desire was planted within you for a reason. You can want it, you can definitely have it.

What’s your Inner Belief?

What’s that inner belief that holds you back from your dream life? That you shouldn’t desire more because that’d be selfish? That you shouldn’t desire more because you’re unworthy of it? That you shouldn’t desire more if someone tells you not to? That you shouldn’t desire more, period?

Do You Believe In Your Affirmations?

Another reason why affirmations don’t work is because we inherently don’t believe in them, even though we might repeat it in a monotonous voice all day long. I don’t believe in repetition of affirmations all the time, because I’ve got many of my desires come true without having to repeat them, and have also not got many desires even though I spent a lot of time writing them down and thinking of them all day.

It always come down to how strongly you can believe it in your mind. Can you really trust in it with your whole heart? If not, the affirmations might not work. You have to go all in in believing it. You can’t be skeptical, you can’t be doubtful. You don’t test the universe by manifesting. The universe tests you — how strong is your drive? how strong is your trust?

You Worry All the Time

Why affirmations don’t work might also be because you believe, persist, but don’t let go. If you can believe in your affirmations, great. If you can persist in it even after a long time, that’s amazing. But what about the last step?

Why affirmations don’t work for a still larger number of people is that they can’t ultimately let go of the actual desire. Their minds still remain stuck on the how. But how will I get there? How will it happen? How? How? How?

Always questioning it is the equivalent of not trusting in the process of the universe. When you can’t completely let go of the how, you’re ultimately weakening your own position, reinforcing the idea that it might not actually happen, that there’s no guarantee. And that’s where you go wrong because you have to believe exactly when you have no proof. You have to persist even when no one believes you, even when everyone thinks you’re bluffing, or that you’re just living in fairyland.

The question comes up, why do you have to believe in them for your affirmations to work? Because the game changer is you. Your belief matters. That’s what the universe is looking for: your trust, in yourself, and the universe itself. It’s very simple. You can give yourself anything. You can also take anything away from yourself.

How to Make Affirmations Work?

To learn how to make affirmations work is, primarily, to work hard to let go of your old belief systems that are limiting you big-time. Change your thinking. Do a complete mental make-over; you don’t need those old beliefs anymore.

Meditate, meditate, meditate. Meditation is less physical and more mental. Doesn’t matter the time, place, position, mudra, you can chant om or you can not; it’s more about silencing the world and the chaotic voice of your own mind. Just sitting quietly and still, focusing on your breathing, taking air into your stomach (not your chest), holding it, and releasing it is what matters. I recently saw this YouTube video of guided meditation, with the Vishnu Chakra, and I think performing it is bound to help you like it helped me.

Release your inner skeptical critic (in the next section, we’ll talk of how to stop being self-critical).

See the world through the eyes of your inner child. That means — be curious, be wide-eyed, chase butterflies; remember how when you were a kid you just naturally believed that you’ll receive whatever you wanted through some way or the other? Through your parents, through your grandparents, through Santa?

You didn’t doubt it, didn’t overthink. That’s what you might need right now. The universe is almost like Santa.

Embody your affirmations. Become that person in your life, act like them. This is not to disconnect from reality. This is to make ordinary reality magical enough that you don’t need to escape from it.

How to Stop Being Self-Critical?

Self-criticism is another form of self-sabotaging. How do you stop being self-critical?

Have a soft spot for yourself. Why don’t you have one? Why are you always self-deprecating? Is it your way of protecting yourself? But it is doing you more harm than good, don’t you see? You might tend to hold excessively high standards for yourself, indulging in self-judgement — harshly — and punishing and condemning yourself for even the littlest things.

See The Psychology of Self-Criticism.

The question arises; how to stop being self-critical? How to silence one’s inner critic to make space for growth?

Don’t Berate Yourself

Don’t criticize your self-criticism. It just adds to your guilt, and the load on your shoulders to always be uptight is at fault. Criticism is necessary for growth. But criticism that only leads to negativity and finding faults and believing that the glass is always half empty is not that way. So, key takeaway: don’t immediately self-criticize and then don’t immediately berate yourself for that self-criticism either.

You Are a Person, Not Just a Trait

Dissociate yourself and your identity from the behavior of yourself that bothers you. You are not your bad habits. You are not even your good habits, contrarily. You are a whole, living, breathing, miraculous person.

Your self-criticism is just a part of you that needs to be regulated.

Self-Criticism + Self-Appreciation

Combine your self-criticism with self-appreciation. As I said, eliminating criticism is not the goal. The goal is to learn how to stop being extremely negative and harsh in your criticism.

