Many of us have a lot of negative self-talk, an internal chatter or dialogue that reminds us how inferior we are, or that we have no control over anything, or that person is irritating, and so on. Affirmations are a way of controlling that negative self-talk, of gently steering the inner dialog to something more positive.

Affirmations are a method for speaking to your subconscious, the creative, holistic, emotional part of your mind. To appeal to the nature of the subconscious, affirmations should:

1. Be present tense
2. Be simple
3. Be said with conviction
4. Appeal to the emotions

I prefer to use my own voice, for several reasons. The first is to remind me that I make my own decisions, not someone else. The second is that affirmations are about me speaking to me (my conscious speaking to my unconscious). Using my own voice also keeps my affirmations private.

I have tried recording my own affirmations and playing them while I am sleeping, but I have found this process distracting, making it difficult to sleep. I have since come to believe that it is better to lead my life by a series of core principles, and use affirmations as a way to remind myself of those principles, rather than trying to "program my subconscious" by using subliminal techniques.

The act of writing your affirmations is more important than saying (or hearing) them over and over. By writing out your affirmations, you are doing the one thing that research has shown consistently distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful ones: they have written goals. The act of thinking about, refining, and writing out the affirmations has already planted them in your subconscious.

You can periodically go back to your written affirmations and renew the emotional energy of them by reading them again, and mentally saying them to yourself, or saying them out loud. I prefer to read the affirmation, repeat the affirmation using my own internal dialogue, think about what the affirmation means, and then imagine the kind of person that meaning makes me, and how good that makes me feel.

This approach will do more to impress the ideas on your subconscious than any tape loop will.

My Holosync CD's come with my own voice recorded affirmations embedded in them. I can say I have been listening to them for well over 2 years. As I move from level to level the affirmations come with each one. I do think they make a difference or at least contribute to a difference in thinking and in being more positive and hopeful. At least that has been true for me.

Holosync CD's last an hour at the maximum and at times one only listens to half an hour. I haven't tried playing them overnight, nor do I believe that to listen to your own voice, (even with pleasant music in the background and binaural beats) would be anything other than overkill and irritating.

An hour seems like plenty of affirmation time! Quiet and deep rest are important too, to physical and mental health.

I think that it doesn't make a difference either your voice or someone elses as long as you keep listening to the affirmations, your subconscious will still receive the subliminal persuasion