He notes that many of us are advised to repeat affirmations ad nauseum as a means of changing our thinking.  He also notes that affirmations alone have not been spectacularly successful for a lot of people, himself included.

Noah believes that affirmations appeal primarily to the conscious mind.  But the root of our belief system, especially the beliefs we hold about ourselves, lies in the unconscious mind.

Now, the unconscious mind is very responsive to questions.  Ask it a question and it zeroes in like a bulldog to find the answer.  Ask it the right questions and it can come up with creative ideas and new perspectives to answer those questions and in the process, drive us towards achieving our goals.

Most of us have negative questions we ask ourselves on a regular basis.  Examples are: “Why am I such a failure?”  “Why can’t I get that promotion?” “Why am I still fat / unhappy / lazy / poor / fill-in-your-own-miserable-adjective?”

Dr. St. John recommends converting those negative, disempowering questions into positive, empowering questions by turning them around.  “Why am I so successful?” “Why did I get that promotion?” “Why am I so svelte / happy / productive /wealthy / fill-in-your-own-attractive-adjective?”

He calls these kinds of questions “afformations®,” because they help form powerful and positive belief systems that can propel us to successful positive change.

Do I have doubts about this?  Sure.  But do I think it’s worth a try?  Yes.  Let me know if you’d like to join me in an “afformation®” experiment.  I’ll share my results. Will you share yours?

You can download the first three chapters of The Great Little Book of Afformations® for free, but be prepared to be greeted by a quick starting video.

This morning I received an e-mail from someone telling me how much my journals and writing had inspired them. It came from out of the blue and boy, did it get my motivational juices flowing!

I was in the middle of charging around with my iPod (following my own advice per my last blog), packing up today’s journal shipment and generally multi-tasking to the beat, when I received a short, simple, but truly fantastic note of appreciation from a complete stranger.

Talk about getting inspired… I was ignited! I stretched my planned 30 minutes of dance-around-the-house-and-do-chores into 60 minutes of pretty intense, up-and-down-the-stairs-shake-it-baby cardio. The combination of music, movement and that appreciative message made me feel so good I almost went through the roof.

And it got me thinking. I pass along motivational tips through my journals, my blog and online articles — and boom – a dose of motivation comes roaring back to me in a really intense and positive way. It certainly supports the concept of “what goes around comes around.”

This is a cycle I want to support. I want my seeds of positive encouragement to grow in someone else’s yard, but I certainly have no problem if some of the fruit falls back into mine. We just never know how sincere positive messages can affect someone else.

So today, I am going to make a conscious effort to openly acknowledge and appreciate the people in my life who make a difference. I plan to start with my children.

But I won’t stop there. I’ll write a note of thanks to the lovely lady I met over the week-end who gave me a free Tarot card reading and shared some great tips and ideas with me (thanks, Sue!).

And I’ll go one more step and try to spread positive energy with other people I meet… a smile in the grocery store line, a wave at a neighbor I don’t really know, patience if another driver needs to get there ahead of me.

I plan to keep on investing in the cycle of positive energy and motivation through sending out regular messages of kindness and appreciation. I hope you’ll decide to join me.