For several years a staple of the self-help literature has been the affirmation, a statement we make aloud or silently, to ourselves.

Salespeople find it helpful to repeat this line:

Im making more and more sales all the time!

A French pharmacist, turned psychologist, Emile Coue, coined an affirmation that he found effected great cures in his patients, and it has been broadly used ever since:

Every day, in every way, Im getting better and better!

This is an astonishingly powerful line for several reasons:

(1) It counters the corrosive belief, that with time, we are doomed to age, falter, and succumb to weakness.

(2) It is all encompassing. One simple phrase says excellence is within reach and inevitably we are attaining it.

(3) It commits us to continuous improvement, without hindering us with unreasonable, specific benchmarks. Who cares if youre 10% or .00001% better than yesterday? Youre moving in the right direction, even if you cant measure it, precisely.

(4) It gives you a quick way to put the past, with any of its disappointments, behind you. If an unkind relative or associate wants to remind you of a failing, all you have to do is tell yourself that this was unfortunate, but every day in every way, youre still getting better and better.

(5) It doesnt make you unduly competitive with anybody else. YOU are getting better and better, and thats what counts. If others want to do the same, great. But your concern is about your development, which is something you control.

You may have known about this affirmation for some time, but like me, youve used it intermittently.

Perhaps its time to revive it, and to prove once again, that we ARE getting better and better!