Do affirmations work if you don’t believe them? That’s a fair question—especially if you’ve ever repeated a positive statement to yourself and felt… nothing.
We’re often told that saying things like “I am enough” or “I love myself” every day will eventually rewire our minds.
Self-help books, motivational speakers, and social media all share this idea: repeat it until you believe it.
When we talk about affirmations, it’s hard not to mention Louise Hay.
A pioneer in the self-help movement, she became widely known for her belief that repeating positive statements could heal not just emotional wounds, but even physical illness.
Her bestselling book, You Can Heal Your Life, encouraged readers to speak kindly to themselves—to reframe their inner dialogue with love, hope, and personal responsibility.
But for many people, especially those struggling with low self-esteem or lingering negative thoughts, these affirmations don’t uplift.
Do Affirmations Work As Said
There’s growing discussion around this contradiction.
In this post, we’ll explore the very question, “Do affirmations work, as widely claimed?”
Not to offer easy answers, but to open up a more grounded, thoughtful conversation about affirmations, belief, and personal change.
Q1: What actually is an affirmation?
At its core, an affirmation is a short, positive statement designed to reinforce a desired belief. However, affirmations don’t exist in a vacuum; they interact with your existing beliefs. A phrase like “I can handle this” can be encouraging if you already feel capable. But if your core belief is “I always mess things up,” that same phrase might feel fake or highlight the disconnect between your words and your feelings.
Q2: So… do affirmations work?
That depends—on the person, the context, and what “work” actually means to you. If you’re hoping affirmations will magically erase years of self-doubt, probably not. But if you’re using them as gentle reminders of your values, or small nudges toward a more helpful mindset, they can be surprisingly supportive.
Q3: Has it got to do with our belief system?
Yes, affirmations are closely tied to belief systems. In many cases, they work by strengthening what you already accept about yourself, not by magically changing your worldview. The bigger question is: Are we trying to overwrite deeply held doubts with surface-level phrases? Or are we using affirmations as gentle reminders of values we’re still growing into?
Q4: Can affirmations really shift long-held limiting beliefs?
It depends on how you define “shift”. Simply repeating a phrase is unlikely to undo years of self-doubt. However, if used as a gentle tool to redirect your thinking, affirmations can play a small role. Changing deep-seated beliefs requires more than just repetition; it takes a combination of self-awareness, new behaviors, and sometimes, professional support.
Q5: Is belief alone enough, or they only work when followed by action?
As the saying goes, “we are what we do.” Your mindset is important, but it’s your actions that truly reinforce your beliefs. For example, saying “I am disciplined” is just an empty phrase unless you follow through with small, consistent actions, like taking a morning walk or completing a task. When you align your words with meaningful behavior, the affirmations begin to feel real. Without action, they become empty words, creating a disconnect between what you say and what you do.
Q6: What is the most common critique of affirmations?
Affirmations can sometimes be a form of emotional bypassing. Meaning it is using positive phrases to avoid or suppress uncomfortable feelings rather than processing them. When used this way, affirmations become a tool for avoidance, not healing, and can lead to unprocessed emotions surfacing later as stress or fatigue.
Q7: So affirmations can become a form of emotional bypassing?
Yes, it can become a form of emotional bypassing. This happens when we use positive phrases to avoid processing uncomfortable emotions like sadness or anger. When we used them to suppress how we truly feel, they become a tool for avoidance rather than support. Unprocessed emotions don’t disappear; they often resurface as stress or fatigue.
Q8: Some say affirmations could cause harm than good?
Self-help culture promotes repeating uplifting phrases: “I am lovable,” “I can achieve anything.” Yet research tells a more complicated story. In a study published in *Psychological Science*, people with low self-esteem actually felt worse after repeating “I’m a lovable person,” compared to those who weren’t asked to do so. Meanwhile, individuals with high self-esteem benefited, but only slightly.
Q9: Why might affirmations backfire for people with low self-esteem?
When a phrase feels too far removed from someone’s lived reality, it can trigger resistance, or reinforce negative self-beliefs. If someone doesn’t believe they’re lovable, an affirmation like that becomes a painful reminder of the gap between their ideal and their internal reality. That “well-meaning” mantra then boomerangs, entrenching the very doubt it aimed to dispel. :
Q10: Does that mean affirmations are worthless for everyone?
Not at all. The same research found that affirmations worked better for those who already believed those qualities applied to them, even if only slightly. Affirmations seem to reinforce existing beliefs rather than change them entirely.
Q11: Are there safer or more effective ways to use affirmations?
Yes. Studies suggest that future‑oriented affirmations, like “I will get stronger”, or value-centered affirmations and focusing on beliefs like “I choose kindness” feel more believable and are less likely to trigger resistance. These alternatives often serve as bridges toward growth rather than pressure toward perfection.
Q12: What about allowing negative thoughts, can that be helpful?
Interestingly, low self-esteem participants felt better when allowed to hold both positive and negative thoughts, rather than being forced into only-positive affirmations. This more balanced acknowledgment seemed less jarring—and more humane.
Q13: Is this just academic? Does it matter in everyday life?
Absolutely. Misapplied affirmations risk deepening insecurity. If someone repeatedly says, “I’m strong,” but consistently feels weak, that dissonance can breed shame. On the other hand, honestly acknowledging both strength and struggle creates space for grounded growth—rather than forced optimism.
Q14: Do affirmations work for me?
I love those uplifting phrases too—they fuel me in small doses. Yet I never repeat them like a mantra. I see them as sparks for motivation, not magic spells. As psychiatrist
Gordon Livingston puts it: “We are what we say, think, or feel—but we are what we do.” Quotes might ignite inspiration; action makes the difference.
Q15: So should someone with low self-esteem avoid affirmations altogether?
Not necessarily, but approach them with care. Try grounding affirmations in realism (“I am learning to cope” instead of “I’m confident”), or pair them with small actions that reinforce the statement. When affirmations feel plausible and are followed by proactive behavior, they’re less likely to backfire.
So do affirmations work?
If affirmations have ever left you feeling oddly hollow, you’re not alone and there’s science to explain why.
Maybe they’re not the cure-all we hoped for, especially when they fail to resonate deeply.
But when paired with authenticity and follow-through, they can still serve as helpful nudges not band-aids for real growth.
Besides, the usual affirmations, find out more about subliminal affirmations.