How to Be Creative

Using Affirmations to Shift Your Mindset and Achieve Goals

• Kat O'Leary • Season 2 • Episode 4

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On this episode, I walk through my daily affirmation writing process and how it helps me a) orient my mindset for the day and b) envision and work toward big-picture goals.

Resources mentioned on this episode:

Speaker 1:

Hi, this is Kat O'Leary and you are listening to another episode of How to Be Creative. So today I'm going to talk about my process of writing affirmations. Um, so this is one of the things that I do every day , um, as part of , uh, ideally my morning routine. Sometimes it doesn't happen until, or certain aspects of it don't happen until a little bit later in the day. Um, but I guess the, the ideal version is really , um, for me to do these things , um, kind of before I really start getting ready for work and , um, thinking about the rest of my day. So, affirmations for me are really just a piece of mindset work. Um, essentially the value that I get out of them is kind of , um, and especially if I do them first thing in the morning, trying to kind of prime my brain attitude mindset for the day , um, from like, through a positive lens so that , um, I'm coming at it from that direction. And regardless of what the day throws at me, I've at least sort of , um, you know, done what I can to ground myself upfront . So I thought I would go about this by actually just going through writing my affirmations for the day while I record and kind of talking about how I've selected each one. So a little bit on , um, I guess how I've structured my affirmations, and I do write the same ones every day . Um, in the past I've had them kind of evolve to where, you know, let maybe , um, one of them, it feels like something that has really just become second nature to me. Maybe it's not something that I need to actively think about or write in my journal every day that might fall off the list. Or maybe there is , um, you know, something that I'm struggling with or an area of growth that I've ident identified for myself. Um, and I might, you know, identify , um, an affirmation that goes along with that. Recently, the way that I've been sort of structuring my list of affirmations is that I start with , um, kind of mindset focused a affirmations. So things that are really about kind of how I wanna feel now as I go through my days , um, and , um, you know, maybe kind of reminders to self. Um , and then from there I'll do a set of vision affirmations. And these are more things that I want for myself in the future, but don't have yet. Um , but I write them in present tense , um, as a means of sort of, you know , kind of trying to trick my brain into believing that I, not necessarily believing that I already have them, but more believing that I'm the type of person who will eventually have them. Um, and then I finish on another mindset affirmation that kind of recenters me in where I am now, and , um, helps me to move through my day from the present. So the first affirmation that I write every day is I act like I already have my perfect life. So I like this one because it's a reminder to , um, you know, kind of value what I have now and approach my day to day from that mindset, even if there are gaps between where I am right now and where I would ideally like to be. The second affirmation is I am fearlessly and unapologetically myself, and this is just a reminder for me to embody one of my values, which is originality. Um, I think, you know , sometimes in life there can be , um, pressure or even temptation to conform or shut down those parts of you that are different , um, whereas I find that , um, my life feels the best and most authentic to me when I am actually, you know , fully stepping into who I am, especially when it doesn't necessarily , um, line up with the ways that other people are thinking or going about things. And on a similar note, next we have, in stepping out of my comfort zone, I step into my potential. Um, so this one is , um, you know, kind of along the lines of being fearlessly and unapologetically myself , um, in that it is , um, something that requires a degree of intentionality , um, in a way that is kind of somewhat hard and often involves going against the grain. Um, so for this , um, it , this one really just serves as a reminder to me , um, that I don't want to live a life that is always comfortable. Um, and that a lot of the best things , um, that have happened in my life have really happened once I've kind of crossed over into an area where I feel a little bit less comfortable , um, or, you know, like I , I'm being stretched a bit in terms of my skills. And then the other thing about this one , um, that's pretty meaningful to me is that , uh, so I think, you know, the last few months or last year maybe, I've really been kind of having these sort of big picture internal conversations with myself about what I want from the rest of my life and how do I set myself up now? Like, what are the things I can control that I can do now , um, to ensure that I get those things. And , um, one of

Speaker 2:

