The placebo effect, or the gullible syndrome in my case, can help one become more positive in a very passive way.

I never thought that people actually used phrases to pump themselves up. I mean, I understand the whole “changing your mindset” helps, but saying a sentence repeatedly to yourself?

Really?

I have always seen myself as an optimistic person, but this just seemed so weird to me. So I decided, “Why not try it out? Be like the kool kids?” (I’m only 23, but I’m already losing to the kids)

So I got an app from Google Play, scanned the positive mantras for anything too weird for me, set the notifications, and forgot about it.

Literally.

It was about 2 days later when I realized some weird notification on my phone kept popping up at the same time (9:10 am, 10 mins before my class). And then, I remembered that I was supposed to be testing out that whole “positive statements” thing. So, I happened to realize my usual counseling appointment (new semester with a survey to see how much you improved) was coming up and the science nerd in my brain started to think.

Why don’t I just test it on myself?!

So I did.

In this post, I’ll explain

What app did I use?

How I used it?

Did it help?

So, the main app ( Apple alternative )I used is called “My Affirmations: Live Positive.” Short and simple, right? And it had a 4.7 out 5, so people generally liked it.

This is what it initially looks like.

I made sure to actually look at it to see an example of positive affirmations. They seemed really simple.

I accept the good that is flowing into my life. I love and respect myself. I am an awesome human being. I am a confident public speaker.

It was going well until I started seeing some iffy ones.

My immune system is strong. I am rich and prosperous. Each day I am happier and happier in my relationship. I deserve to be slim, healthy, and happy.

Yeah, no. I was not going to use those. 1 doesn’t sound too healthy to me in the long run, while 2 sounds like a jerk. I know repeatedly saying “I don’t have money” will initiate the whole self-fulfilling prophecy, but saying that I am rich is just lying to myself. 3 and 4 just seem like really bad mindsets to have when going through those kinds of things in your life, which is not what Berry and I are trying to advocate.

Soooo…I turned them off.

All but one is left on Wealth. And I even got rid of some in the other categories. I would add my own, but I was looking for a low-to-no effort solution for this experiment.

So, I reset the alarm to be a priority notification and let the countdown to my appointment start. (Btw, it was a two week time period.)

Every morning that I got the notification, I would repeat the sentence over and over until I got to my first class which was a 5-minute walk from my on-campus suite.

After getting to class, I would go on about my normal day as usual.

The main point I was trying to make was to start my day off on a positive note to see how that would help me.

During this time period, I had 2 quizzes in Biology, a Bio lab report due, a homework assignment for Chemistry, an important lab in Chem, and work on my college’s website for the department I currently work for. (Not as important as it sounds)

A very stressful two weeks. But I got through it.

I did all of the things and looked forward to my next appointment. While I’m not an overachiever by any means, I like to do a lot of crap at once.

#procrastination #doingthemostfortoolittle

My appointment came and I took the survey. And was told all of my marks went up!

I told her about my little experiment and she happily supported me. She also mentioned that the survey can be varied since it depends on how you are feeling that day. So, I might’ve gotten lucky. I still had her go through to make sure I didn’t miss any questionable “positive statements”.

But all in all, it helped me. While I can be gullible, I feel that positive affirmations have helped me a bit, at least in the background of my weird brain.

I’m going to think of this as a win in my book. At least for now…

In the end, they helped. While I didn’t see a direct effect due to the high variability of my mood (I can be emotional and overdramatic at times), I definitely saw a marginal improvement in my mood.

Less dwelling on things during the week and being more focused on my work.

But I’ll still continue with it.

Anyway, I’ve probably bored you with my life enough.

How do you feel about Positive Affirmations?