Creating A Meaningful Mantra/Affirmation

Mantras and affirmations have become increasingly popular over the years, you can easily find millions of ideas on Pinterest or by doing a Google search. 

There are mantras for everything from gaining confidence, to manifesting love, and even cultivating happiness; however, mantras and affirmations are most effective when you choose the best one for YOU.

The following questions and examples are designed to help you figure out exactly what it is you need and want and then create a mantra and affirmation that is super meaningful and deeply resonates with you.

I have found using mantras and affirmations to be valuable tools in all aspects of my life because I am able to create ones that I have a deep connection with. It is my hope that these questions help you to do the same.

1.   What do you want?

We all want things in life whether it’s money or freedom or success, whatever it is a mantra can be a powerful tool to manifest the things and opportunities that we want in life.

Having a mantra for the things you want in life gives you the power to manifest those things in your life, help you believe that it is possible to have them, and allows you to envision a life where you have everything you want.

Some of my favorite mantras for attracting the things that I want to me are:

“Money flows easily and freely to me”

“Every dollar I spend comes back to me multiplied”

“I am grateful for my every increasing wealth”

“I am a powerful manifesting goddess”

Now I used money in the examples above but you can change it to whatever you like so if you want more freedom you could say “I am grateful for my ever increasing freedom.” If you want to be in shape say “All the time I invest in my health it comes back to me multiplied” because you’re adding years to your life.

And if you’re not sure what you want then just make it generic and simply say “good things flow easily and freely to me” until you figure it out.

2.   What do you need?

When things are not a want but a need a mantra to help you fill that need in your life can be a powerful tool. But sometimes it isn’t easy to figure out what it is we need.

Start by evaluating your pain points, check in with yourself mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally to ask yourself if all your basic needs are being met.

We are so quick to neglect ourselves and write things like taking care of ourselves as a luxury but in fact it’s a necessity. In order to function you have to make sure your needs are being met.

Some of my favorite mantras about meeting needs are:

“I make time to nourish my mind, body and soul.”

“My needs are just as important as anyone else’s and I will put them first.”

“Self-care is a divine responsibility and I accept it with joy.”

“I love myself. I support myself. I take care of myself.”

Stop putting yourself last and make sure you are meeting your basic needs like getting enough sleep, drinking water, taking a break, etc. make yourself a priority.

3.   What are you afraid of?

Fear, anxiety, depression; these things haunt many of us. They hold us back by keeping us in the past, dwelling on our mistakes, or they prevent us from moving forward for fear of some scenario we made up in our heads.

Fear keeps you frozen, unable to let go and move on, frozen in this feeling that nothing is ever going to be okay again. I know that feeling all too well. Anxiety and fear are something I have wrestled with for a long time.

I have found mantras to be a powerful tool to help me move on from the past and trust in the path I’m on for the future. Dealing with fear, anxiety and depression is not easy but here are the mantras I have found help me the most.

“I do not worry about things that are out of my control.”

“Release all worry, celebrate what could go right.”

“I have survived and will continue to survive.”

“I will release what I cannot change.”

Remember to let go of the past and not fear the future. Trust and know that good things are on their way to you, anxiety and fear are just emotions. If you’re afraid of what people will think or say, if you’re afraid of failing, or of getting hurt you can use mantras to help you overcome that fear.

4.   What are you telling yourself?

The sad truth is that many of us fill our own heads with such nasty thoughts. We can be so cruel and damaging to our own self-worth, value, confidence and happiness. Why do we think so negatively of ourselves?

You are your own worst critic, trust me no one else is thinking about or judging you as harshly as you judge yourself. Next time you notice yourself picking apart the way you look, doubting your abilities or just being mean use a mantra to break the cycle of negative thinking.

The best mantra to combat those negative thoughts is the opposite of whatever lie you tell yourself. For example, if you’re constantly thinking “I’m not good enough” try saying “I am enough exactly as I am.”

Some of the ones I often turn to are:

“I recognize that I have a gift to offer the world.”

“My voice deserves to be heard, I will not be quiet”

“I am beautiful and whole just the way I am”

“I can and will do anything I set my mind to”

Whatever lie you're feeding yourself, don’t believe it. Fight that inner critic, get out of your own way and start being kinder to yourself, life is hard enough without you putting yourself down.

5.   What are you struggling with?

Right now, in your life what are you struggling with? This can be anything from not knowing what your next step in life is to your health and fitness or mental wellbeing to not following through on your goals and breaking promises to yourself.

Zoom out, look at your life from the outside and identify what it is that’s holding you back and then figure out how to overcome that thing. Identify what destructive habit, negative mindset, or tendency is keeping you from what you want.

For me I really struggled with quitting smoking and I used these mantras to help me when I was craving a cigarette. You can change these to help you overcome whatever behavior is holding you back.

“I am in control of my actions; my habits don’t control me”

“Being healthy is a good habit, and it can be cultivated”

“I will no longer be held back by my addiction”

“I am stronger than I believe, I will overcome this”

You can make these mantras really specific for you or simply use them to pull yourself out of a hard time. Maybe your bad habit is negative thinking, procrastination, being unorganized or distracted.

Whatever it is, realize it and overcome it. Quit holding yourself back.