The results that has come out of that kind of internal dialogue, I always say, 'cause I'm a Gemini , um, has been that I've identified that , um, my, like, the meaning behind my life or, or my primary goal in life, or what feels like the reason why I'm here is really to fulfill my own potential. And so this affirmation serves as a reminder on a daily basis that , um, you know, in order to , uh, fulfill my own potential step into my potential, I really need to be comfortable , um, doing uncomfortable things before I move on to the next affirmation. I just wanted to talk a little bit about where I have sourced many of these from. So , um, there may be one or two that, you know, I kind of created out of whole cloth. Um, but for the most part I've used , um, a few different resources. Um, so one is , um, just kind of an internet search for random affirmation lists. Um, sometimes I will look for, you know , um, affirmations for , uh, mindset shifts or for growth or whatever it is. Um, but there are also just kind of like a hundred best affirmations, that kind of thing. So Google is your friend here. I suspect TikTok is also a good place to look. I don't think that I've done anything , um, myself over there, but tends to be a pretty solid search option for me overall. Um, another key place, and I wish I could recall specifically which ones came out of this, but , um, last year beginning, I think on dec on , um, January 1st, 2023, I did this like 40 day email course called the Mantra Project that's offered by Holly Whitaker and Tammy Salas. And , um, both are of whom are really great , um, just really smart women , uh, very creative, very cool. And basically they just emailed one affirmation per day , um, with some original art by Tammy to accompany it. And the way that I used those throughout the course was that I would , um, add each day's affirm affirmation to the list of affirmations that I was already writing each day, and then , um, kind of drop things off that didn't really resonate with me, but there were some that I kept on the list that really did or kinda felt , um, appropriate to where I was at that point. Um , so I would say a few of them are from that course, and I honestly, as I said, can't remember which ones , um, but recommend looking into it. I think it, it may be gone forever by now. Um, but if you look , um, on Holly's substack, which I think is just , um, under her name, Holly Whitaker , uh, should be, you should be able to find it. Um, if it is still available, that's probably the quickest place to, to locate it. Um, and then another thing that wasn't really a resource for sourcing affirmations as much as a resource for kind of optimize , optimize is the wrong word, but , um, refining my affirmation practice to get more out of it was a course that I've mentioned on at least one prior episode from Jamie Rin , um, that was called the Magical Thinking Exercise or something like that. Um, I'll drop it into the show notes. Um, but that was really helpful for me in kind of , um, adding some affirmations in that were less about my mindset today and more about my longer term vision for my life. So with that said, the next affirmation on my list is by shining my own light, I give others permission to do the same. So I like this one because it is a reminder to me that , um, it's not just about me. And so if I am feeling like , um, you know, I'm being too self-promotional, or , um, that the , the work that I'm putting out in the world isn't meaningful or , um, it , you know, that even putting any creative work out in the world is somehow self-centered or self-serving , um, this is just a reminder that by doing things like this publicly , um, or, you know, doing really anything creatively , um, publicly, you are showing other people what is possible. Um, so if you're the type of person who maybe struggles with sharing things that you're working on , um, this could be a helpful reminder to you. Um, I definitely find that , um, you know, for me, it just kind of reminds me that like, it , it kind of almost lets me , um, get out of my own ego drama and focus on the value that I could potentially be providing to other people, whether it's by demonstrating consistency , um, simply demonstrating the ability to share one's work publicly, or even just making someone feel less alone through the specific content of whatever it is that I'm sharing. And next, we have my challenges are my greatest teachers. So I think this is a really valuable one for me, especially. So at this point in my affirmation writing each morning, I tend to start getting a little angsty about whatever it is that I have on my calendar for the day. And this always serves as a very timely reminder that regardless of what it is that I'm up against in that , um, you know, on that particular day , uh, there's probably going to be a valuable lesson coming out of it. Um, and this sort of helps me reorient my thinking around the day ahead so that it's less dread around, you know, specific things that I don't wanna