Contrary to popular belief, a self affirmation will work to motivate you, but there’s a catch: it is only effective if you have high self-esteem.
According to a 2009 study, present-tense positive affirmations had a positive effect on people with high self-esteem but a negative effect on people with low self-esteem.
The researchers found that people with already low levels of self-esteem who made present-tense (“I am…”) positive affirmations actually ended up feeling worse than people who made positive statements but were also allowed to consider ways in which the statements might be inaccurate.
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