6.   What has hurt you?

It’s well known that the experiences in your past have a huge influence on how you react to things in the present. We do things all the time that are directly related to our past scenarios and situations without even realizing it.

For example, if you’ve been cheated on before you’re likely going to have trust issues in future relationships. I personally have abandonment issues because of my parent’s divorce and I didn’t realize it until my therapist pointed out my behaviors that indicated it.

Everyone has been hurt in the past whether you’ve been left, lied to, abandoned, or abused. Our natural instinct is to never feel that pain again, but that sometimes causes us to act irrationally.

Think back to your past, analyze how you’ve been hurt by people, or situations in the past and really look at how they are affecting you today. You don’t have to be afraid all the time, mantras are a great tool to help you cope with and let go of that past pain. Here are the ones I use:

“My feelings and emotions are valid”

“I can set boundaries to protect myself, without pushing people away”

“When it comes to my relationships, communication is key”

“All human beings make mistakes, what matters is I learn from mine”

7.   What is your strength?

Everyone has weaknesses and chances are you can probably name all of the areas you struggle in, but when was the last time you realized one of your strengths? I know you have many, don’t be afraid to remind yourself of your own assets.

Identifying your strengths and creating mantras around them helps you lean into them and trust in your abilities more in that area. Identifying your strengths can be hard because that’s not what we tend to notice.

If you’re having trouble identifying your strengths don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family, they’ll be able to tell you, here’s my mantras I use to remind me of my strengths.

“I am intelligent”

“I work hard”

“I am beautiful”

“I dare to be different”

Whatever your strengths are, remind yourself of them everyday and you will feel so much more confident and realize just how awesome you are.

8.   Who do you want to see?

Who do you want in your life? Who do you need in your life? Do you want to manifest the love of your life, are you happy being single, or do you need to work on the relationship you already have?

Look at your friendships and ask yourself if those relationships are serving your or hurting you. Look at how you show up in those relationships, are you fostering healthy friendships.

Lastly, ask yourself how your relationship with your family is. Evaluate how you’re showing up as a member of your family. For me, my mom, sister and I are best friends, but my father and I have some work to do.

What are you needing, relationship wise, in your life. Maybe you need a support system or to know you’re loved. Perhaps you need a mentor or just someone to talk to, create a mantra to help manifest that relationship.

“My friends and family love me for who I am, they do not judge me.”

“I surround myself with people that push me to be the best version of myself”

“I will stop letting my anger ruin our relationship”

“I only attract healthy and loving relationships”

Whatever it is you need in a relationship, whoever you want to have a relationship with create a mantra to foster that and start showing up for that relationship. The people in our lives have a huge influence on us, so choose wisely.

9.   Who do you want to be?

Close your eyes and imagine the highest version of yourself. See yourself in the future as if you have made your life exactly how you want it to be. Can you see that picture in your mind's eye of everything you want to be?

In that version of you that is living your dream life, accomplishing all your goals and being that absolute best version of yourself, what habits, mindset, routines, characteristics, and strategies does that version of you embody.

Think about how you want to feel and then figure out how to cultivate that emotion. Decide what goals you have for yourself and what habits you need to get there. Figure out who you want to be remembered as and develop those characteristics that will allow you to leave a legacy you’re proud of.

For me personally, I know I want to be a dedicated, kind, compassionate, successful person and my mantras for the highest version of myself allow me to manifest those in myself and remind me to work on building them.

“I make daily choices that align with and push me towards the vision I have for my life.”

“When I get off track, I pick myself up and get right back on the path.”

“I am a loving, generous, compassionate and empathetic person to all.”

“I am a do-er, I will take action on my goals.”

As always you can customize these to represent whatever it is you want to embody in your life. You are capable of amazing things and I’ve found affirmations as an excellent reminder for who I want to be.

10. What’s your why?

Your why, or reason for doing something, is an incredibly powerful motivator. I love turning my why into a mantra or affirmation because it reminds me why exactly I’m working towards things and pushes me to keep going no matter what.

We all set certain goals for a reason, I want to encourage you to really dig into your why and find the deep seeded meaning behind the things you want for your life.

For example, let’s say your goal is to be successful, but why? Because you want to be wealthy? Okay, but why do you want to be wealthy; is it because you watched your parents struggle with money growing up and saw how much it hurt them or is it so you can have the freedom to explore the world and try new things?

Whatever your why is, I want to encourage you to make an affirmation you can use to remind you why you started; this is especially important to do when you feel like giving up. Here are some of the ones I like to use.

“I will live a healthy and happy life so I can be the best version of myself for those who depend upon me.”

“I will work hard so that I can provide for the people I love.”

“I boldly pursue what sets my heart on fire because I deserve to be happy”

“I have a higher purpose; it is my gift to the world to fulfill it.”

Ask yourself these 10 questions to figure out what mantra or positive affirmation will work best for you. I used to be that girl scrolling through Pinterest putting every affirmation I could find on my vision board and then wondering why they weren’t helping.

It’s because they weren’t what I needed. It wasn’t until I understood what I wanted to manifest in my life and created mantras and affirmations around those things that I started to think more positively and cultivate the things I wanted in life.

I want to encourage you to take your time, really think about these questions and then customize any of the examples given in this post or create your own affirmation that best suits you.

xoxo, Ashleigh Nicolle