Writing a Successful Children’s Series – 3 Key Elements

 

This is Part2 of writing a children's series. And, if you’re a children’s writer of chapter books, middle grade, or young adult you can write one.

To write a series, you need three things:

1. Strong characters

In a ‘live’ workshop, Scholastic senior editor Matt Ringler noted that the most important element of a series is a strong character.

According to Ringler, the Goosebumps series is a perfect example of characters that people care about. This makes them want to read the next book in the series, and the one after that, and so on.

This is what makes a series successful.

2. Strong plot

Plot is also important, of course you need a good story. But Ringler finds strong characters trump plot.

3. The hook

Your story as always needs to grab the reader. It needs to hold his attention.

I can see you shaking your heads. Of course, you need these elements.

But, with the series it needs to have them consistently to keep the momentum moving forward.

So, how do you write a successful story?

According to Ringler, the most important aspect to writing a successful story is to do your research.

- Look in libraries and book stores. See what’s getting published and study those books.

- Look at similar titles in the genre your write and in the age range.

- Paying attention to comparative titles are crucial. Who published them? Who edited them?

- Know the format for the genres. This includes the word counts, age group, word levels, and so on.

- Read in the genre you write. Read at least 40 books in this genre. If you find this boring or you hate doing the research then you shouldn’t write in that genre. The research should be the fun part.

- Know what the editor edits. Know the genre he works in. If he edits chapter and middle grade books, don’t send him your picture book.

- Check out the editor’s website and try to find him on social media. You can also check Publisher’s Market Place and Book Shelf. The information you get from this research will give you a better idea of what he’s looking for and possibly how to approach him.

Next is to write and keep writing.

- Join a critique group to get other viewpoints (eyes) on your story.

- Revise, edit, slash, cut, and even start over if need be.

- When you’re finished with a project, start on the next one.

Ringler emphasized that the more books you have out there, the more potential you have for visibility and sales. If a child likes a book, she’ll want more of that book in the form of a series.

How do you know if you’re a successful series writer?

Most series have four books, some have six. This is usually the max of a successful series.

Then there is the phenomenon. These books skyrocket way beyond expectation.

Think “Harry Potter,” “Goosebumps,” “Twilight,” “Puppy Place.”

“Goosebumps” has been around over 20 years and the original author, R. L. Steiner, is still writing them. As a standalone series, it may be one of the reasons for its phenomenon success.

“Puppy Place” is on its 54th book.

And, “Harry Potter.” Enough said.

But, again, these are the exception to the rule.

How do you measure success?

Personal Success:

- Making extra money to supplement your income
- Support yourself with your writing
- Living comfortably
- Making the BIG bucks (this is exceedingly rare)

You’ll need to decide which of these meet your criteria for success.

Critical success:

- Positive reviews
- Starred reviews
- Grants and award

If you’re just starting out, don’t let bad reviews hinder you. “Goosebumps was originally slammed by reviewers. So was “Star Wars.”

Longevity success:

- A long lasting career. The ability to continue publishing.
- Consistent desire for more books from readers, libraries, editors, etc.

Promotional success:

- Public recognition (not usual)
- Direct outreach to kids to help promote reading
- A bigger platform for more visibility

Book sales success:

How many books do you need to sell to be considered successful?

Ringler gave an example of a new author, Author1, who had a 10,000-book print run. He ended up selling 20,000 books. The book was considered a BIG success.

In a second example, a new author, Author2, had a 100,000-book print run. The publishing house expected his book to be a hit. But, he only sold 20,000 books. This book was NOT a success. The publishing house lost money on this author.

In example two, if Author2 wants to pitch another book to that publishing house, they’ll think twice about giving him a contract.

So, success can be relative. Both authors sold 20,000 books, but one was considered a success, the other wasn’t.

I love the example Ringler gave. It's something I hadn’t thought of and certainly puts sales success in perspective.

Summing it up:

This wraps it up for two-parter. If you write chapter books, or middle grade, or even young adult, consider turning your story into a series. There’s definitely a market for it.

To read the first part of this two-parter article on writing a series, go to:
Writing a Children’s Book Series – Different Types

This article was originally published at: http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2018/06/24/writing-childrens-series-3-elements/

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. She is also an author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. You can check out her books at: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/karens-books/

You can connect with Karen at:
LinkedIn  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Twitter http://twitter.com/KarenCV
Pinterest  http://pinterest.com/KarenCioffi/

 

 

 

Successful Writing Strategy: Know Your Intent

Intent is a crucial factor in success. But, what exactly does this mean?

