A lot of bad behaviour is predicated on the fact that many of us feel as though we are not enough. Marissa Peer–a renowned therapist, believes that these three words— ‘I am enough’, or mantra if you will, can vastly change our lives in terms of the way we see and speak to ourselves. Peer affirms that the root of so many modern problems—hoarding, excessive drinking, compulsive shopping, and over-eating—come right back to a need to fill the inner emptiness of not feeling “enough”– with external things. She also believes that the antidote to these problems lie in the way(s) in which we speak to ourselves—our self talk. Repeating the words I am enough daily, creates a shift in our subconscious mind by allowing us to infuse ourselves with positivity and empowerment and helps us undo any negative programming that we may have suffered as children.

How Your Beliefs Are Formed

From a very early age in childhood, we begin to form beliefs about the world and our place in it. Our brains are very good at spotting patterns and making associations, so we constantly process the stream of information about the world around us and use it to form beliefs.

In early childhood, these beliefs are usually based on our own experiences and shaped by our parents or other dominant figures in our lives. As we get older, we start to form more complex beliefs and are able to draw on a much wider range of sources such as books, movies, TV advertisements, social media, the behaviour of our peers, and so on. 

However, the core beliefs that we formed as young children can be very powerful. Even when we encounter new information or explanations, we often continue to cling to our old beliefs. 

For example, as a child I was often told by teachers that I wasn’t good at math so I ended up believing it. And even though I know that not to be true now, I still have some self-limiting beliefs around this idea. The problem is that once we’ve formed a belief, we tend to look for more evidence to support that belief in order to discount contradictory evidence. This gives us a stable foundation for understanding a world that would otherwise be very confusing, but it also means that beliefs can be tough to get rid of, even when they’re holding us back.

Making The Practice Of Self-Affirmations A Habit

Everyday we’re being bombarded with messages that say the exact opposite of I am enough. Whether that be through TV, magazines or carefully manicured social media profiles. If we want to be successful then its simply essential that we have healthy levels of self-esteem and confidence.

When we don’t think we’re good enough we don’t take the necessary steps required to achieve our goals. But if we simply remind ourselves that we are good enough on a daily basis we are able to counter the messages that we are being fed through external sources with our own positive self-talk.

Knowing that we are enough means that we see our gifts, which is crucial in the process of replacing the negative thoughts that we internalize, with more positive and self-affirming ones.