December 16, 2024
Awakening Who I Am:
Two Words to Ignite Your Transformation
Dan McCormick and Ken Shelton
Aviva Publishing (2024)
ISBN: 1-979-8991472715
New Book Advocates Positive Affirmations for Personal Transformation
Dan McCormick and Ken Shelton’s new book Awakening Who I Am: Two Words to Ignite Your Transformation is the most powerful and positive affirmation book to date. A lot of books have advocated and celebrated the power of positive thinking and how using affirmations can increase positivity. However, few authors have gone so far as to devote an entire book to affirmations, and Dan and Ken do it in a structured way that turns it into a simple, weekly process that will have you saying affirmations until it becomes second nature.
The title was chosen because the authors want readers to ask themselves the question “Who am I?” along with several sub-questions, including “Am I who I say I Am?” “Am I who others in authority tell me I Am? And “Am I who I think, behave, act, or perform as?” The purpose of these questions and the use of the affirmations that follow is to make the reader rethink who they believe they are and realize they can become almost anything or anybody they choose.
Unfortunately, when we start asking these questions, we might discover much of what we say about ourselves is negative. We probably aren’t even aware how negative. We need to replace the negative with positive affirmations like “I Am Worthy” and “I Am Capable” to develop the mindset of a winner so we can play like one in the game of life. While those two affirmations may seem like obvious ones to defeat negativity, some of the others are a bit more surprising, such as “I Am a Finisher” and “I Am Compassionate,” but they are equally important as Dan and Ken explain.
By using this book’s seven powerful affirmations—one for each day of the week—your motivations will change and you’ll begin to act differently. Rather than procrastinating or failing to act out of fear, you’ll begin to take positive actions to make things happen in your life that you have long wanted. As Dan and Ken say, with each affirmation you can first win the morning and then win the day, and with a week’s worth of affirmations, you’ll win the week and eventually win at life.
I don’t have room here to elaborate on all seven of the affirmations, but the one that really struck me was “I Am a Finisher.” This positive affirmation is the opposite of the negative “I am a quitter.” Unfortunately, many of us are quitters, or at least, we leave things undone, not following through on what we begin. As Dan and Ken note, we often start projects with enthusiasm but then become bored with them. As an author of two dozen books myself, I know that perseverance is what leads to finishing a book. Even if you’re inspired and have a great idea, you still need to put in the many lonely hours of toil, frustration, and boredom that are mixed with enthusiasm to finish. Dan and Ken do not hold back in being realistic about what it takes to be a finisher. They admit there are no easy fixes and rarely any new or brilliant ideas to make things easier. Most of success results from dedication, daily work, and engaging in the mundane until we finish.
How many of us start projects we never finish? We can become better finishers when we embrace another of the affirmations Dan and Ken offer, “I Am Intentional.” If we are intentional about the projects we begin, we will be more likely to finish them because we will have determined how they will add to our overall goals and happiness if we take them on.
I also really appreciated the spiritual element that ran throughout the book. Dan and Ken remind us that in the Bible, God tells Moses, “I Am,” meaning God exists. In the gospel of John alone, Jesus makes seven “I am” statements, such as “I am the light of the world.” Why does this matter? Because when we say, “I am,” we affirm we also exist and are part of the greater “I Am.” Dan and Ken also quote the popular Bible verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Whatever your religious belief system, when you affirm, “I Am,” you connect yourself to the Divine “I Am,” and as a result, you can do all things through that connection.
Awakening Who I Am is, however, not simply metaphorical and symbolic in its philosophy. Most of it is very practical. Each chapter includes a spotlight on a real person who has used affirmations and consequently changed their thinking and life. One of my favorite spotlights featured Kenny Brady who describes how he and his kids will say an affirmation every time they are in the car and come to a stop sign. By creating such a simple reminder, we can make saying affirmations a regular and powerful daily process.
Finally, the book has profound and inspiring quotes throughout, such as Louise Hay’s “You’ve been criticizing yourself for years. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” The chapters end with exercises to help you apply the affirmation the chapter has focused on. The authors also repeatedly invite you to be a co-creator of the book by writing down your own thoughts on the chapter in your journal so you can better apply what you learned to who you are.
As someone who has long used affirmations, I can testify that they have helped me achieve my goals. I have also appreciated the reminder to use them in these pages. The simple weekly process advocated in Awakening Who I Am will have you changing your mindset and seeing your world in a new way. That awakening will soon lead to you taking inspired and intentional action to make your life one full of peace, happiness, and fulfillment. I Am certain this book will benefit you.
For more information about Awakening Who I Am, visit www.AffirmIAm.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