According to Merriam-Webster, intent is an aim, a clear and “formulated or planned intention.” It is a purpose, “the act or fact of intending.”

Intent is a necessary factor on any path to success, including your path to writing success. You need to know what you want, what you’re striving for. And, that knowledge has to be clearly defined.

An unclear destination or goal is similar to being on a path that has very low hanging branches, an assortment of rocks that may hinder your forward movement, uneven and rugged terrain, branches and even logs strewn across the road; you get the idea. You kind of step over the debris, look around or through the branches, you don’t have a clear view of where you’re going.

A clear-cut goal is akin to walking on a smooth and clear path. No goal related obstacles to hinder your forward momentum or vision.

But, let me add to the sentence above, while intent is crucial, it’s an active and passionate pursuit of your intent that will actually allow you to achieve success. It reminds me of a passage in the Bible at James 24:26, “Faith without works is dead.”

While the intent is there, if you don’t actively take the needed steps to get from A to B, walk-the-walk, rather than just talk-the-talk, you’ll never reach your goal.

To realize your intent, it would be beneficial for you to create a list of questions and statements outlining the specifics to that intent.

A few of questions you might include are:

- What is your ultimate success goal?
- What does the obtainment of your goal mean?
- After picturing it, what does success look like to you?
- How will you reach your goal?

So, how would you answer these questions?

As a writer, perhaps your goal is to write for one or two major magazines. Maybe you’d prefer to be published in a number of smaller magazines. Possibly you want to author a book a year and have them published by traditional publishing houses. Or, maybe you want to self-publish your own books at a faster or slower pace.

Maybe success to you is to make a comfortable living, or you may be very happy with simply supplementing your income. Maybe you want to be a professional, sought after ghostwriter or copywriter. Maybe you want to be a coach, a speaker, offer workshops, or present teleseminars. These are just some of the potential goals for a writer.

Whatever your vision of success is, you need to see it clearly, write it down (it’d be a good idea to also create a vision board), and take the necessary steps to get you where you want to be.

If you find you have a realistic success vision, and are taking the necessary steps to achieve your envisioned intent, at least you think you are, but you still can’t seem to reach the goal, then perhaps your efforts aren’t narrowly focused enough. Maybe your success vision is too broad.

Wanting to be a writer is a noble endeavor, but it’s a very broad target. There are so many niches within the writing arena that if you don’t focus on one or two in particular, you’ll be known as a ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’

Try narrowing down, fine tuning your goal. Remember, it’s essential to be specific and focused.

It might be to your advantage to create success steps that continually move you forward on the path to reaching your ultimate goal.

For someone new to writing, the first step on a writing career would be to learn the craft of writing.

You might give yourself a year or two to join writing groups, take advantage of writing workshops or classes, write for article directories, or create stories.

You should also be part of at least one critique group. This would be your first step to achieving your intent, your success vision.

Instead of trying to go directly from A to B, it might be more effective to go from A to A1 to A2 to A3 . . . to B. But, again, for each step, the intent, a clear-cut vision, and the driving passion all need to be front and center.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter/ rewriter. For tips on writing for children OR if you need help with your project, contact me at Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

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Aim for Writing Success

Writing success can mean different things to different writers.

Some writers may simply want to get a book or article published; others may want to be on the New York Times Best Sellers List; still others may want to make a living writing; and there are those who may be seeking wealth and fame.

The key here is to dig down and really know what your perception of writing success is.

Once you are certain what you’re aiming for, take the necessary steps to become the writing success you dream of.

Sounds easy, right? Well, we all know it’s not, if it were, there would be no struggling writers.

The first problem you may run into is actually realizing how you perceive success, or what you want from your writing efforts.

According to Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, the number one reason for being stuck and not realizing your potential or goals is the lack of clarity.

So, how do you fix this problem?

Step One: You Must Define Your Goals and Your Perception of Success

It’s not sufficient to state you want to be a published writer; you need to proclaim the specifics.

You want to be a self-help nonfiction author of published books and magazine articles earning an income of $100,000 per year. You can even get much more specific than that—the more specific your goals and intentions are the more likely you will attain them.

Step Two: Prepare a Plan

When you finally have a break through and know exactly what you want from your writing efforts, you need to prepare a detailed plan. Your plan, just like your goals, needs to be very specific.