If for every bad thing you found in yourself, you also found two good things, or decided to add one positive trait for every negative trait, imagine how healthy and positive even your self-criticism would look like. You’ll be motivated to do better, convert all negative aspects of your personality to positive ones.

The Universe Rewards Gratitude

Gratitude is key, I’m not kidding. Be thankful for everything good you have and soon enough, even the situations you don’t like would start showing their positive aspects. All clouds do have a silver lining, but you also gotta appreciate the rain to see it.

Stop Finding Faults

Stop trying to fix yourself. You’re not broken.

In fact, you’re pretty self-aware, more than many people are, if you are even here reading an article about learning how to stop being self-critical.

It’s a slow process, but is rewarding, learn how to be okay with yourself to accept yourself however you are, to not judge yourself by the standards of any dream life yet.

The Power of Yet

You haven’t won yet. You haven’t accomplished it yet. That is the inherent power of yet, it’s temporary and you can do anything to change it. When you realise that there is still scope for improvement (and accomplishment), your inner critic is ultimately silenced.

Look in the mirror, that’s your biggest competition, they say. But look again, that shouldn’t be your biggest enemy. Don’t hate yourself. Don’t hate yourself for hating yourself. You don’t know what the rest of your life might look like, but it can be pretty amazing if you make it.

Identifying your Inner Child

We’d wrap up and move on to the FAQ section after this part. This part is about realizing that the child within us never grows up. She’s still there, always there, asking for love, for acceptance, for validation.

A major way how to stop being self-critical and learning why do we self-sabotage—so you can ultimately end that habit too—is to think of our inner selves as a child. Would you berate a child harshly for something out of their hands? No normal person would! Would you criticize a kid? You definitely should not.

Then why do we think of ourselves as anything but a child, a little love-seeking child? You have to identify your inner child and love her.

The moment you give that child space to grow, you’ll realize that she/he is equipped with everything needed to achieve her/his highest potential. Everyone has an inner child. Let their light shine.

FAQs

How long do manifestations take to work?

There’s literally no limit to how long (or how less) it’d take for manifestations to reflect into reality. It depends on how rooted you are in those affirmations. It can literally happen within hours, days, or months, though the grandness of your affirmations should be backed up by the grandness of your beliefs and trust. So, to not lose hope, consider keeping your affirmations and manifestations not small but realistic.

Why 21 days for affirmations?

Science doesn’t exactly say it takes 21 days for a habit to form, so you don’t really have to expect 21 days for the affirmations to show. It can happen much sooner (or much later) than that. Read the first answer again if you still have questions. There are a lot of articles about this particular topic, but let’s read the one written by the bestselling author James Clear: How Long Does it Take to Form a Habit? Backed by Science.

How to activate affirmations?

Affirmations are active right from the moment you first speak them. The question is, are you willing to believe me? (Hint: that’s a trick question).

How do I know my affirmations are working?

Do you even need to know? Isn’t it enough already that you speak them? Babe, your affirmations are already working their magic right from the moment you first desire something. Stop doubting your own power. You don’t need to know your affirmations work. You don’t need proof. That’s like asking the earth for proof that it rotates. It doesn’t care about the proof for something that’s a fact.

What is the strongest affirmations?

I believe. I create. My heart attracts what it desires. I believe. I create. What I want is already in existence, a version of me even has it. For me to have it now, I just need to step into that version of myself. It’s that easy.

What top 3 affirmations are you going to start using?

1. I have already created everything I desire. Creation is done. It is finished!
2. I naturally attract health, wealth and good relationships.
3. I’m closer to my goals that I might think.

How to do positive self-talk?

We already do a lot of self-talk all throughout the day, too bad most of it is to put ourselves down, talk bad about ourselves, criticize ourselves and be our own enemies. Positive self-talk isn’t hard (or cringey), though we, as self-sabotage-rs might believe it is. The key is to just replace all negative soul-crushing ideas and words with positive soul-loving ideas. Give it a try! It’s fun!

Which affirmations are true?

Every affirmation you say or might believe in is true. That’s why it’s far easier to attract negativity in our lives than it is to attract the positive. Pay attention to what you say and think.

How can I make my affirmations more powerful?

Your affirmations have already got all the power they need. You just need to trust now. You ready?

Hope this post answered some questions about why affirmations don’t work and how to make sure yours do. Anything you manifested? Any question that you’ve wondered about but didn’t make it here? Ask away!

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