Over on the Raving Loon's blog last night, Martin did an interesting post about the power (or otherwise) of mantras to raise one's self esteem.
Basically some research had come up with the opinion that such statements can do more harm than good in some individuals. And this set me thinking - why do they work for some and not for others?
Magically speaking, in order for any thought to take form, certain things need to be in place. One of them is a lack of outside distractions. Another is confidence that you can actually do it.
This latter point is very important. I call it the 'Toothpaste Factor.' When I go to clean what remain of my teeth in the morning, I am confidence that I can do it, that my toothbrush will not snap, that there is enough toothpaste and basically that I am up to the job of brushing my own gnashers. In other words, I don't give it a second thought. I say to myself 'Time to clean the old teeth' and I go and do it.
It's the same with repeating mantras. If you can say to yourself 'Today I am going to be slimmer/more interesting/sexy/ or whatever' without any doubt in your mind that this is possible then the chances are that you will succeed.
Alas. For the people who are most need of such mantras, not only will they not succeed, they will actually make things much worse. Because while their mouths and voices are reciting the magic words, their minds are instead running riot.... why am I saying this? Why should today be any different? It's just my luck.... and it is this self doubt that causes the real problems, not the mantra itself.
No mantra or statement of self affirmation has any chance of success if it is working in a mire of negative clutter. You really have to spring clean your head first, and that is always easier said than done.
I'm curious to know if anyone here has had problems with self affirmation statements - or indeed if anyone here has had success with them. And would anyone be interested if I posted some suggestions for preparatory work that might help?
Oh, and if you want to visit Martin's blog (he's actually a Featured Blog on the BCUK page today), here's a link to the relevant post:
http://sevenminutestomidnight.blog.co.uk/2009/07/04/self-esteem-6447095/
