Do you use confirmation and affirmation interchangeably? Many people do, even when these words mean completely different things.
One is not a synonym for the other; neither do they have the same antonyms. In fact, the context where they are used is completely different.
In this quick post, I’ll compare confirmation vs affirmation to help you understand the difference.
My goal is not merely to establish their correct grammatical usage but to help you see how you can literarily inject power into your life using powerful statements.
Let’s dive in!
What Is Confirmation?
Confirmation is the noun form of the word “confirm,” which comes from the Latin confirmare. The word means to ratify or approve of something or someone.
To confirm is to eliminate all doubts about something by an indisputable fact or authoritative statement.
The word also means strengthening a resolve or opinion, validating a fact, giving assurance, or supporting the truth about somebody or something.
Generally, confirmation can be used for both positive and negative situations. You can confirm or verify that something has happened or will happen, regardless of whether it is a good or bad thing.
Examples of Confirmation
Here are some example statements that show the use of confirmation:
- “The medical test confirms that the infection is completely cured.” This confirmation statement ratifies what has happened. It removes any doubt that there are any infections present in the patient’s body.
- “He confirmed the rumor that he is quitting the firm.” Confirmation is used here to validate the authenticity of certain news that has been making rounds.
- “She confirmed the hotel reservations.” This gives assurance of something that has already happened. In this case, the guests are assured of their reservations.
- “He confirmed that he would complete the project on time.” Confirmation is used here to strengthen resolve.
The textbook definition of confirmation may not really make any difference to you, and that’s understandable.
However, it is important to know that you can bring positivity or negativity into your life, depending on how you use confirmation.
What are you confirming in your life? What situations are you keeping active in your life by ratifying or approving their rightness, even when you clearly don’t want them?
I am not suggesting that you adopt the head-in-the-sand approach or live in denial of your situation. However, confirming something you don’t want is giving your personal approval for that situation to persist.
So, what should you do if something isn’t quite the way you want it? Ignore the situation?
Definitely not!
A practical approach would be to acknowledge the situation while taking steps to change that reality. This is more helpful than accepting a reality you don’t want by using supportive statements.
For example, you may have flunked an aptitude test or an interview in the past. This is a fact, but you don’t want it to repeat itself.
A poor approach to preventing a reoccurrence is to use confirmation in the negative sense.
You can’t go on telling yourself, “I know that I’m not good at interviews,” and hope to pass an aptitude test, right?
Instead of confirming what has happened, you can change the narrative by using positive confirmations, such as “I am sure I will do better next time.” This statement strengthens your resolve instead of weakening it.
Of course, you will need plenty of help to do this, and I suggest you start by reading some of the best books on positive thinking.
However, if you find it a bit tricky to use confirmation to your advantage, perhaps you might want to try affirmations.
What Is Affirmation?
Affirmation is the noun form of the word “affirm,” which comes from the Latin affirmer. The word means to state positively or to assert the validity of a thing. It is an oral or written indication of a belief or fact. Think of it as making a formal declaration of facts.
To affirm can also mean to express dedication to something or someone.
Examples of Affirmation
Here are a few example statements of affirmation:
- “He affirmed his innocent.” The statement asserts the individual’s position about his innocence.
- “Serving in the military affirms your loyalty to your country.” Affirmation is used in this context to express dedication to a person’s country.
- “I am becoming a better person every day.” This statement positively declares a belief.
Unlike confirmation, affirmative statements are primarily positive. You can regularly repeat affirmations to improve your positive thinking skills.
Without getting into all the somewhat difficult-to-explain details, repeating affirmations can rewire your mindset and help you live a more successful life.
In my earlier example of having difficulty passing a job interview, you can use affirmative statements to declare your preferred situation, as long as you believe it to be true.
For example, you could say something along the lines of, “I am successful in everything I put my mind to.”
This is not just any wishful statement. Instead, regularly repeating it and believing in its validity forces your mind to think of ways to be successful in whatever matters to you.
Merely repeating affirmations, such as “I am confident,” isn’t going to work if you:
- Don’t really believe that affirmations work
- Don’t affirm wholeheartedly
- Don’t affirm with a firm belief in the outcome
If you want some of the most powerful words of affirmation to help you reprogram your mind, consider checking out these 100 Words of Affirmation for Men.
Difference Between Confirmation and Affirmation
In terms of context, confirmations are often used in religious settings or rites, while affirmative statements are often used in legal context and have different meanings.
Away from the textbook differences of confirmation vs affirmation, the two have some practical differences that can impact the quality of our lives.
Confirmation establishes the validity or truth of something, while affirmation emphatically declares one’s opinion or belief about something, regardless of what outward appearances and situations may suggest.
Here’s what I recommend:
Only confirm the truths and situations you want and affirm situations you want to bring into your life.
Want to change your mindset from negative to positive thinking? I invite you to take this 7-Day Positivity Challenge.
