Affirmations for success
Most success affirmations describe the finish line: "I am wealthy, successful and unstoppable." Research on daydreaming suggests that picturing the win alone can drain the energy you need to get there.1 The lines worth keeping point at the work: "I can want something big and still do the small part today."
Choose the one that feels true today. You can save it as an image on your phone.
If saying an affirmation makes you feel worse, let it go. That's common, and a smaller, truer sentence may fit better. If you're thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the US, or see crisis resources.
Six affirmations for success
- "I'm building this one day of work at a time." Success shows up as a long run of ordinary days, most of them unremarkable while you're in them, rather than as a single moment.
- "I can want something big and still do the small part today." Dream kept, next step added.
- "A setback is part of the path, not the end of it." It gets you ready for the week something goes wrong, which on any goal worth having it eventually will.
- "I decide what success means for me." A goal you chose holds up longer than one you borrowed.
- "I've done hard work before. I can do today's share." Evidence you already have.
- "If I get stuck, then I'll ask for help or try another way." This one is an if-then plan, the form with the strongest research below.
Copy the one you want into your notes, or onto a sticky note by your desk.
More lines for success
Fourteen more, all pointed at the work: starting the day, the slow middle, a win and a rejection.
Starting the day
- "Best hour, most important task."
- "One thing forward today."
- "I can practice instead of just picturing."
- "One ask today."
When it's slow
- "Results lag behind effort. I can keep putting in the effort."
- "I can judge this month by the work I put in."
- "I can learn from people further ahead. I don't have to measure myself against them."
- "New plan, same goal."
After a win
- "I can enjoy this win for a whole evening before I start chasing the next thing."
- "I can thank the people who helped."
- "What worked? I can do it again."
After a rejection
- "One no isn't the last no."
- "I can ask what would have made it a yes, write the answer down, and use it on the next application."
- "It stings. I tried."
Why picturing the win isn't enough
The lines on this page keep the goal and put your attention on the next part of the work, which is usually smaller and less exciting than the dream.
Psychologists Gabriele Oettingen and Doris Mayer followed people who wanted something: a job, a date, a good exam grade, a good recovery from hip surgery. People who pictured the outcome in a glowing light put in less effort and did worse, weeks or months later.2 People who judged success as likely did better. That's a different thing.
Later lab work suggests why. Positive fantasies about the future left people with less energy, measured in their bodies as well as their behavior, than more questioning or neutral thoughts did, across four experiments.1 One way to read it: the daydream feels like arriving, so you relax before the work is done.
- I am a millionaire: I can learn one money skill this month and use it.
- I always win: I can do my best work today and learn from how it goes.
- Success comes easily to me: I can do the hard part, a little at a time.
"I want the promotion. Instead of picturing the new title, I say: I'm building this one day of work at a time. Today's piece is finishing the budget draft before lunch."
Add one if-then line
Look at the sixth line again. Different shape, on purpose. "If X happens, then I'll do Y" is called an implementation intention. Across 94 tests, people who made plans in that form reached their goals more often than people who only stated the goal.3
To write your own, pick the moment most likely to knock you off course. Name it. Then name what you'll do.
- "If I open my laptop and feel like checking email, then I'll work on the proposal for 20 minutes first."
- "If I get a rejection, then I'll send one more application that same day."
- "If I start comparing myself to someone online, then I'll close the app and write down one thing I did this week."
What does success mean to you this year, in your own words? What is the smallest piece of it you could do this week?
Answer this with JoyWhy "I am a success" can backfire
Writing about a value that matters to you has small, real effects in studies.4 Repeating flattering claims is shakier: people with low self-esteem felt worse after repeating "I'm a lovable person" in a 2009 study (more on that study).5
"I am a success" can land the same way on a day you don't feel like one, which is why every line on this page points at something you can do.
Questions people ask about affirmations for success
What is the best affirmation for success?
The one that matches where you stall. If starting is the problem, take a line from "Starting the day". If one rejection costs you a week, write an if-then for the next one before it arrives. Whichever you pick, it should tell you what to do in the next hour.
Do success affirmations work?
On their own, picturing success hasn't been shown to bring it. Positive fantasies about the outcome went with less effort in Oettingen's studies.2 Pairing a goal with a specific plan has much better support.3
How do I set goals that I'll actually reach?
Make them specific, choose ones you care about, and plan for the obstacles. The goal setting guide walks through each step with the research behind it.
Related
- Positive affirmations: the study on flattering lines, and how to write one that points at the work.
- Affirmations for confidence and affirmations for motivation.
- Goal setting and how to manifest, honestly.