Positive Actfirmations: Why Action, Not Words Alone, Creates Real Change
- Coach Alan
- Dec 30, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Introduction
Positive affirmations have become a popular tool in self-development, therapy-adjacent spaces, and the health and fitness world.
You are often encouraged to stand in front of a mirror and repeat phrases such as “I love my body,” “I am confident,” or “I am disciplined,” with the promise that saying these words often enough will eventually make them true.
For some people, this approach feels uplifting.
For others, it feels hollow, frustrating, contradictory or even emotionally uncomfortable.
This article introduces Positive Actfirmations, a term coined by Alan Byrne, also known as Coach Alan, founder of Mind Body Training, as an alternative and complementary approach to traditional positive affirmations.
Positive actfirmations prioritise behaviour over declaration, evidence over repetition, and self-trust over forced positivity.
They are not anti-affirmations. They are pro-alignment between words, actions, and lived experience
Quick answer: What is a positive actfirmation?
A positive actfirmation is a deliberate, self-respecting action that gently challenges an unhelpful thought, belief, or self-view, and lays the foundation for a new, helpful belief or perspective to develop.
Instead of declaring a belief verbally and hoping behaviour follows, a positive actfirmation uses action as the starting point. The action itself becomes the affirmation.
For example, rather than saying “I love my body,” an individual might engage in an act of self-care, and then say:
“Through my actions, I am beginning to show my body love and care.”
The belief is not demanded. It is allowed to emerge naturally as a result of lived experience.
Why traditional positive affirmations can feel ineffective or even backfire
To understand why positive actfirmations are needed, it helps to look closely at what the word affirmation actually means.
What does “affirm” really mean?
To affirm means to state something emphatically or declare it to be true.
When someone says, “I love my body,” they are not merely experimenting. They are making a definitive claim.
If that claim aligns with their internal experience, behaviour and reality, it can feel reinforcing.
If it does not align, the brain notices.
The overlooked meaning of “ation”
In many English words, ‘ation’ points to an outcome or product; it implies something has been made real.
This is where many traditional positive affirmations break down inadvertently.
They involve emphatic declaration, but often lack the product of action that would make the statement feel credible to the nervous system.
In other words, the words are there, but the evidence is not.
The problem of internal contradiction
Consider an individual who feels disconnected from their body and is struggling with their weight, energy, or self-image.
They look in the mirror and repeat, “I love my body.”
Then they continue to:
Skip meals or eat chaotically
Avoid movement and exercise altogether
Speak to themselves harshly throughout the day
Ignore pain, fatigue, or emotional cues
The issue here is not a lack of positive thinking. It is a lack of alignment.
When thoughts, words and actions contradict each other, the brain tends to trust behaviour over language. This can result in internal conflict, frustration, or a sense of dishonesty toward oneself.
Positive actfirmations may resolve this conflict by removing the demand to believe and replacing it with an invitation to act.
What is a positive actfirmation in practice?
A positive actfirmation always has three elements:
An action, not a mere verbal declaration
A challenge to an unhelpful belief, not a denial of it
Action-based evidence creation, rather than forced belief
Examples include:
Preparing a nourishing breakfast instead of declaring discipline
Going for a short walk instead of declaring motivation
Attending a training session instead of declaring confidence
Setting a boundary around rest instead of declaring self-worth
Each action sends a quiet but powerful message to the nervous system:
“I am someone who takes care of myself.”
Over time, belief follows behaviour.
Using positive actfirmations alongside traditional affirmations
Positive actfirmations do not require you to abandon affirmations entirely. They simply ask that affirmations be used carefully and honestly.
Instead of absolute declarations that may feel untrue, affirmations can be reframed to reflect action-based processes rather than a desired, internal outcome.
For example:
“I love my body” becomes “Through my actions, I am beginning to show my body love and care.”
“I am confident” becomes “I am practising behaviours that build confidence.”
“I am disciplined” becomes “I am showing up in small ways that reinforce discipline.”
This preserves the motivational aspect of affirmations while grounding them in lived experience.
What research shows about positive affirmations
Research supports the idea that positive affirmations are not universally helpful and can backfire under certain conditions.
Positive affirmations and low self-esteem
A well-known study by Wood, Perunovic, and Lee (2009) found that individuals with low self-esteem did not benefit from repeating positive self-statements such as “I am a lovable person.” In some cases, participants actually felt worse after repeating affirmations that contradicted their self-view.
The researchers concluded that positive self-statements may increase awareness of the discrepancy between how someone feels and how they are trying to think.
Self-discrepancy theory
Self-discrepancy theory, originally proposed by Higgins (1987), suggests that emotional discomfort arises when there is a gap between one’s actual self and ideal or ought self.
Affirmations that strongly emphasise an ideal state without behavioural evidence can heighten this discrepancy rather than resolve it.
Stress and affirmations
In a controlled experimental study, Jessop et al. (2018) found that self-affirmation increased anxiety and reduced positive mood for some participants under stress, compared to a control group.
They describe this as preliminary evidence that self-affirmation may worsen negative responses to stressors under certain conditions and for certain individuals.
Together, these findings suggest that affirmations work best when they are supported by action and personal credibility.
Positive actfirmations provide that support.
Why does action change belief more effectively than words?
From a behavioural and psychological perspective, humans learn who they are through what they repeatedly do.
Each action becomes experiential data.
When someone consistently behaves in a way that reflects care, effort, or self-respect, the mind gradually updates its beliefs to match that evidence.
This is why positive actfirmations feel safer, more sustainable, and more embodied than verbal repetition alone.
They do not ask you to lie to yourself.
They ask you to begin.
FAQs
Are positive actfirmations just behaviour change?
No. Behaviour change is the vehicle, but the aim is belief change through evidence, not compliance or control.
Can positive actfirmations be very small?
Yes. In fact, they work best when they are achievable. A five-minute walk is often more powerful than a grand declaration.
Are affirmations useless then?
No. Affirmations can be helpful when they align with behaviour and feel psychologically credible. Problems arise when they are used as a substitute for action rather than a reflection of it.
Is this approach suitable for therapy or coaching?
Yes. Positive actfirmations fit naturally with coaching psychology, CBT-informed approaches, and behaviour-based interventions, without requiring clinical language.
Final thoughts on positive actfirmations
Positive actfirmations offer a simple but profound shift.
They recognise that self-belief is not built by repeating words louder, but by acting in ways that quietly prove them true.
When action leads, belief follows.
And when belief follows behaviour, change feels honest, embodied, and sustainable.
References
Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements, power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science, 20(7), 860–866. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02370.x
Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy, a theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319–340. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-295X.94.3.319
Jessop, D. C., et al. (2018). Self-affirmation and stress responses under conditions of low perceived control. Psychology & Health. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08870446.2017.1421187
About The Author
Coach Alan is a qualified ITEC Level 3 Personal Trainer with over 9 years of coaching experience, and the founder of Mind-Body Training, where he works as an online personal trainer in Ireland to help clients achieve sustainable fat loss and long-term behaviour change. He is also a psychotherapist-in-training with the Irish Institute of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IICP). His coaching approach is informed by evidence-based principles from psychology, nutrition, and exercise science, with a strong focus on mindful habit formation and realistic lifestyle change. You can learn more about Coach Alan here.
Mind-Body Training provides coaching, education, and personal training services, not personal therapy or clinical counselling. Clients seeking therapeutic support are encouraged to work alongside a different qualified mental health professional where appropriate.
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