Affirmation is a statement said with self-confidence about an observed truth. According to English American Dictionary, “affirm” means to state that something is true. An affirmation is a statement of truth that one aspires to apply into his/ her life.
Affirmation can work effectively, because it has the full ability to program ones’ mind to believe the stated perception. This happens because the mind doesn’t know if the thought is real or just a fantasy. When watching a movie, and we start laughing or crying, our mind actually commiserates with the characters on screen even though it is just the movie magic. For a great resource on personal development download our eBook 1626. 
There are positive affirmations and negative affirmations. Most of us have been told as a child by either our teachers, parents, or tutor that we do not have the ability to do something, these unpleasant statements could stay with us either in the conscious or the unconscious mind, which we later buttress throughout our way of life.
How can Affirmation be used as a Tool of Goal Setting?
Listed below are steps to take in order to make our affirmations more effective and powerful when setting goals.
Step 1
Make a list of what you always think of as your negative abilities including any form of criticisms of you that others have made in which you have been holding onto. Do not judge if they are accurate but remember that every human has flaws and this is one of the beauties of being a human. You can Tag the list you have made as “I’m not worthy”, doing this will be a stage to start making a great shift in your life. Make sure you are holding onto this list in your mind wherever you are.
Step 2
Now write out your affirmations on the positive aspect of your self-judgment. You may try using a thesaurus to help you search for more powerful words to spice up your statements. After you are done writing your affirmation, ask a family member or a close friend to read the affirmations in order to see if they have any other suggestions to make them stronger.
Step 3
Read and recite the affirmation for three times a day for about five minutes. The most perfect time to do this is when you are shaving or putting on your makeup, so that you will be able to look at yourself in the mirror while you recite the positive statement. Another way is to rewrite the affirmation in a notebook several times and notice if your style of writing changes as you write, this could be a clue as to the way your mind perceives this new concept.
Step 4
As you are reprogramming your mind towards this new concept, you heart will be reconfigured to move from the concept of the affirmation into a real, positive personification of the quality you are pursuing. Try taking steps gradually in making your affirmation effective. As long as your mind and body keeps believing what you affirm, it will be very easy to execute in reality.