Affirmations: The Complete Guide to Positive Affirmations, How to Write Them and What the Research Says

Affirmations are short, positive statements you repeat or write to yourself, such as “I like myself” or “I can handle this”. Psychologists also use the term “self-affirmation” for a different, well-researched exercise: reflecting on or writing about the values that matter most to you.

Personal development technique · Themes: self-talk, self-esteem, confidence, mindset

Last updated: 13 November 2026

Written by Saj Ali

Reading time: about 10 minutes

How we wrote this guide: this guide was written by Saj Ali. It draws on how Brian Tracy taught affirmations in _Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life_ (2003) and _The Psychology of Achievement_, and on published research on positive self-statements and self-affirmation. Every research claim links to its source.

Affirmations in brief

• What they are. Short, positive statements about yourself, said or written regularly.
• Tracy’s rule. The “three Ps”: personal, positive and present tense.
• What research says. Repeating statements you don’t believe can backfire; writing about your values has stronger evidence.
• How to make them work. Keep them believable, specific and tied to action.
• Pairs well with. Visualisation and goal setting.

Contents

1. What Are Affirmations?
2. How Brian Tracy Taught Affirmations
3. What the Research Says
4. How to Write Affirmations That Work
5. How to Do a Values Affirmation
6. Common Mistakes
7. Frequently Asked Questions
8. Key Takeaways
9. Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
10. Sources

What Are Affirmations?

An affirmation is a statement you deliberately say or write to yourself to reinforce a belief or intention. “I like myself.” “I am calm under pressure.” “I can learn this.” The idea is that the words you repeat to yourself shape how you think, feel and act.

The practice has a long history in self-help. The French pharmacist Émile Coué, who died in 1926, built a popular method of self-improvement on optimistic autosuggestion (Wikipedia); our Émile Coué page tells his story. Later writers, including Brian Tracy, Louise Hay and many others, made affirmations a central tool.

In psychology, there are two quite different things called “affirmations”:

Both are covered in this guide, because the second is what most of the strong research is about.

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How Brian Tracy Taught Affirmations

Tracy taught affirmations throughout his career, from his 1984 programme The Psychology of Achievement to his later books.

The three Ps

In Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life he wrote that “a positive affirmation is phrased using the ‘three Ps.’ This means that for maximum effectiveness, an affirmation should be personal, positive, and stated in the present tense” (Tracy, 2003). His examples: “I like myself” is personal; “I’m the best” is personal and positive; “I love my work” is personal, positive and in the present tense.

His favourite affirmations

“My favorite affirmation is, ‘I like myself!’ repeated over and over again in a spirit of complete confidence” (blank” rel=”noopener”>Tracy, 2003). In _The Psychology of Achievement he also recommended “I am responsible”, which he called, after “I like myself”, “the most powerful positive affirmation”, along with “I feel terrific” and “I am decisive” (Tracy, 1984).

How he used them

• Before stressful events. Repeat “I like myself” when “feeling tense or uneasy about an upcoming event” (Tracy, 2003).
• As goals. Write your goals as affirmations on index cards and “review these cards twice a day, morning and evening” (Tracy, 2003).
• Every morning. Rewrite your goals in the present tense, then pause to visualise each one (Tracy, 2003). See our golden hour guide.

Tracy explained the method in terms of the subconscious mind, which he said “accepts only positive commands that are phrased in the personal, present tense” (Tracy, 2003). That is his model rather than a research finding, but it shaped how a generation of self-help readers used affirmations. Read more about his ideas on the self-concept in our self-concept guide and Brian Tracy article.

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What the Research Says

Positive self-statements: power for some, peril for others

In 2009 Joanne Wood, Elaine Perunovic and John Lee tested the kind of affirmation most people use. A survey confirmed that people often use positive self-statements and believe they work. But in two experiments, people with low self-esteem who repeated “I’m a lovable person” felt worse than those who didn’t. People with high self-esteem felt better, but only to a limited degree. The researchers concluded that repeating positive self-statements “may benefit certain people, but backfire for the very people who ‘need’ them the most” (Wood, Perunovic & Lee, 2009).

The likely reason is that a statement that contradicts what you believe about yourself highlights the gap. If you don’t feel lovable, saying you are can remind you of all the evidence that you aren’t.

Self-affirmation: writing about your values

Self-affirmation research, reviewed by Geoffrey Cohen and David Sherman, uses a different exercise: people write about core personal values, such as family, creativity or kindness. These interventions bring about “a more expansive view of the self and its resources”, which makes threats feel less overwhelming. Timely affirmations “have been shown to improve education, health, and relationship outcomes, with benefits that sometimes persist for months and years” (Cohen & Sherman, 2014).

• In education, a brief in-class values-writing exercise improved the grades of African American students and reduced the racial achievement gap in two randomised field experiments (Cohen et al., 2006).
• In health, a meta-analysis of 144 experimental tests found small but reliable positive effects of self-affirmation on accepting health messages, intending to change, and actually changing behaviour (Epton et al., 2015).
• In the brain, an fMRI study found that people who completed a values affirmation showed more activity in brain systems linked to self-related processing and reward when reflecting on future-oriented values, and that this activity predicted later changes in sedentary behaviour (Cascio et al., 2016).

