Coaching Corner: Say it again
By "Coach" Marilou Butcher Roth
For years, the idea of using affirmations has been spoken of -- it's actually showing up in mainstream discussions and trainings. The advice we hear is to create an affirming statement about what we what to experience. Remember Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live and his comedic mantra of “I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me ..”? It was entertaining to watch him, and perhaps it shed a negative light on using affirmations. Let’s explore this a bit further.
We have been told, for example, to create affirmations around the dollar amount of money you would like to earn, or the number of deals you aspire to do. Whatever the desire, a positive statement can be developed to assist us in moving closer to your goals. Easy enough, don’t you think? Indeed it is, with a bit of a caveat.
Here is the reality of using affirmations in their most productive way. It’s not about the words!!!!! It's about the feeling the words give you. This is where most affirmation practices go awry. A positive statement without the feeling, is only words.
Years ago, when I first became familiar with the art of affirmations, I spent a copious amount of time formulating what I deemed to be the best grouping of phrases that I felt would bring me unparalleled success. When I was complete, I began to repeat them over and over during my daily walks. Now don’t laugh as I tell you during the first month of this practice, I sold two houses over $1 million each, which was certainly a new adventure in my career! Bam!!
This is not something I do on a regular basis, however, due to the consistent practice of these carefully crafted statements, I can still bring them to mind...and they still feel so good to me!
If you feel drawn to play with the idea of using affirmations, choose your words wisely. Create the statement(s) that bring about a feeling of excitement or joy within you when you say or write them. Once you have that part done -- repeat...repeat...repeat!
Marilou Butcher Roth
Marilou Butcher Roth is the owner of The MBR Group, a coaching and training company working primarily with REALTORS who have a desire to work and live from a more inspired place. She is also the Broker/Owner of Group REALTORS in Cincinnati.
Marilou is a member of the Ohio REALTORS Board of Directors and past chairman of the organization’s Communications Committee.
