Have you ever started doing something new or different in your life and quickly noticed such positive outcomes that you end up wondering how on earth you lived without that new habit? I can look back on a few. Keeping a gratitude journal…oh man, I wish I would have started much sooner! Consistently making the bed every morning…major game changer! Bringing affirmations into my life through the written and spoken word…can we say miracle?

Affirmations can be defined in several ways. Simply put, they are statements or assertions. They can help us as we battle negative thoughts and habits, they can motivate us to take action, they can calm us as we go through trials. 

Recently I remembered the scripture found in Mosiah 4 as King Benjamin is speaking to the people. In verse 30 he says: “But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.”

I have to believe that in addition to warning us to be careful of impure thoughts, or negative or uncharitable thoughts about other people, King Benjamin is warning us to beware of thoughts about ourselves. Thoughts that make us forget who we really are. Thoughts that make us doubt ourselves and keep us from fulfilling our divine missions.

This is where affirmations can become so powerful. They can ground us and encourage us by helping us remember our divinity and the unique roles we have been assigned here on earth. Because each member of our SALT Team understands the significance of affirmations, we wanted to give you a few ideas that might help you with your own!

• Ask people you love and trust to share the strengths they see in you.
• Write affirmations based on your favorite scripture verses.
• Create a list using words, phrases, and sentences from your patriarchal blessing or other priesthood blessings.
• Download our free printable of affirmations from The Relief Society Declaration.
• Checkout our Pinterest board where we’ve gathered Biblical affirmations, affirmations for anxiety, gratitude, self-love and more!

Our thoughts (and consequently our affirmations) can change our minutes, our hours, our days, our years. Let’s cultivate more loving kindness toward others and ourselves by remembering who we are as powerful daughters of God. And let’s begin with our thoughts. Repeat your affirmations out loud or write them out in a journal. Hang them on your fridge or make them the lock screen on your phone. Make them part of your life and your life will never be the same.