I DID A 21 DAY AFFIRMATION CHALLENGE & THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED…

On average we think up to 70,000 thoughts a day and of those 70,000 thoughts our dominant subconscious beliefs about ourselves and the world around us is what shapes our outer reality.

 This is why it is incredibly crucial that when we are looking to make major life changes or quantum leap into our desired realities - our main focus should not be on attempting to control our external realities, but instead focus more deliberately on what is going on inside of our own heads. 

Don’t believe it’s that simple?

Detach for a second from your own personal thoughts & beliefs and imagine how different life is for the person who believes that everything they want comes effortlessly vs. the person who believes nothing is ever easy. 

Of course, if you were to compare backgrounds and upbringings you would probably find two wildly different experiences that shaped each person's present day beliefs. Maybe one person comes from money while the other comes from a family that struggled to make ends meet. Regardless of either circumstance it all simply boils down to the thoughts & personal perspectives of each individual that has now in present day circumstances created a dominant assumption and expectation of how the world works.

So, what if we make a conscious effort to change our dominant beliefs and assumptions?

Can we make the leap from being the person who believes nothing is easy to the person who is confident that everything is easy? Probably not without discipline & a strict mental diet. 

What a lot of people don’t understand is that the hard part of achieving success has nothing to do with doing more in your external reality, the hard part is making a conscious effort to reprogram your mind and break past old habits and limiting beliefs. 

So, for 21 days I put it to the test by carving out an hour of my day to loop 10 or so affirmations and simply see what happens…

I’ve never been a big fan of affirmations, but as someone with a lot of time on her hands and a very active mind, my thoughts can often take me down some awful rabbit holes which have never served my anxious tendencies. So, I figured what’s the harm in taking an hour a day to feed myself with healthy thoughts? 

I went the simple route and focused mainly on self concept using a loop from The Value of The Phoenix on YouTube that’s titled “put yourself on the pedestal”. 

I’m going to be honest with you, I’m excellent at putting others on a pedestal but I’m not sure I’ve ever actually done it for myself. 

Some of the affirmations included:

I am special 

I am unique

People love to be in my presence 

I am one of a kind

I radiate love and passion

I can achieve anything I want

& there is nobody else like me

Of course, I wanted to set myself up for success, so, I didn’t simply repeat the affirmations, I actually structured my days to really align with those statements. 

I went in with a preset list of intentions and things I’ve been looking to manifest and really hoping that by focusing on myself I would begin to create the space to allow all of these things to show up. 

Before starting this challenge I had already been working towards physical & mental health goals I had set towards the beginning of the year. Most of March I had been working with a coach and doing hypnotherapy in attempts to help regulate my nervous system and from February - March I had lost 13lbs only to find myself at a plateau weight I have struggled to break past for the last two years.

 Starting this challenge was the perfect opportunity to further focus on these specific goals, which translated into me being more intentional about diet and routine. 

Every morning I used my 4-5 mile walk as an opportunity to listen to the affirmations tapes vs. my usual routine of listening to music and letting my mind wander in daydream. After my dedicated time  I didn’t really dwell on the affirmations. 

I really believe this part is crucial if you plan to do this or are affirming for anything currently. Think of the subconscious mind as a muscle - if you go to the gym and have a really solid workout you probably aren’t going to be thinking about it after the fact. 

You did it. It’s done. You keep doing it & before you know it your muscles slowly become more defined. 

Now, with that being said it’s also important to note that when working new muscles that first week you can definitely expect some pain & soreness. The key is not to give up but to continue strengthening the muscle and eventually that soreness will lessen. 

The same goes for changing our thoughts and reprogramming our minds. 

My week one experience was not exactly gentle. Early in the week it felt as though my intrusive thoughts were louder and more vicious than ever before. I reassured myself that this was simply my subconscious mind attempting to override my desire for change by implementing old self-sabotaging behaviors, but nonetheless, I would wake up every morning and continue with my affirmations.

 By the end of the week I was confronted with very unexpected and upsetting information and I’m not going to lie to you,  I was considering giving up on this whole thing right then and there. Again, I believe because this whole process was approached more from a place of experimentation I really was able to let things unfold naturally, which at the time was me allowing myself to be hurt, to cry, & to think all those old thoughts. But then I woke up the next day, went on my walk and listened to those damn affirmations.

