I've always been leary of affirmations.  After all, does Ross Perot have to write on his mirror, "I am rich" over and over, or does he just know it?

But I do think it is a good idea to point the mind towards the positive, towards what is wanted.  While I think that is important to clear out emotionally old emotional habits with tools such as EMDR, it is also good to know what to put it its place.

The following way to do affirmations is from David Wood:

You can use it for any area of your life.
 
You start your affirmations with
 
Why am I .... ?
 
Why do I .... ?
 
And what follows is a powerful statement - that will grow you to your potential
 
i.e., Why am I able to be present with my children?
      Why do I take such good care of my body?
      Why am I happy and smile and laugh so often?
      Why do I want to travel to ........?
 
What happens is that each time you read a question, your brain starts answering the question in a positive way - and you can keep adding new answers all the time.