I will not pull Cathy's braids. I will not talk in class. I will not throw paper airplanes. My elementary education involved a lot of forced affirmations. Stuck inside at recess, writing out fifty or a hundred times on a black board a negative affirmation as penance for my latest classroom sin.
I was reminded of my earlier experience with affirmations while reading Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' autobiography How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big. He believes in the power of affirmations and provides examples from his life where affirmations brought positive change. If you are not familiar with the concept of affirmations, it basically is a process of daily repeated writing, speaking or contemplating a phrase with the format, I, your name here, will your desired outcome.
While I wouldn't attribute magical powers to affirmations, I suspect they may increase your confidence around a desired outcome. The daily repetition could plant a seed in your subconscious mind that strengthens your discipline and commitment to do what you need to do in order to realize an outcome. You may also become more aware of opportunities and make better decisions that lead you there.
As an experiment, I'm trying a few affirmations and will report back or at least make mention of it during my Grammy award acceptance speech. What are your experiences or thoughts of affirmations?