This was where it started to get interesting…

When I allowed myself to have a little pity party and then immediately stuck to this simple routine, it didn’t take more than 24hrs for me to see this entire situation from a whole new perspective. In reality (my new one) exactly what I had been asking for is what manifested. It didn’t happen the way I expected, but it was still movement towards my ultimate goal. 

This was the moment I was truly able to surrender into trusting that it’s time to stop looking externally and start trusting that everything is working out in my favor. 

By week two my focus was even more so on myself. Having that old story purged from the week before was exactly what I needed to move even deeper into me. By this time health hacks were popping up on my TikTok feed that I was inspired to test out for myself. 

These were as simple as, taking probiotics in the morning & and drinking a poppi prebiotic soda at night and you’ll lose 7lbs in 7 days. Or, protein hacks to kick cravings. 

Having all these things show up for me almost effortlessly, really brought me to the enlightenment around the power of intention. 

If you simply set the intention of what you desire and then just let go, The Universe will guide you. Yes, sometimes it might be uncomfortable, but when we look at it from a big picture view, the more we simply go with the flow, the less resistance we create and the more we allow space for whatever it is we want to show up. 

By the end of week two you’re girl finally broke through that 2 year plateau and had a whole new self-care routine that felt absolutely glorious. 

When the weekend came around I wasn’t surprised to have heard from exes who “couldn’t stop thinking of me” or old friends wanting to meet up and commenting on how much they enjoy spending time with me & even a current friend stating verbatim “see you’re on the pedestal now” in response to one of the people coming forward & without knowing about my current affirmation challenge. 

It’s funny how these things work. 

By the end of week 2, moving into week 3 - I could definitely see my external reality start to reflect my new thoughts and behaviors and I will say I was starting to get a bit bored with the hour a day of repetition but they say it take 21 days to form a habit so I wasn’t going to quit prematurely over a little bit of positive movement. 

Week three felt very routine. Like I was just sort of hammering in some of these thoughts and behaviors and going through the motions. I didn’t have any huge movement or grand revelations but I did feel better. I noticed that I was no longer really giving into impulse or letting myself be hijacked by intrusive thoughts. I simply felt at peace. 

By the weekend I was being showered with praise and lots of gifts. I felt special and adored and really allowed myself to be in receiving mode and reaffirmed to myself that The Universe loves to spoil me. 

So, what was my conclusion on this experience? 

Well, I’m writing this a little after a week later. I’m so ingrained in the habit of my morning walks and affirmations that I have continued but switched to a new bundle of them, this time it’s goddess affirmations. Cause, why not? 

The week after the 21 days has honestly been when I’ve seen the most movement. Again some nasty triggers that forced me to purge some of those old story beliefs still lingering, but I also managed to shed an additional 5 lbs putting me well past my plateau and actually cementing my belief that I can achieve whatever I want through intention and just giving myself space and a whole lot of grace. 

Do I recommend an hour of affirmations everyday?

I believe that affirmations are not necessary to successfully manifest. Again, I think my biggest lesson in all of this has simply been the power of intention & that truly strong intention and the ability to surrender is all that matters. 

But, if you are like me and struggle with anxious tendencies and intrusive thoughts. Then taking an hour of your day to hyper focus your thoughts and/or throw in an hour of meditation can be seriously beneficial in helping you overcome the self-sabotage that comes along with anxiety and being able to regulate your nervous system to actually help you in achieving success. 

Overall I give it a 10/10 and plan to continue including it in my daily routine.

UPDATE: After 3 months of using this method I managed to lose another 15lbs and decided to create my very own affirmation tapes & hypnotic programing package which you can find linked here - “The Glow UP Mindset” includes a worksheet that utilizes a unique hypnotic intake technique that helps you identify root core beliefs to be flipped, affirmation tapes, and a hypnotic programming meditations that you can use consistency for 30 to 60 days!

Or if you are interested in creating your own affirmation tapes and hypnotic programming, check out the new software I am using called MINDZOOM where you can create your own tapes and subliminal right from your computer! Click here to check it out

Let me know if you plan to try it out and what challenge you want to see me do next!