About Ballast

Ballast is an independent iOS app that writes affirmations for a situation, not for everybody — anxiety, exams, work stress, chronic illness, new parenthood.

The one rule

Every line has to pass a single test: it must be credible said out loud by a skeptical adult, in a normal voice, without irony. If reading it aloud makes you wince, or wish you had a coach's voice to sell it, it doesn't ship. That rule is why you won't find "I am a magnet for miracles" here.

The method

What we write are coping statements, not incantations. Coping statements are a standard technique in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): short, concrete sentences you rehearse ahead of time so they are easier to reach for when you're already struggling. A good one acknowledges the difficulty first, then hands you something to stand on — it never denies the feeling, and it never promises the feeling will disappear.

Every affirmation is written and reviewed against a documented tone guide before it enters the library. The guide bans cure promises, toxic positivity, ableist assumptions, and clinical claims. When in doubt, we cut the line.

What Ballast is not

Ballast is support for a hard day. It is not treatment, and it is no substitute for one. Nothing here is medical advice or a clinical claim. If anxiety, pain, or a health condition is shaping your daily life, that is worth raising with a doctor or a therapist — these things are treatable, and an app is not the treatment. If you are in crisis, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line in your country.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a line that reads wrong to you? Email dailyballast@proton.me.