do. Maybe it's a meeting, maybe it's , um, a difficult conversation with someone personally , um, that I, I have been putting off. Um, whatever it is, writing this affirmation always gets me out of that headspace and into one of valuing an opportunity for growth. And then the final mindset affirmation in this group is I am capable of manifesting my dreams. So that's just a reminder to myself that what I want in life, I can get it, it is possible. Um, and from there , um, you know, it just kind of puts me in a head space where I , um, you know, am am more optimistic. Okay. So from there, I move into what I call vision affirmations. And I'm not gonna go through all of the specific ones that I write , um, partly just for my own privacy. Um, but for these, and this again is , um, the , uh, process that I got from Jamie Barron's magical thinking ritual. Um, but basically I started by making a list of , um, you know, a few things that I want in my life that I don't have yet. And then I assigned an affirmation that I wrote , um, for each of them . Um, so for example, if you , um, you know, you wanna travel more, you wanna be like very well traveled, you could write like, I travel internationally every quarter or something like that. So the key is to write them as though already presently true. So for me, for example, I will give one , um, real example. Um, one of mine is I go to Paris every year, so I love Paris. Um, I went already this year. Um, I didn't make it there last year. I did go for about 10 days in 2022 for my birthday. Um, but I just feel very at home in Paris and would like to make going to Paris. Um, part of, you know, things I do every single year. So , um, for me, I'm kind of lucky in that I live in New York, so it's a relatively easy and not crazily expensive flight. Um, the good things, the good thing about European cities like Paris is that there are a lot of inexpensive , um, boutique hotels. And so that is sort of an achievable thing for me. Um, I'd say it's like one of the things that are on the list of vision affirmations that , um, it just feels like one of the easiest to achieve , um, from where I am right now. Um, whereas there are some others that , um, maybe are a little bit, you know, more of long-term goals for me. Um, so, you know, for example, if like you want to be a published author, you might write, I am a published author, or , um, if you want to be an entrepreneur, you could write, I am an entrepreneur, and I'd probably get a little bit more specific , um, you know, with things that are relevant to , um, the types of work that you wanna do. So if you want to start a tech company, I would write, you know, I'm a successful tech entrepreneur. Or if you want to write a book about your experience as an au pair in the uk , um, you could write an affirmation based on that. So it's really , um, very personal in terms of what makes sense for you. Like, what is your vision for your life, and , um, and then how do you translate that vision into a list of present tense affirmations that you can write every day until you have achieved those things. And then once I'm done with the vision affirmations, I close out with one final mindset affirmation, and that is I meet every day with high vibration energy. The purpose of this affirmation and the purpose of closing with it specifically is to reground myself in the present after writing out those vision based affirmations. Um, and also to remind myself , um, because kind of similar to , um, you know, what I mentioned earlier with my challenges are my greatest teachers. I, you know, by the time I'm wrapping up my affirmative writing for the day, it is just about time for me to get in the shower , um, get ready for my commute to work , um, and to sort of shift my brain into sort of my day to day and starting to , you know, I find myself kind of starting to stress about , um, you know, certain aspects of that day or week. Um, and so this affirmation I use as a tool for , um, reminding myself that one thing I can control, even though there may be many things throughout the day or week that I cannot control, is that , um, I can control my energy. And it's pretty much always true that if I step into my day with the best possible energy, I will have a better day regardless of, you know, the specific external circumstances that I might have to deal with. So that is how I go about my affirmation writing. Again, I do these every day . Um, I have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 that I now write every day. Um, it still only takes me about, probably only five minutes or so to write all of these. Um, and , um, I do find that it, it does help put me in a better mindset to take on whatever the day has in store for me. So please feel free to reach out with any questions. Um, I am at Cat at how to be creative.org, or , um, if you wanna find me on Instagram , um, my personal Instagram is at Kat O'Leary, K-A-T-O-L-E-A-R-Y. Um, and then there's also How to Be Creative Instagram at How to be creative org .