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*A Book Review*

The Great Little Book of Afformations

By Noah St. John & Denise Berard

by Michael C. Gray

February 28, 2007

If you're not interested in mental self-improvement techniques, skip this book review.

Using affirmations, autosuggestion and/or "positive self talk" are popular variations of a technique to condition our minds positively and attract more good into our lives. A classic affirmation by William James, the father of American psychology, is "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." There are many more.

When we use these techniques, we often have mental resistance. There is a little rejoinder that follows after the affirmation – "Yeah, right! – Not!"

Noah St. John puzzled over how to get past this rejoinder, to take off our mental brakes to progress.

He noticed that a normal response to an error is to say, "Why do I...?" or "Why don't I...?" For example, "Why do I have trouble with my relationships?" This gets the mind working on this puzzle, usually developing reasons why we have this problem and reinforcing a continuation of the pattern.

So, why not develop a new response – developing questions to develop reasons why we should have a desired outcome, thus reinforcing the pattern we want. He calls these questions afformations, because we are forming desired outcomes.

For example, "Why do I have such great relationships?" and "Why do I often give compliments to my husband (or wife)?"

To kick start us in developing these questions for ourselves, Noah St. John and Denise Berard have written a book of them for different areas of our lives, including health and well being, wealth and money, love, relationships, spirituality, life and happiness, and more.

This is such a simple technique and can be such a positive step, that I can't understand why you wouldn't try it. (Be reasonable in your expectations. This isn't a magic wand.) This is my New Year's resolution A– and an easy one to keep.

Get a copy of The Great Little Book of Afformations and give them a try. I hope they bring more positive results in your life.

Buy it on Amazon: The Great Little Book of Afformations (All-New, Expanded Edition).

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