Think of a recipe: You plan on baking a cake, but you’ll need more than just the ingredients, you’ll need the exact amount of each ingredient, the proper procedure for mixing them together, the baking temperature, how long to bake it, how long to cool it before removing it from the pan . . . you get the idea.

Now you’re on your way . . . you have specific goals . . . a detailed plan . . . but . . . you’re still not achieving success.

Step Three: Take Action

Think of the first two steps as the foundation of your house. To move forward toward success, you need to build the house.

This takes action; it actually takes more than just action, it takes ongoing action and perseverance to carry you through to completion.

Step Four: Projection

You have the other steps down pat, now picture yourself attaining your goals.

According to motivational speakers, you will have a much greater chance of making it happen by projecting success. This step encompasses a number of strategies such as envisioning, projection, projection boards, and affirmations.

Take aim . . . shoot.

Originally published at: 
http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2016/04/10/aim-for-writing-success/

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter/ rewriter. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move and author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

If you’d like more writing tips or help with your children’s story, check out: Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

If you need help with your author platform, check out Karen's e-class through WOW!:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/


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Writers - 4 Powerful Steps to Breaking Bad Habits

Habits are pretty much who you are.

Are you a positive thinker? Are you ambitious? Do you work hard at your writing? Are you a compulsive cleaner? Do you procrastinate? Do you fear jumping in?

Some of the items above are traits, but they are also habits created – they reflect your actions and reactions. They are part of the things you do each and every day, consciously or subconsciously.

Have a habit you don’t like? Or, one that is getting in the way of your writing success?

Well, you’re in luck.

According to WebMD, you can break bad habits in three easy steps.

1. Analyze the habit you’d like (need) to break.

Maybe, you spend too much time on social media, even if it’s to work it. If you’re not getting the ROI on your efforts, you need to change things.

Maybe, you don’t get enough writing in.

That story that’s been on the back burner is still there. You keep saying you’re going to get to it, but you keep procrastinating.

Or, maybe you need to write two articles a week for your blog, but barely manage to write one. Not for a real lack of time, more because you’re not prioritizing your work.

Maybe, you’re not using video as much as you should in your content marketing, simply because it’s easier not to.

Figure out what it is – put it in front of you. This strategy may help you change things for the better.

2. Write it down.

Actually writing things down adds another element or layer to the consciousness of the habit.

Psychologist James Claiborn, PhD, and the co-author of The Habit Change Workbook, explains, “Write out a list of the pros and cons of this behavior and keep a record of when you do it. Measurement of anything tends to change it and makes people much more aware in the first place."

This is similar to number 1, in that it allows you to analyze the habit.

3. Put a temp in.

Once you realize the’ whens and whys’ of a habit you want to break, try substituting another action in its place.

Suppose you drink two cans of soda day. Substitute one of the cans for a cup of water or naturally flavored seltzer. Once that’s working well, substitute the other can of soda with something healthier.

Or, suppose you spend 2 hours a day on social media. Time yourself. Stop at one hour. Then jump into writing something, whether it's your story or a blog post.

4. Realize it may take a bit of time to break a habit.
This one isn’t from WebMD, but it’s powerful.

According to Mark Twain, "A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time."

I love this quote. In one sentence, it lets you know that habits can be broken, but it won’t be overnight. You need to persevere.

All of us have some habits we know we should overcome. Try these four tips and see if you can’t break at least one of your bad habits.

Make it a New Year's Resolution to break those bad habits!

Source:
(1) http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/3-easy-steps-to-breaking-bad-habits

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and ghostwriter. She is also an author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

And, be sure to connect with Karen at:
LinkedIn 
Twitter 
Facebook 



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Success - Do You Really Have the Power?

Coming up on a new year usually has people thinking of what they've done and what they want to do. And, those thoughts can easily include you and success.

How can I become successful? Do I have the power?

The question in the title has been asked for hundreds, probably thousands of years.

The simple truth of the matter is you have the power. You are in control of whether you become successful or not. Most of it has to do with your thought process.

Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right."

These two men were giants in the business world and they knew the power of positive thinking.

So, it’s easy to see that what you think has tremendous power over you and what you can accomplish.

But, how do you change your thought process?

The Fix

To get on the right track, you have to stop making excuses and playing the ‘woe is me’ card. Stop thinking and saying, “I can’t do it.”

It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are, you have the ability to learn what you need to learn to do what you need to do to be successful.

Maybe you want to be a working freelance writer who actually gets gigs and earns a good living.

Maybe you want to be an author of an award-winning book and make money from that book, or use it to make money from opportunities that arise from writing a great book.

