Repeat It Until You Feel It, the Affirmation Secret You Should’ve Known Years Ago

Genevieve Behrend had a habit I love.

Whenever she wanted joy, she repeated one word. Joy. Quietly, persistently, with total conviction. Until it filled her whole body.

A hundred years later, scientists have brain scans that explain why something like this works.

So today we’re going deep on affirmations. What they are, why they work, how Behrend used them, and every question people ask about them. Grab a coffee.

Affirmations Work When You Repeat Them Until You Feel Them

Affirmations are short, positive statements you repeat to focus your mind on who you want to become. They work best when they’re personal, believable and connected to your values, and when you repeat them until you feel them. Genevieve Behrend taught this exact method in her 1921 classic Your Invisible Power, and modern brain research backs her up.

Repeat some affirmation of this kind, until you feel the truth and reality of the words that you are affirming.

Genevieve Behrend, Your Invisible Power, 1921

That one sentence is the whole secret. The feeling is the work.

Who Was Genevieve Behrend?

Genevieve Behrend was born in Paris in 1881. She became the only personal pupil of Thomas Troward, the Scottish judge and teacher whose ideas shaped the New Thought movement, studying with him from 1912 to 1914, according to her Wikipedia biography.

She tells the story of how she pictured and affirmed the money for that journey to Troward, and how it arrived about six weeks later. She went on to found the School of the Builders in New York, lecture across North America for about 35 years, and write Your Invisible Power, Attaining Your Heart’s Desire and How to Live Life and Love It.

Decades later, her words appeared in The Secret. She’s one of the quiet grandmothers of the whole affirmation movement.

The Science Says Your Brain Lights Up When You Affirm What You Value

This part gives me goosebumps.

In a 2016 brain imaging study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Christopher Cascio, Emily Falk and colleagues found that self affirmation activates brain systems linked to self worth and reward. Affirming what matters to you literally feels good to your brain.

A 2015 study in PNAS led by Emily Falk at the University of Pennsylvania went further. Sedentary adults who affirmed their core values before hearing health advice showed more activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and then actually moved more over the following month, as Penn Today reported.

Psychologists Geoffrey Cohen and David Sherman reviewed decades of this research in the Annual Review of Psychology. Their summary is beautiful. Reminding yourself of what you value widens your perspective, lowers defensiveness and helps you grow.

And one study adds a wise twist. Joanne Wood and her colleagues found in Psychological Science that affirmations help most when they feel believable to the person saying them. That’s exactly what Behrend meant by repeating until you feel the truth.

So instead of asking how do I convince myself this is true, try asking what true thing can I feel today and grow from there.

Behrend’s Five Step Affirmation Method

I pulled these straight from her book. Simple, gentle and powerful.

1. Choose one desire. Pick one clear thing you want to feel, become or create. Behrend taught beginning with a single definite picture.
2. Breathe and settle. Sit by a window if you can, take about ten slow breaths and let your body relax.
3. Picture it as done. See yourself already living the result. Behrend wrote, if you want a house, begin by seeing yourself in the kind of house you desire.
4. Affirm until you feel it. Repeat a short affirmation slowly until you feel the truth of the words. The feeling is the signal.
5. Give thanks and act. Say thank you as if it has already arrived, then take one small step toward it today.

The best time for making your definite picture is just before breakfast and before retiring at night.

Genevieve Behrend, Your Invisible Power

Morning and night. Bookends for your day. I love that.

Start With One Word and Let It Grow

If full sentences feel like a lot, start where Behrend started. One word.

Just repeat the word “joy” secretly, persistently and emphatically.

Genevieve Behrend, How to Bring the Power in Your Word into Action

Joy. Peace. Courage. Enough. Pick the word your heart wants most and carry it through the day like a stone in your pocket.

The Thought Form of the Thing is already Yours as soon as you think it.

Genevieve Behrend, Your Invisible Power

21 Affirmations to Start Your Morning

Pick three. Say them slowly. Feel each one land.

1. I am grateful for this new morning.
2. I am becoming the person I want to be, one choice at a time.
3. I trust myself to handle today with grace.
4. Joy lives in me and grows when I share it.
5. I am worthy of love exactly as I am.
6. My mind is calm and my heart is open.
7. I welcome good things into my life.
8. I am learning, growing and improving every day.
9. I choose courage over comfort.
10. My body is strong and I treat it with kindness.
11. I attract people who lift me up.
12. I give my full attention to what matters most.
13. Money flows to me as I create value for others.
14. I am proud of how far I have come.
15. Every challenge is teaching me something useful.
16. I speak to myself like someone I love.
17. Peace is my natural state and I return to it easily.
18. I have everything I need to begin.
19. Today I plant seeds that will bloom for years.
20. I am exactly where I need to be to grow.
21. Life is working for me.

