Business Affirmations and How to Use Them

You might have heard of positive affirmations and how they can change your life, but not know what they are. Alternatively, you might know what they are but you don’t know how to use them for your business or which to choose. You might even know all of that but think that affirmations are a load of rubbish - which is fair enough. 

In this article, we’ll tackle all of this - starting with what affirmations are and how to choose relevant business affirmations for you. We’ll move on to how to use your business affirmations effectively so they last longer and make a difference and share with you some business affirmations to try out.

What is an Affirmation?

The idea of affirmations is simple - by telling yourself or “affirming” key principles, you will live them up to you. By repeating positive thoughts, people improve their mental health. When you tell yourself you can overcome a challenge or succeed in a task, you get yourself into the same mindset. The same applies to business - by reminding yourself of key facts (or statements you need to believe in as facts), these affirmations can reflect in your performance.

Affirmations are not a new idea - for centuries, before sports games, war and other situations people have been giving pep-talks. A football team that walks out onto the pitch nervous, thinking they’re going to lose, has decided their own fate. But when the manager hypes them up into a winning mindset and they walk out fuelled up and excited to “bring it home”, they’re far more likely to win.

The difference is now, you don’t need to pay thousands of euros for a motivational speaker to inspire your team for one hour. Each individual can use business affirmations to be more successful, on their own, in under a minute, every day. But first, you need to choose the right business affirmation.

How to choose a business affirmation:

Firstly, it needs to inspire you.

What’s the point in an affirmation that you’ve already achieved? Or that you don’t care about? Affirmations are to help you achieve goals and meet objectives. Pick a goal you can work towards. Something that will make a difference to your business and life. Something that actually bothers you.

Secondly, it needs to be qualitative, not quantitative.

There’s no point saying, “today I will close 5 telesales deals.” Rather, identify something qualitative, such as “I am a confident person over the phone”. Your mini-pep-talk is there to change your behaviour - which in turn can affect your results. There’s no point pretending that affirmations are the magic answer to hitting your quarterly targets. 

Thirdly, the goal needs to be achievable and have a clear path

“I am flexible and easy to get along with” - the goal here is that your coworkers will enjoy working with you, you’ll have fewer conflicts and in turn, you’ll all enjoy work more. No matter how many times you repeat to yourself “I’m going to have fun at work and everyone will like me,” it’s not going make a difference because it’s not within your control - and therefore unachievable. What’s more, if you keep affirming something but it never comes true (because it’s out of your control) you’ll lose even more faith and motivation in it.

So now we’ve established what’s important in choosing a positive business affirmation, let’s take a look at some good ones. Remember though, you need to choose one that suits you!

“I deal with challenges logically and with a cool head.”

“I am a clear communicator; I know the message I want to get across and deliver it in the right way for my listeners.” 

“I don’t need to accept every client.”

There are some clients out there who cost us a lot of time, cause us stress and problems which they’re frankly not worth - but we accept them nonetheless, out of the perfectly rational worry that we need the money. It takes incredible determination not to accept clients who haggle, who waste time and who cause problems for you and your business, but once you do, you’ll notice the difference.

“Every Euro / Pound / Dollar I invest is a win three-times-over.”

If as a small-business owner you have trouble spending money, you might be limiting yourself. Reaffirm to yourself that your spending is a valuable investment.

“I can focus and complete tasks without distraction.”

This one is for the procrastinators out there. It’s achievable and controllable, though sometimes you might need to take extra steps, such as using headphones or leaving your mobile elsewhere. 

“I make a difference every day.”

“I am an expert in what I do and I am confident in my decisions.”

“I deliver a quality and reliable product/service.”

Inspire you? Yup - this is a slightly different way of saying, “I’m good at what I do” and is a logical predecessor to success. There’s no doubt that it’s qualitative and it’s also achievable - you should be reminded of it when you’re choosing suppliers, setting standards and testing yourself.

The key is the dedication! Create your own affirmations, say them daily and let us know how it goes. 

If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in The Best Productivity Podcasts; The Workplace Revolution and employee happiness and How to Make the Most of Networking. 

Don't forget to check out OneCoWork's upcoming events - including a workshop on increasing business with existing clients and our Headshot Day - perfect for updating your linkedin, Company Website and CV.

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