Maybe you want to have a successful business with 5, 10, 100, or 1000 employees.

Whatever you want to do . . . whatever you REALLY want to do . . . is possible to do.

But, there is a second part to the success process.

German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

Ah ha!

Are lights blinking and bells chiming?

You can wake up every morning and say I’m going to make $500 today, but if you don’t work toward that goal, you won’t make a penny.

It’s your thoughts in collaboration with your actions that will give you the ability to succeed.

Below is the two-part success process broken into eight bite-size steps.

8 Steps Towards Success

1. Decide what you really what to become or do.
2. Find out what’s needed to accomplish what you want.
3. Believe you can do it.
4. Learn whatever you need to learn to get started and move forward.
5. Take it a step further and become an expert in one particular niche or industry.
6. Prepare a detailed business plan with short and long term goals, along with actionable steps to accomplish those goals.
7. Work, work, work.
8. If you need help, get it.

Pretty simple, right? Start your success process today.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author, children's ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

Check out Karen’s e-classes at:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

And, be sure to connect with Karen at:
Twitter
Facebook
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The Path to Writing Success - Focus, Determination, and Perseverance

By Karen Cioffi

Focus, determination, and perseverance are essential to just about every aspect of your life. Each characteristic is unique and together create a synergy. This is applicable to your writing for children career also.

So, what are these three elements that lead to success?

Focus is one’s ability to concentrate exclusively on a particular thing through effort or attention.

Determination is an unchanging intention to achieve a goal or desired end.

Perseverance takes determination a step beyond by using steady and ongoing actions over a long period of time to ensure its intention is accomplished. It continues on through ups and downs.

These elements combined with positive thinking and projection can be an unstoppable force.

I’m a huge fan of positive thinking and projection. I believe our mind has a great influence over our well being and the direction our life can take. Granted, it’s not always easy to harness that influence, but there is enough content out there, including The Secret, to at least strive to think positive and project.

For example, Jack Canfield and co-creator Mark Victor Hansen, of Chicken Soup for the Soul, were rejected 144 times from publishers. Finally, in 1993, their book was accepted. Since they were in debt and couldn’t afford a publicist, they did their own promotion. In 1995, they won the Abby Award and the Southern California Publicist Award.

In a teleconference I attended with Jack Canfield as the speaker, he said he and his co-author created vision boards of what they wanted. They even took a copy of the New York Times Best Selling Page, whited out the #1 spot, and replaced it with Chicken Soup for the Soul. They put copies of it everywhere, even in the toilet. They had focus, determination, perseverance, and they envisioned and projected success. The rest is history.

On a much smaller scale, my daughter Robyn, practices the philosophy of The Secret. For ten years she had dreamed of being in the audience of the Oprah show. She actually got tickets twice, but for one reason or another she was unable to attend. It didn’t stop her though; she persevered and kept trying. She knew one day she’d accomplish her goal and she did. She attended O’s 10 Anniversary celebration in New York City.

She even got her picture taken. You can check it out at (she’s on the right):
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Photos-from-O-Magazines-Live-Your-Best-Life-Weekend/5#slide

So, what has this to do with you as a children’s writer? Plenty.

The elements for obtaining your goals are the same whether for business, marketing, life, or writing. Just about every writer has heard the adage: it’s not necessarily the best writers who succeed, it’s the writers who persevere.

Be focused and determined on your writing goals. Have a ‘success’ mindset. This means to project success, along with taking all the necessary steps to becoming a successful and effective children’s writer. And, don’t let rejection stop you – persevere.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, children’s ghostwriter, and author/writer online marketing instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

For tips on writing for children OR if you need help with a project, visit: Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

And, you can follow Karen at:
Twitter
Facebook
Goolge+
 
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How Do You Build a Successful Writing Career? (3 Tips)

By Karen Cioffi

Writers need to be tough. It’s not an easy arena to be in. Did you know that writers get so many rejections there have actually been studies done on it? And, the statistics aren’t good. Most (well over 90%) of authors who seek representation by agents are rejected. (1)

That’s pretty severe.

Those in the industry, say not to contemplate ‘throwing in the towel’ until you’ve queried a minimum of 100 agents.

Another article at Writer’s Digest says, “don’t even think about giving up until you’ve queried at least one hundred agents.” (2).

But, what if Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen gave up after 100 rejections. They were rejected 144 times before landing a publishing contract.

So, how does a writer become successful?

Well, there are at least 3 characteristics that go a long way in giving a writer a fighting chance.

