It's almost like telling herself that she is. Let me explain... This woman's ex-husband told her countless of times that she was stupid. No matter how hard she tried to do a good job, it was never good enough for him. Finally, she believed his hurtful words to be true. After all, he beat her to prove it! To change a belief you must first understand where it came from. Then you need to cast it aside and create yourself a brand new belief -- one that is relevant and true for you now. By telling herself that she is not stupid, she is merely focusing on her fear of it being true. Our subconcious mind is primitive and will not absorb words that are seen as non-essential. So to this woman's brain, it may only hear, "I stupid". This reinforces the belief. To take any limiting belief about yourself and your capabilities, and reframe it in a positive way that will allow you to grow and become more confident, the new belief must be a positive statement. It must be rhymthic and easy to say for our brains to remember and best respond, and it must be about yourself. Don't focus on changing the behaviour of other people -- this will change nothing. Focus only on yourself. A positive statement focuses on what you ARE and not what you HOPE you are NOT. Everything you think and say is an affirmation. Whatever thoughts you have or words you speak