Write your favorite on a sticky note and put it where your eyes land first each morning. Your mirror, your coffee maker, your phone’s lock screen.

How to Make Affirmations Stick

• Keep it personal. Use I and your own words.
• Keep it believable. Use bridge phrases like I am learning or I am becoming.
• Tie it to a value. Kindness, courage, family, health. Values give words roots.
• Pair it with a habit. Say it while the kettle boils or as you brush your teeth.
• Add a small action. Affirm I am healthy, then take a ten minute walk.
• Track how you feel. One line in a journal each night shows you the shift.

This is also why we built Hold Until Sunrise. It sends gentle affirmation reminders and walks you through a calm morning practice, so your words find you right when you need them.

Quick Answers About Affirmations

What are affirmations?

Affirmations are short, positive statements you repeat to direct your attention toward who you want to be and what you value. In psychology, self affirmation means reflecting on your core values, which research links to lower stress and greater openness to change.

Do affirmations actually work?

Yes, when they’re done well. Brain imaging studies show self affirmation activates regions tied to self worth and reward, and a 2015 PNAS study found people who affirmed their values first became more active in the month that followed. Affirmations work best when they feel believable and connect to values you truly hold.

Who was Genevieve Behrend?

Genevieve Behrend (1881 to 1960) was a French born New Thought teacher and the only personal pupil of Thomas Troward. She wrote Your Invisible Power in 1921, founded the School of the Builders in New York, and taught visualization and affirmation for about 35 years.

How do I write a good affirmation?

Keep it short, positive and personal. Use I, write it in the present tense, connect it to a real value, and make it believable enough that you can feel it. For example, I am learning to trust myself a little more each day.

What is the best time to say affirmations?

Genevieve Behrend recommended just before breakfast and just before sleep. Morning sets the tone for your day, and evening lets the words settle as you rest.

How many times a day should I repeat affirmations?

Two or three short sessions a day works beautifully. Repeat each affirmation slowly, three to ten times, until you feel it. Behrend taught that the feeling matters more than the count.

Should I say affirmations out loud or write them down?

Both work. Speaking engages your voice and breath, and writing slows you down and deepens focus. Many people say them aloud in the morning and write one in a journal at night.

What if my affirmation feels untrue?

Make it a bridge statement. Change I am confident to I am becoming more confident every day. Research by Joanne Wood found affirmations land best when they feel believable, so meet yourself where you are and grow from there.

Should affirmations be in the present tense?

Usually yes. Present tense, like I am calm, helps your mind rehearse the feeling now. Behrend taught people to ask believing they have already received, which is the same idea.

How long does it take for affirmations to work?

Many people feel a shift in mood within days. Lasting change in habits and self talk usually takes several weeks of daily practice, especially when you pair affirmations with action.

What is the difference between affirmations and visualization?

Affirmations use words. Visualization uses mental pictures. Behrend combined them, picturing the desired result clearly and then affirming it until she felt its reality.

Can affirmations help with anxiety?

Affirmations can support calm by shifting attention toward safety and strength, and self affirmation research shows reduced stress responses. For ongoing anxiety, pair them with support from a licensed professional.

Your Words Are Already Shaping Your Day

You talk to yourself all day long. Affirmations simply let you choose the conversation.

Genevieve Behrend knew it in 1921. Neuroscience is confirming it now. And you get to practice it tomorrow morning, just before breakfast.

Start early. Start speaking kindly. Start today.

Complement this with Norman Vincent Peale Quotes for Every Morning, Your Cortisol Morning and In Pursuit of Latent Wonderfulness.

Building better mornings one week at a time? Explore 52 Systems in 52 Weeks.

Want gentle affirmations every sunrise? Download Hold Until Sunrise.

And for a little goodness in your inbox, join us here.

With love, Paolo

Sources

• Genevieve Behrend, Your Invisible Power (1921), full text at TruthUnity
• Genevieve Behrend, Wikipedia
• Cascio et al., Self affirmation activates brain systems associated with self related processing and reward, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (2016)
• Penn Today, Self affirmation can boost acceptance of health advice (Falk et al., PNAS 2015)
• Cohen and Sherman, The Psychology of Change, Annual Review of Psychology (2014)
• Wood, Perunovic and Lee, Positive Self Statements, Psychological Science (2009)