This is a question that comes up a lot. Are affirmations you record with your own voice more effective for you than affirmations recorded by someone else? Maybe it can make a difference, if you really follow through and log a lot of affirmations. I can tell you that recording a large number of affirmations is a lot of work. I’m not sure it would make much of a difference to hear them in your own voice.

Why do I think there is not much difference in the results? Take general self-help tapes produced by a wide variety of people as an example. For example, people like Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, Zig Zigar or Brian Tracy. I have listened to recordings of these authors/speakers for years. Although they are not affirmations, I have actually used them as affirmations by hitting the rewind button and listening to the same points over and over again (especially Tony Robbins’ Personal Power show). In fact, that’s how I got the idea for the Power Affirmations program.

In fact, I think having access to someone else’s recorded material was superior for me for the following reasons:

1. The recordings were readily available. I could start fast. For example, years ago, I started making my own recording of “Think and Grow Rich.” After burning just a few pages, I was so dissatisfied with the results that I quickly gave up. I knew it wasn’t going to work. I did some research and found that there was a complete set of tapes that was available. When I got them, I listened and listened and listened to some more. It was much easier. I finally used up the tapes and bought a new game when it became available on CD. My initial positive response to the audio recordings of Zig Ziglar’s “Think and Grow Rich” and “Secrets to Closing the Sale” sold me on a lifetime of audio learning. If I had tried to record all this material just to have it with my own voice, it would have been impossible (as well as unnecessary).
2. The other people who make the recordings had a delivery that inspired confidence and conviction. I found it extremely helpful to listen to people who really believe in what they have to say and passionately deliver their message. Your giving helps transfer some of your faith and trust to me.
3. Recordings in another voice can act as “a voice of authority”. It’s interesting how this can have a powerful subconscious impact on our thoughts. Sometimes we believe something more strongly simply because a person we respect and admire has planted that idea in our minds. You see it with kids and their parents, industry experts, motivational speakers, etc.
4. I found that by listening to the recordings repeatedly, over time, his voice became my voice. Her words became my words. Her thoughts became my thoughts. Listening to these speakers completely changed the way I spoke to myself: the words and the tone. And that continues to transform my life to this day. This is what I hope these recordings will do for you (when you listen repeatedly).

It seems to me that the real question is whether or not you will get outstanding results from listening to someone else. I think the answer is absolutely yes: you can get outstanding results listening to someone else’s recorded affirmations, if you listen repeatedly. Just think of all the commercials we are exposed to on a regular basis. Through repetition, they influence us to spend billions of dollars on their products and services. In that case, you cannot choose the message that is being communicated to you. When you select a self-help audio program, you can choose the message you want to listen to beforehand.

If you want to record your own affirmations, do so. Just make sure you keep going. I just want you to have an additional perspective to think about. What really matters is getting a lot of content that can be repeated over and over again. But if someone has already done recording and editing work, and it’s quality recordings for a reasonable price, they’ll probably find it easier and faster to use what’s already available. Why try to recreate the wheel?