1. Perseverance.

Perseverance is probably the single most important factor.  You can learn to write. You can improve your writing. You can submit you work more often. But, if you get discouraged when successes don’t come as fast as you’d like or expected, you may start writing less, you may give up.

This is where you need to persevere. Know that it’s not the best writers who succeed, it’ those who persevere.

From personal experience I can attest to this. I work in two niches. I did it for years with not much success. Then suddenly, clients began finding me and hiring me in one of those niches.

More often than not, success is just around the corner. You’ve got to persevere.

2. You MUST set goals.

While perseverance is an essential factor in writing success, without setting goals, what are you persevering toward? You need to be a goal setter.

Your goals need to be specific. What do you really want to succeed at?

- Getting ongoing publishing contracts.
- Getting freelance writing projects on a regular basis.
- Supplementing your income.
- Earning $50,000 per year. Earning $100,000 per year. Earning $500,000 per year. Being a millionaire.
- Becoming a New York Times Best Seller.
- Becoming famous.

I found it more tangible to create monthly income goals rather than yearly ones.

You need to find what your goals are and what strategy to use to obtain them. And, you need to make those goals visible. Create a vision board or write them down and read them every day.

3. Focus

One big pitfall in writing is not having focus.

I mentioned earlier that after years of struggling along, I began to get clients on a regular basis. And, I’ve gotten lots of return and series clients.

One important factor how this came about is I began to focus on one writing niche. I devoted the majority of my time and energy in that area and it paid off.

This doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one writing niche, but if you want to succeed in something, you need to prioritize. You need to focus.

As my writing coach would say, focus on what’s making you money.

Get to work building these three characteristics and see if it doesn’t make a difference. And, let us know how you make out.

References:
(1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-hummel/why-agents-reject-96-of-a_b_4247045.html
(2) http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/dont-give-up-until-youve-queried-80-agents-or-more

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author and children's ghostwriter.

You can connect with Karen at:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KarenCV
Facebook: http://facebook.com/writingforchildrenwithkarecioffi
GoolgePlus: https://plus.google.com/+KarenCioffiVentrice/about
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/KarenCioffi/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice

This article was originally published at:
http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2016/04/17/how-do-you-build-a-successful-writing-career-3-tips/

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Building a Writing Career Takes Practice and Focus

By Karen Cioffi

My 10 year old grandson is trying out for the All County Band in his area. He was telling me the piece he has to play is difficult. I told him that practice is a powerful tool. Just 10-15 minutes a day will help tremendously.

Obviously the more practice the better, but my grandson has ADHD. Reducing the amount of time on practicing doesn’t make it seem overwhelming – it’s doable.

This philosophy will work for anything, including writing.

What does it take to have a flourishing writing career?
1. Learn the craft and practice it.

To be a ‘good’ writer, an effective writer, a working writer, you need to know your craft. The only way to do this is to study it.

If you’re starting out, take a few courses online or offline or both. Get a strong grasp of the basics.

We’re all familiar with “practice makes perfect.”

There’s a reason that saying has lasted. It’s true.

Writing coach Suzanne Lieurance says, “Writing is a lot like gardening because it takes constant pruning and weeding.”

You need to keep up with your craft. Even as your get better at it, keep honing your craft. Keep learning more and more and practice, practice, practice

So, what does it mean to practice?

Simple. Write. Write. Write.

Again, even if it's for short periods of time throughout the week, you're practicing. 

An excellent way to improve your writing skills is to copy (type and/or handwrite) content of a master in the niche you want to specialize in.

This is a copywriting trick. You actually write the master’s words and how to write professionally mentally sinks in.

Now, we all know that this is just a practice tool. We should never ever use someone else’s content as our own.

2. Focus in on a niche.

Have you heard the adage: A jack of all trades and master of none?

This is the reason you need to specialize.

You don’t want to be known as simply okay or good in a number of different niches. You want to be known as an expert in one or two niches.

This way, when someone is looking for a writer who specializes in, say, memoirs and autobiographies, you’re at the top of the list

I would recommend that your niches are related, like memoirs and autobiographies or being an author and book marketing.

Along with this, focus produces results.

According to an article in Psychology Today on focus and results, Dan Goleman Ph.D. says, “The more focused we are, the more successful we can be at whatever we do. And, conversely, the more distracted, the less well we do. This applies across the board: sports, school, career.

