Is positive thinking all it takes to change your life?

Well, yes and no. Positive thinking without action won't do a great deal. But when you combine the two, you can do anything.

Begin with a positive thought, affirmation, or mantra that sums up your goal or encourages you.

Author Glennon Doyle is fond of "we can do hard things."

The next step is to repeat it to yourself as often as possible. Write it in your daily planner, or make it your phone's background. Use it when you meditate, exercise, or experience a letdown.

Writing it multiple times is especially effective because it involves more of your senses and reinforces the idea in your mind.

Your subconscious is behind the real magic that happens when you use this affirmation repeatedly.

The subconscious is responsible for body functions that you don't have to think about, like breathing. It also likes to keep things the way they've always been. It perceives any new behavior as threatening or dangerous and will try to stop it.

This is why dieting is so hard.

Your subconscious believes whatever you tell it, whether or not it's true.

The trick is getting your conscious mind to believe it. That's where affirmations followed by action come in. Repetition helps create new neural pathways in your brain and new beliefs.

Once your conscious and subconscious minds agree, the behavior you're trying to change will become easier.

When you believe you can do it, you can.