Mom did not cook jerk chicken while swinging her hips rhythmically to reggae; dad did not sprint home for dinner cause he was always running late on ‘JMT- Jamaica maybe time’. No, I did not grow up in a ‘stero-typical’ Jamaican household, I don’t remember anyone punctuating sentences with ‘yea mon’. But I do love the music of Bob Marley. When you listen to his filler in Buffalo Solider: ‘Woy-yoy-yoy’, you hear not just random sounds but rather the cry of a people fighting for survival.
‘Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves cant free our minds.’ It comes as no surprise that the life coach likes Redemption Song, where the lyrics clearly assert an individuals power to change their mindset. It is such a clear truth: the only person that can liberate your mind is you! Can you imagine what you will accomplish when you are in control of your thoughts?
For this reason, I encourage my clients to use words of affirmation; to strengthen themselves by speaking positively. Say ‘I am an amazing dad’, ‘I am beautiful outside and inside’, ‘I am wealthy’, ‘I am intelligent’. Speak greatness into your life even when you don’t feel incredible. Use these affirmations as an aid to you achieving your goals. If your goal is to get promoted to senior manager, you tell yourself ‘I am a senior manager on an effective team!’. Then comes the important part: take the steps required to get that promotion, network, study in your spare time etc
After all affirmation must be coupled with action! If I was trendy, I try to coin to a new word like ‘affiraction’ to highlight the required coupling of affirmation and action, but I am not sure if they would really catch on 😊. Witty made-up words aside I will state this simple truth again: for affirmation to be effective it must be backed by action!
Just to add a picture to the text: here is me feeling free in a Bob Marley T-shirt.
Joiedvivre: Life is Joie(Joy) 