So, practice and focus your way to a successful writing career.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter. She is also an online marketing instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.
Follow Karen at: http://facebook.com/writingforchildrenwithkarecioffi



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Think Your Way to Writing Success with Daily Affirmations

"What you think, you become" is attributed to Buddha.

Then there's Mahatma Gandhi's saying:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

Whichever you choose, bottom line is we have control over what we become or accomplish through our thoughts.

Below Jack Canfield shows how to use daily affirmations to change your thought process and achieve success, including writing success.

The Reason You Need to Practice Daily Affirmations

By Jack Canfield

Successful people, from top salespeople and entrepreneurs to bestselling authors and Olympic athletes, have figured out that using willpower to power their success isn’t enough.

You need to let go of any and all negative thoughts and images and bombard your subconscious mind with new thoughts and images that are positive and stated in the present tense.

How do you do this?

The technique you use to do this is called daily affirmations, which is simply a statement that describes a goal in its already completed state.

Two examples of affirmations would be:

I am joyfully walking across the stage as I receive my MBA degree from Wharton.
I am so happy and grateful that I am now crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

In addition to all of the feedback I have received from hundreds of thousands of students from around the world about the effectiveness of their using daily affirmations, there’s now new academic research that shows in high-stress level environments those who do daily affirmations have lower stress levels and more success than those who don’t.

Discover how you can use affirmations to re-create your self-image, replace your limiting beliefs, and achieve success in my Daily Affirmations for Success Guide.

What are Daily Affirmations?

Daily affirmations are to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Repeating daily affirmations helps to reprogram the unconscious mind for success.

It helps eliminate negative and limiting beliefs and transforms your comfort zone from a limited one keeping you trapped in mediocrity to a more expanded one where anything is possible. It helps to replace your “I cant’s” with “I cans,” and your fears and doubts with confidence and certainty.

How Daily Affirmations Keep You Focused

- Daily affirmations are reminders to your unconscious mind to stay focused on your goals and to come up with solutions to challenges and obstacles that might get in the way.

- Daily affirmations also can create higher vibrations of happiness, joy, appreciation, and gratitude that then, through the law of attraction, magnetize people, resources, and opportunities to come to you to help you achieve your goals.

Whether you know it or not, you are always using affirmations… but usually not ones that will bring you what you want.

These are things like:

•    "Everything I eat goes straight to my hips."
•    "I am never going to meet somebody I can love."
•    "I never catch a break."
•    "No matter what I do, I never seem to get ahead." 

How to Create Daily Affirmations

The use of daily positive affirmations interrupts and eventually totally replaces this barrage of negative thoughts and beliefs. To achieve this, you must continually flood your unconscious with thoughts and images of the new reality you wish to create.

I am going to share with you two sets of guidelines for creating powerful daily affirmations that work—the long form and the short form.

Here are the eight guidelines for creating effective daily affirmations. You may want to write these down.  They are also in my book The Success Principles.

1.    Start with the words "I am." These are the two most powerful words in the English language.
2.    Use the present tense.
3.    State it in the positive. Affirm what you want, not what you don’t want.
4.    Keep it brief.
5.    Make it specific.
6.    Include an action word ending with –ing.
7.    Include at least one dynamic emotion or feeling word.
8.    Make affirmations for yourself, not others.

Daily Affirmations Examples

Here’s an example of an affirmation following these guidelines:

I am joyfully driving my new red Porsche Carrera convertible down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

Or if you are more ecologically minded, you can make that a new Tesla.

You can use the following simple formula: I am so happy and grateful that I am now ... and then fill in the blank.

Some examples would be:

- I am so happy and grateful that I am now earning $150,000 a year.
- I am so happy and grateful that I am now celebrating having achieved my ideal weight of 140 pounds.

One of my most famous affirmations is:

I am enjoying living in my beautiful beachfront villa on the Ka’anapali coast of Maui or somewhere better.

I started writing that affirmation in 1989 and in 2011 – that’s right, 22 years later, I had something better!

Make sure to take 5 to 10 minutes every day to repeat your affirmations – preferably out loud with high energy and enthusiasm.  The best times are early morning and right before you go to bed.

Create New Daily Positive Affirmations for Yourself

Write down 3 affirmations for yourself that affirm you having already achieved 3 of your goals and dreams. Then, write down the time of day that you will commit to practicing your affirmations. Is it when you wake up in the morning? Before you go to sleep? Or mid-day when you need a pick-me-up?

And to hold yourself accountable, go ahead and leave a comment below with your chosen time of day. I’ll follow up with you to make sure you’re staying on track!

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul® and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

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