Affirmations have been around for a long time. The idea is simple: If you tell yourself positive things over and over, you’ll eventually believe it. And once you believe it, you’ll soon achieve it.

It’s a nice thought, but I could never get it to work. My mind just refused to take the over-the-top positivity in most recommended affirmations seriously (e.g., 1, 2, 3). Hence, my attempts rarely lasted more than a week.

But the promise of a mind conditioned to automatically do all the right things drove me to keep trying. And so, after much trial and error, I eventually came up with the idea of my personal constitution.

This constitution has now served me well for about three years. And today, I want to share it with you.

What is a Personal Constitution?

In a nutshell, a personal constitution is a concise description of how the best version of you will act.

Sure, we all have some idea about the person we’d like to be. But outlining this in a concrete and formalized manner you can recite daily gives a massive boost to your chances of actually becoming that person.

In other words, a personal constitution helps you gradually become the best version of yourself. You’ll start doing more of the right things, not because you’re forcing yourself, but simply because of who you are.

A constitution is best defined in short, easily memorizable sections, dealing with specific areas of your life. Let’s run through four of them now.

1. Health

We all know what we should do to live a long and healthy life, but too few of us manage to do those things with enough consistency. A constitution can eliminate most of this unnecessary self-destruction.

Here are some helpful guidelines for drafting a good health constitution:

• State why you want to be healthy.
• Be specific about the healthy choices you’ll make regarding nutrition, exercise, mental health, and sleep.

As an example, my health constitution looks like this:

I commit to complete mental and physical health, so I can see the 22nd century. Today, my food intake will be moderate and nutritious, my physical activity regular and enjoyable, my mental demeanor calm and positive, and my sleep rightfully prioritized.

Your constitution should be unique to you. For example, my curiosity about the future of our planet motivates me to extend my life as long as possible. It’s a strange motivation, but it gives me all the drive I need to extend my 11-year perfect health streak indefinitely. Get yourself such a drive.

2. Creativity

Humans are inherently creative creatures, and allowing this innate creativity to flourish is essential for a happy and fulfilling life.

Sadly, today’s world is so full of distractions that few people get to experience the inspired focus needed to set their creative powers free. A few well-chosen phrases in your constitution can help you cast off these shackles.

Here are some pointers:

• Openly declare the ultimate creative contribution you’d like to make to society.
• State how you will deploy your creative powers today to move a tiny bit closer to this goal.

Here’s my creativity constitution as an example:

I dedicate my vast creative powers to the development of a sustainable and equitable global society. In this noble quest, I will steadily advance our CCS concepts, develop my system-scale simulation toolset, and promote life efficiency as a sustainability solution

If your environment severely constrains your creativity today, also state what you will do about it. Without an environment that facilitates focus and freedom, your creative powers will remain forever dormant.

Aside from that, be sure to make it as personal as possible. Your creativity constitution must talk about things that naturally stir your passion.

3. People

Relationships are complicated. They can bring great happiness, inspiration, and progress. But they can also veer off on all manner of painful and frustrating tangents.

The quality of any relationship is the accumulation of thousands of little moments. And a great relationship naturally emerges when the vast majority of those moments make both parties feel better.

But remember: The only person in the relationship you can hold accountable for safeguarding those moments is yourself. Once you accept this fact, a good constitution can help you put it into practice.

Here are some guidelines:

• Prioritize quality and emphasize personal responsibility.
• Directly state the importance of doing the small things right, preferably using the “bucket” philosophy.

The last point comes from a great little book by Tom Rath (highly recommended). It works on the idea that we all have an emotional bucket that is filled by positive interactions or emptied by negative interactions.

A full bucket makes anyone feel awesome. And developing yourself to the point where you can regularly make other people feel awesome is a surefire recipe for success.

Hence, my bucket-filling constitution looks like this:

I take full responsibility for the quality of my relationships. This means that every interaction must fill the other person’s bucket, even if it’s just one little drop.

Every little interaction counts. Your constitution will help you remember this next time you get the urge to empty some buckets.

4. Burdens

Most of us have some cross to bear. But your burden does not have to dictate your destiny (here are some inspirational examples).

When contemplating life’s burdens, it’s essential to realize that it’s not necessarily the burden itself that makes life difficult. It’s more the way we choose to respond.

Do we forever curse life’s injustice and spend our days in frustration and fear? Or do we use our burdens as resistance training to become stronger?

As an example, my burden is a stuttering problem that diluted much of my life. But, after the eye-opening McGuire Program and many personal development books, my stutter helped shape me into a highly productive scientist. Ironically, it even boosted my communication skills by helping me concentrate more meaning into my words and become a great listener.

Here are some helpful guidelines for drafting a constitution to govern your burdens:

• Use your burden as a trigger for a positive action or thought process.
• Be specific about how you will handle your burden today.

As an example, my version looks like this:

I maintain full focus on complete communication in all speaking situations. If I stutter today, it will serve as a trigger to refocus on my concept of holistic eloquence.

If you have any cross to bear, I’d strongly recommend giving this a try. If not, good for you!

Putting it into practice

The simple act of drafting your constitution is not going to help much all by itself. Like affirmations, it requires regular repetition to really sink in.

My constitution has a fixed slot in my carefully choreographed morning routine. It flows beautifully with the inspirational instrumental music on my morning playlist that triggers “constitution-time.”

When the music starts, I recite my constitution with maximum life in my voice and positivity in my body language. I even have some pictures on my walls that signify each element of my constitution and some simple choreographed gestures that flow with the music.

You don’t need to go that far, but it’s vital that your constitution ritual can keep you engaged day after day. If you just ramble it off like a chore, it’s never going to last long enough to make a difference.

So, set aside an hour to draft your constitution and decide how you’ll implement it. Then start experimenting. Your constitution will likely evolve over time (mine is currently at version 9), and so will the elements that help you engage emotionally (audio, visual, and body language).

Good luck, and enjoy your journey to the best you!