Being confident in yourself is a struggle, I know. Recently, I have been seeing an influx of advice saying I should use positive affirmations. Sure, that sounds easy, but I could not take myself seriously. Standing in the mirror and saying “I am strong” and “I am beautiful” isn’t making me feel better about myself, it’s making me laugh!
In spite of this, I definitely see the benefit of using positive self-talk. I mean, I’m sure we have all heard the story of saying negative things to one plant and positive things to another (spoiler alert: the negative plant dies). There is actual science behind these affirmations too! Studies have shown that these positive affirmations activate parts of the brain that work with rewards and help build core competence.
I wanted to find a better way to do this positive self-talk that I will actually take seriously and remember to do. By doing some digging on the App Store, I found my holy grail: I Am. The app allows you to personalize the type of affirmations you want to receive (loving your body, being thankful, happiness, personal growth, etc.) and how frequently you want to receive them. You can also choose how the app looks on widgets and your home screen! Once you select your preferences, you choose how many notifications, if any, you want to receive throughout the day. In addition to seeing them as a widget on your home screen, you can get up to 30 notifications per day with the reminders!
I’ve been using this app for over a month now and I absolutely love it. Getting little reminders throughout the day definitely brings my mood up and has switched how I think about certain situations. Instead of thinking: “Wow this situation stinks,” I am thinking: “Wow, this situation is going to help me grow.” There has also been a huge shift in how I think about myself. I have found myself being more grateful and mindful of my body. Growing up, I was always thinking negatively about myself and I believe this app has helped me break that cycle by reminding me that I am enough and that I deserve the good things that life has to offer me.
The I Am app also enables you to ‘favorite’ affirmations and add them to your own collection so you can look back on them. If you were to peek into my collection, you would see affirmations like “I am thankful to the Universe for putting wonderful people in my life,” or “I have enough, I do enough, I am enough.”
Getting these reminders has given me an extreme mindset shift and I have started thinking positively instead of negatively which is a huge accomplishment for me. I have encouraged my friends to download this app and we share the reminders we get throughout the day! The I Am app has truly helped me change how I think about myself and how I handle tough situations. I know it might seem cheesy, but I promise that it’s worth it!
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