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How to Write Affirmations That Work

Putting Tracy’s advice together with the research gives a practical set of rules.

1. Make it believable. If a statement feels false, soften it. “I am confident” might become “I am becoming more confident every week” or “I can handle this meeting”.
2. Keep it personal and positive. Tracy’s three Ps still help: “I”, a positive framing (“I stay calm” rather than “I don’t panic”), and present or progressive tense.
3. Make it specific. “I prepare well for every client meeting” is easier to act on than “I am successful”.
4. Link it to action. Pair each affirmation with one behaviour that makes it more true: “I am a writer” + “I write 300 words before breakfast”.
5. Use questions when statements feel wrong. “How can I handle this calmly?” invites your mind to look for answers instead of evidence against you.
6. Try a values affirmation before stressful events. Spend 10 minutes writing about a value that matters to you and why. This is the version with the strongest research (Cohen & Sherman, 2014).
7. Review them daily. Tracy suggested index cards read morning and evening (Tracy, 2003).

Examples

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How to Do a Values Affirmation

This is the exercise most self-affirmation studies use, adapted for everyday life (Cohen & Sherman, 2014).

1. Look at a list of values, for example: family, friendship, creativity, faith, health, learning, kindness, independence, humour, nature, honesty.
2. Choose the one or two that matter most to you.
3. Write for 10 to 15 minutes about why they matter and a time when you acted on them.
4. Do it before a stressful event, such as an exam, a difficult conversation or a health appointment, or when you feel under threat.
5. Repeat occasionally, not mechanically. The aim is to remind yourself of what you care about, not to recite words.

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Common Mistakes

• Repeating statements you don’t believe. This is the version most likely to backfire. Make it believable first.
• Using affirmations instead of action. Words without behaviour change rarely last. Pair each affirmation with a step.
• Negative phrasing. “I am not a failure” keeps the word “failure” in your mind. Say what you want instead.
• Too many at once. Choose three to five and use them consistently.
• Expecting magic. Affirmations can support confidence and focus. They don’t replace skills, preparation or support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do positive affirmations work?

It depends on the kind. Repeating positive statements about yourself helped people with high self-esteem a little but made people with low self-esteem feel worse in one well-known study. Writing about your core values, known as self-affirmation, has stronger evidence for benefits in education, health and relationships.

What are the “three Ps” of affirmations?

Brian Tracy taught that affirmations should be personal, positive and in the present tense, for example “I love my work”.

What was Brian Tracy’s favourite affirmation?

“I like myself!”, repeated with confidence. He also recommended “I am responsible” and “I feel terrific”.

How do I write an affirmation I believe?

Make it realistic and specific, use progressive language such as “I am becoming…”, and pair it with an action that makes it more true. If a statement feels false, turn it into a question such as “How can I handle this calmly?”

What is a values affirmation?

It is an exercise in which you write for a few minutes about a value that matters to you, such as family or creativity, and why. It is the form of affirmation most studied in psychology.

How often should I use affirmations?

Brian Tracy suggested reviewing them on cards twice a day, morning and evening. For values affirmations, using them before stressful events seems to be most useful.

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Key Takeaways

• Affirmations are short, positive statements you repeat or write to yourself.
• Brian Tracy’s three Ps: personal, positive, present tense.
• Repeating statements you don’t believe can backfire, especially with low self-esteem.
• Writing about your core values has the strongest research support.
• Keep affirmations believable and specific, and tie each one to an action.

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Explore More on Self Help Supermarket

Use these pages alongside this one:

• Self-Concept – how the way you see yourself shapes what you do
• Visualisation – the mental picture that goes with the words
• Goal Setting: The Complete Guide – turn affirmations into goals with deadlines
• Morning Routine: The Golden Hour – where Tracy used affirmations each day
• Émile Coué – the pioneer of autosuggestion
• Louise Hay – one of the best-known teachers of affirmations
• Self-Esteem – more ways to build a healthy self-image
• Self-Compassion – a kinder alternative when affirmations feel false
• Browse all self-help techniques – compare every method on Self Help Supermarket.

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Sources

1. Tracy, B. Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement. Wiley, 2003. Internet Archive record. https://archive.org/details/changeyourthinki0000trac
2. Tracy, B. The Psychology of Achievement. Nightingale-Conant, 1984. Course workbook accompanying the audio programme.
3. Self Help Supermarket. “Brian Tracy (1944–2026): His Life, Philosophy, Techniques and Legacy”. https://www.selfhelpsupermarket.com/brian-tracy-tribute/
4. Wikipedia. “Émile Coué”, accessed 13 November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Cou%C3%A9
5. Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements: Power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science, 20(7), 860–866. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02370.x
6. Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 333–371. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137
7. Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., & Master, A. (2006). Reducing the racial achievement gap: A social-psychological intervention. Science, 313(5791), 1307–1310. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128317
8. Epton, T., Harris, P. R., Kane, R., van Koningsbruggen, G. M., & Sheeran, P. (2015). The impact of self-affirmation on health-behavior change: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 34(3), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000116
9. Cascio, C. N., O’Donnell, M. B., Tinney, F. J., Lieberman, M. D., et al. (2016). Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(4), 621–629. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv136