This is Day 3 of the 15-Day Affirmation Challenge held in July 2014, where we practice positive affirmations for 15 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Dear everyone, welcome to Day 3 of our 15-Day Affirmation Challenge! :D While we had 380 participants yesterday, we are at the 410-participant mark today!! :D
Here is the overview of all the posts for the challenge so far:
- Affirmation Challenge announcement and signup details: 15-Day Affirmation Challenge | 410 Participants!
- Affirmation Challenge Day 1 [New Beginning] | 42 Comments
- Affirmation Challenge Day 2 [Self-Love] | 12 Comments
Uh… Hello? Where’s Everyone??
Here’s something interesting that I’ve observed — while we have over 410 participants in the challenge (and more if we include lurkers), there has been a remarkably low proportion of people sharing their results in the comments section!
For example, yesterday’s task on self-love only has 12 participants sharing their results (and these 12 participants — Vivian, Samuel, ASLO, Sarah, Jun Xiang, VickiB, Kae, etc. — have all shared very beautiful revelations that I encourage you to read), even though we have over 410 people participating!! Where are the other 398 of you?!?! O_O Hello? *looks around*
Wait, I get it:
- Perhaps some of you are busy and you have only allocated a minute or two to glance through each day’s task, before moving on to your next to-do.
- Perhaps some of you have done the tasks but are too shy to share your results.
- Perhaps some of you lost interest in the challenge, decided that it’s not going to work for you (maybe the affirmations are too “positive” or too “far off” from your current place in life), and decided to drop out.
Whatever the reason, it’s totally understandable.
But… hey. Didn’t we all sign up for the challenge a week ago (upon the announcement of the challenge) and pledge ourselves to this challenge? Didn’t we agree to give this challenge a go and see what’s going to come out of it for us at the end of the 15 days? Didn’t we implicitly agree to put our best foot forward by virtue of signing up? After all, some of us have been stuck in our comfort zones for a while, repeating the same routine day after day, and perhaps we thought, Hey, this 15-day affirmation challenge may just be the right “kick” I need to move me in the right direction. I’m going to sign up and see where it brings me!
You know, honestly speaking, I’m just more than happy that you’re here reading PE and checking out these affirmation tasks, whether as an official participant or not. While I’m dedicating a good chunk of my day every day just to run this challenge (e.g. yesterday I cut short a meeting and rushed home just to finish up the blog post for Day 2; today I was out running errands for my house moving, skipped my appointment to view my wedding photos/videos (Ken did so on our behalf), and rushed home again to write the affirmation task for today), I’m doing this because I want to. Just like with the free articles I write on PE, I want to be here to support you to practise affirmations and make the right change in your life.
However, I can’t do much if you don’t step out, do the tasks, and share your results with the rest of us in the community! This challenge is designed with all of you in mind, so when I get few to nobody sharing, it’s hard for me to get a sense on what’s happening at your side of the world, and as such plan the next task. (Yes, I do dynamically create the challenge based on how everyone’s experiences at the moment, so every challenge I’ve run so far — Live a Better Life in 30 Days, Be a Better Me in 30 Days, gratitude challenge, kindness challenge, healthy living challenge, etc. — has basically always been designed around you guys!) It’s like I’m groping around in the dark and trying to aim for the bull’s-eye when I don’t even know where the dartboard is. I have no idea who’s doing (or not doing) that day’s task, how his/her experience is with the task, and what help he/she needs if any.
Regardless of whether there’s going to be 100 or 0 people commenting/sharing in the subsequent tasks, I’ll still be here running this challenge, meticulously planning and writing each day’s task, creating the affirmation wallpapers, and posting each day’s post within the day — rain or shine. Even if there are 0 people commenting for the remaining 13 days of the challenge, I’ll still be here, turning up every day, till the last day of the challenge.
But I do sincerely hope that…
- …for those of you lurking in the shadows, that you can step out to officially sign up for the challenge.
- …for those of you who have signed up for the challenge but are just reading the posts passively, to take a few minutes of your day to just do the tasks that I have meticulously thought through and mapped out for you. Even if you may be skeptical of them, it doesn’t hurt to just take a few minutes to try something out, something new, for yourself.
- …for those of you who are doing the tasks duly but are resisting sharing your results for whatever reason, to just take a tiny step and share some of your results (however little, however much) in the comments section, just so that others can learn from your experience.
- …and for those of you who have been sharing your results openly or even blogging about them (thank you and thank you!!!), to check out a couple other participants’ answers and to offer a word of advice, support, or just a pat in the back for a job well done to them, where appropriate.
…because when you do that, you don’t just help the other participants or myself; you’re really helping yourself to learn, grow, and become better — precisely what you desired when you signed up for the challenge.
I also hope that none of you take the challenges at PE or my efforts for granted, because it takes quite a lot of work to run a challenge (much less of a high-quality one, AND at a scale of several hundred participants), and I’m not charging for any of this or earning a single dime from my work here. The challenge tasks don’t just magically pop out by themselves every day — I’m working hard in the background every day to make them happen, including taking time away from my personal life (e.g. my own free time, time spent with my husband Ken, time spent in house moving) and also putting on hold other projects that I can be doing (say, running a new course) since I’ve blocked out the next two weeks of July specially for the affirmation challenge.
Okay, enough with all this mambo-jumbo!!! This is probably the first and last time I’m going to appeal to you to actively participate in this challenge, as it’s not in my place/interest to push anyone to do things especially if it’s out of his/her interest/comfort zone. Whatever will happen will happen, and I’m always ready to make the best out of any situation that happens.
Now, let’s move to today’s task! Today is Day 3, and we’re looking at…
Day 3: [Ability]
![Affirmation Wallpaper, [Ability]: “I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”](https://personalexcellence.co/files/affirmation-ability.jpg)
Today’s affirmation: “I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”
How many times have you said, “I can’t do this,” even before you tried something?
I’m sure you have. I have as well.
The words, “I can’t,” are incredibly powerful and dangerous. If you have listened to my interview on BFM 89.9 last month on How Your Language Affects Your Success, you would know that I cited “I can’t” as one of the top five self-limiting statements that people make, along with “I won’t” and “I don’t know how.” When people say “I can’t,” it either suggests that they have a low sense of self-perceived ability, or simply a lack of willingness to try something (i.e. close-mindedness).
It really doesn’t matter if you say “I can’t” to small mundane things. For example, yesterday I was grocery shopping and I wanted to buy beverages for the household. However, I decided that they’re too heavy for me to carry home (since I had two full baskets full of grocery), so I thought, I can’t carry them home, and decided to get them in my next trip instead. It’s also okay if you say “I can’t” to things that you don’t believe in or things that you don’t want to do (i.e. learning to say no).
Where the issue of saying “I can’t” surfaces is when you say it to the important things: the things that matter, such as your biggest goals and dreams. Imagine the following:
I can’t achieve my dreams. They are too big for me. I best settle with what I have today.
I can’t blog (say, if your goal is to run a successful blog based on your passion). I don’t know how to blog and I’m not good at writing anyway.
I can’t quit this job I hate. It’s my iron rice bowl. There’s nothing else that I can do.
I can’t lose my excess weight. I’ve tried before and I just gain everything back. I’m doomed not to have a healthy body.
… and so on and so forth. Statements like these, they literally serve as the foundation for more negative, self-limiting, and self-defeating thoughts to harvest. When your thoughts affect your actions thereby affecting your results, you can be sure that thinking “I can’t” will almost always create a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a world where there are already enough challenges to live our dream life, do we really need to stand in our way to realize our own goals and dreams?
The truth is that you have all the power you need to achieve your goals and dreams, whether you believe it or not. The very fact that you have the ability to conjure up the goal/dream IN YOUR MIND is already the very evidence that you can realize it — otherwise, why would it even appear in your mind??? The universe allowed for this thought to manifest because it knows that you have the capability to MAKE IT HAPPEN. And in order to do that, you have to first get rid of those self-limiting thoughts, believe in yourself, and then take the subsequent steps to make it happen.
Today, your task is to clear your self-limiting belief(s) in a goal/dream and identify steps to make it happen. Let’s get started! :D
Your Task Today
- Identify a goal/dream that you’re blocking yourself in currently. For example:
- Weight loss: I can’t lose weight.
- Family: I can’t improve my relationship with my parents.
- Studies: I can’t achieve straight-As.
- Quitting bad habits: I can’t quit smoking.
- Eating habits: I can’t stop emotional eating.
- Others: I can’t succeed in [XXX] goal.
- Identify your self-limiting belief(s) in this goal/dream. For example:
- Say you want to quit smoking but you haven’t been able to. Your self-limiting beliefs may be:
- “I can’t stop smoking because I’ve tried too many times but failed.”
- “Smoking helps me to relieve stress, so I need it in my life. I’ll continue to smoke whenever I feel stressed up because it makes me feel good.”
- Say you want to quit smoking but you haven’t been able to. Your self-limiting beliefs may be:
- Change this self-limiting belief(s). Continuing the smoking example above, the new empowering belief(s) can be:
- “It doesn’t matter how many times I fail smoking; what matters is that I learn from each relapse. I will identify the root causes of my smoking addiction and address them one at a time.”
- “I have been using smoking as a stress reliever, so I need to find a different way to cope with my stress. This way, I’ll stop being reliant on smoking to relieve stress, because it really doesn’t — it makes me more stressed instead in the long run.”
- Identify action step(s) you’re going to take to realize this goal/dream. Include deadlines where applicable. For example:
- Check out internet and library resources on how to quit smoking (Today)
- Seek out quit-smoking groups (such as Nicotine Anonymous) and join them to get group support (This Friday)
- Identify the root causes of my smoking and address them one at a time (Ongoing)
- Say your new belief(s), along with today’s affirmation:
“I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”
(If you think it’s silly to say them out loud, you can say them silently in your heart.)
I encourage you to write down your new belief(s) and today’s affirmation so that you can always see them and commit them to your heart. Repeat them every day to yourself, for as many times and as long as needed, until they become part of your default thinking.
Affirmation Wallpaper: [Ability]
Today’s affirmation wallpaper, for download:
Download (right click and save): [1366×768] [1600×900] [1920×1080]
Further Reading
I’ve written tons of material on achieving goals and cultivating positive habits on PE. Here are some material in reference to the goals I mentioned in today’s task:
- Weight loss:
- Family: How To Improve Your Relationship With Your Parents (series)
- Studies: How To Be a Dean’s Lister (series)
- Quitting bad habits:
- Overcoming stress eating:
- How I Overcame Emotional Eating (series)
Share Your Results!
Share your results, check out other participants’ responses, and interact with each other in the comments section! Remember, this challenge is a community effort: by openly engaging in the discussion, not only will you help others, you’ll also help yourself.
If you think today’s affirmation has benefited you, do share it with your friends and family.
Once you’re done, proceed to Day 4 here: Affirmation Challenge, Day 4 [Setbacks]
(Images: Flower, Hot air balloon)
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I contemplated days 1 and 2, but didn’t write. So, here goes. “I can’t” equals “I am afraid.” I just finished a ost-graduate degree. I am starting my own law parctice in the US helping families challenging school districts for their children who are struggling in some fashion as a consequence of a disablity. There is a great deal of prejudice against these children and families – not all of the students involved have an obvious, visible problem and many have so much potential. I came to this because of my own personal experience. So, I know I have the passion, I know I have the academic knowledge, I know I have the ability… but I remain frightened. It would have been easier in some ways to just get a job with someone else… but that did’t happen. On the other hand, I like being in control and why shouldn’t I be in charge at this point in my life? Some days I feel strong and in other moments I am really scared. That’s when I think of what I have to do to move my practice forward and take a step to do that – work on my website, make a phone call, write an article, work on the presentation I will be giving to families… something. I have been running all over New York meeting people with potential clients and explaining who I am, my added values that make my practice special (not limiting myself to any particular classification of disability, not limiting myself to cases involving private school tuition reimbursement) and how I might help families (tuition reimbursement, reimbursement for services the school should have provided, guidance and support so that the families can get what they need). Writing all of this down makes me realize that I can. It’s hard, though, to do something entirely new, but I really have to be kind to myself and have realistic expectations and goals. So, let’s make a goal … 5 clients by a year from now. I think that’s reasonable. I am still frightened, but I think I can, I think I can….
Identify a goal/dream that you’re blocking yourself in currently.
Family
Academics
Fitness & Nutrition
Business
Identify your self-limiting belief(s) in this goal/dream
I can’t have a better relationship with my siblings because every time I try I fail, plus I don’t think I’m the right person for the job.
I can’t have straight A’s because I lack motivation, I say I want it but I don’t work for it. Sometimes I don’t know how to work for it? To be honest it’s to big of a dream to even dream up.
I can’t lose more weight than I already have because I don’t have a gym at home and my regimen is off. Let’s not even talk about food, I can’t eat right to save my life it’s always a roller coaster with my diet, up down up down, when will it ever be consistent. I need self-control.
I can’t create this non-profit, it’s been my dream since I was a sophomore in high school, yet I’m still stuck in phase 1, if that. I want this non-profit to be legit, I’m tired of it being a thought and words on paper.
To be honest with you guys it was very difficult to complete the rest of the task because I didn’t believe in what I was going to write. I felt I was just feeding myself positive words without any support. I honestly do not have any faith in myself when it comes to the above goals, they’re to big for me to reach I feel I’m to late especially for the first bullet.
Note : Sorry Celestine for straying away! Great connection challenges here. I even have difficulty uploading my avatar. Thanks a lot for bringing on the right track. I’ve realized how the system works now. Each day’s comment and discussion should be posted the day’s thread. Is that right? Thanks again!
Here is my comment re-posted here:
I understand why this happens to me. I prefer to stay and remain in my comfort zone : my day job. I think and say I can’t do it because I don’t want to take risks. I fear failure and bankruptcy. Robert Kiyazaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad has become my bedside bible. I have been the Poor Dad type i.e. study hard, get degrees, have a well-paid job, study/work hard to get a salary raise, pay bills, complain about the boss not paying well; briefly speaking, I feel like a trapped and caged guy in the ceaseless rat race. Continuing to work in my day job is like being trapped in a cage. And I have to do something to get out of it.
Yes, you got that right Foli! :D You’re doing everything right now (posting the results to each day’s thread); just let me know if you face any issue!
Affirmative Challenge Day3
I understand why this happens to me. I prefer to stay and remain in my
comfort zone : my day job. I think and say I can’t do it because I don’t want
to take risks. I fear failure and bankruptcy. Robert Kiyazaki’s book Rich
Dad Poor Dad has become my bedside bible. I have been the Poor Dad type
i.e. study hard, get degrees, have a well-paid job, study/work hard to get a
salary raise, pay bills, complain about the boss not paying well; briefly
speaking, I feel like a trapped and caged guy in the ceaseless rat race. Continuing to work
in my day job is like being trapped in a cage. And I have to do something to
get out of it.
Please check out the link to my blog : https://liveabetterlife02.wordpress.com/
Today’s task consists of clearing the self-limiting beliefs in my goal or dream and to identify some steps to make it happen.
Ihave many dreams and goals that are still in a pending mode in my mind.
I feel unmotivated to continue to pursue those dreams certainly because
i have tried in the past and failed several times, leading to a big
disappointment. But today, I will definitely address each of the root
cause for these blockages which are certainly driving my goals far away
from me.
Here is the list of dreams and goals and the reasons I’m not pursuing them:
1.I want to lose weight but I can’t seem to do it appropriately since I
easily pick the weight up soon after a particular diet. I definitely
feel discouraged to move forward.
2.I really do want to start my blog and do some writing, but I feel that I
should be well prepared like a professional writer to start writing.
Besides I have already planned on several occasions about starting to
write my books, but I always find an excuse to underestimate my writing
skills.
Now it’s time to change this self limiting belief and take actions for this to happen:
1.I can easily lose weight, I just need more motivation from others. I am
ready to start a good relationship with my food. Already I have several
pictures of healthy food and exercises on my vision board, and I would
certainly work on my visualisation and focus so that the universe
manifests my wish. Besides this blog of mine will certainly help me keep
a record of my future diets.
2.When I created this blog to carry out the affirmation challenge, I felt
like now I’m going to be the writer I always wanted to be. I will
definitely start writing no matter how, and will certainly make a
successful blog with my ebooks published in it.
“I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”
okkkk my next challenges
1 goal that i block myself
– wake up early
2 self limit belive
– i cant wake up early because i work hard and late yesterday i deserve to
wake up late
3 change self limit
“okay i not really a morning person, but i take small steps of waking up early, no sweat”
4 action steps
– perhaps i should sleep earlier
– can try set “alarm” to remind me to go sleep earlier
– set cut off time 1 hr before sleep and do activities that relax me like jogging,
hot bath or read a book.
5 new belief
– it ok to wake up late don’t feel bad about it. try again take baby steps. you will wake up early.
1.My goals that I am blocking myself in achieving:
Renting out a bigger space to teach yoga in.
Switching to a new job.
2. My self-limiting beliefs in this goal:
If I don’t get enough students I won’t be able to cover my costs for renting the space.
What if I don’t get any students?
What if I don’t fit into a new work environment?
What if I get sacked again/don’t pick things up quickly enough?
3.Change this self-limiting belief:
I have yoga students, and other teachers’ classes have built up, so can mine.
If I increase my advertising the students will find me more easily.
I will go for a job I feel great about/use my intuition to find it.
There’s no pressure on me to find a new job so I can take my time with it.
I can find out about systems I’d be using in advance to help prepare myself.
4. Action steps:
Get in touch with Eric at the Church in Streatham – view the space.
Start window shopping for jobs, and write about what I want from my next job.
5. My new belief:
I am an excellent yoga teacher and I have many returning students.
I have found and secured the perfect new job for me.
I have blogged about my task here: http://zestychloe.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/day-3-ability-i-can-achieve-anything-i-want-as-long-as-i-set-my-heart-to-it/
And I guess I shall post my afterthoughts here instead :D
It is a nasty thing to admit to yourself the things that are
bothering you. Especially when you just want to turn a blind eye to
these hidden issues until they really surface as problem (usually at
crucial times).
But I’m glad I did, in writing and sharing. Especially when I
continue writing the action plans to change the negative beliefs, I feel
more assured :D
LOL. I felt like I was reprimanding myself though. Yep, I need a good
scolding, by myself! Look at what kind of rubbish I have been telling
myself and making myself believe in these kind of trash. Tsk tsk tsk.
“I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it!:
This is definitely gonna be a true story which I would be telling people
in the future :D
Hello everybody,
My heart has always belonged to architecture. I developed my love for arts at a very young age. If you have read my previous posts, you will start to see the connections unfolding ;) I was gifted in artistic expressions and art was my escape or way to deal with my problems.
I never really questioned who I want to became or what my goals are. I always intuitively knew. I always had this strong voice in me guiding me. The thing is I have always been on my own in life, I didn’t have any support from my family. Therefor, it hasn’t come easy for me to go for my goals. I had gained a placement in architecture school due to my skills and after just a semester I lost it, because I couldn’t afford to pay the tuition fees. During this time, all my classmates has already graduated, but I haven’t stepped back at school. And it always makes me feel bad. In fact, I don’t even like to talk about it, especially when meeting new people and they ask about my professional life. I feel like a failure, because I didn’t have access to higher education.
All this time I have been living abroad. Started out with an Au Pair programme, just to learn foreign languages, explore countries, cultures and systems and save some money to pay for university. This time was very valuable, both for my life experience as well as informal learning. Along the way I met my ‘future’s husband” and priorities changed. As we were both foreigners in a foreign country, our main focus was to establish a home in a place where we can both legally live and work.
For last couple of years I have been attending language classes and have devoted my spare time self studying applied arts and various design forms. Sometimes I caught myself thinking that I don’t even need a degree to do what I love. But same time, I want to earn it. I want to learn from professionals and see how academical experience can benefit me. I have applied for university this year and will find out the results withing a month. I am aware that university looks for fresher candidates with more achievements in a field, but I still hope they will recognize my enthusiasm and skills.
My heart is set for my passion and first time in my life I put my wishes a priority. For too long I have lived to avoid what I don’t want or like. My husband helped me to realize, that I should live for what I want and to reach out for it with all I have. I am very grateful for his understanding and support and only wish I had lived from this premise earlier.
One of the latest most inspiring quotes I have heard sounds something as follows: Your dreams is no accident. You wish what you wish for because God wishes that for You. And somehow this makes me believe that everything in life is connected. That there is a right place and time for everything and not sooner than we are ready for it.
“I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”
Sincerely,
Santas Inspirations
“I can achieve anything I want, as long as I set my heart to it.”
“I can achieve my goal to create a positive circle around me and the people I allow in my life, and build the life I want in my prayers. I can build the learning centers I want to create with the right people that have good hearts, that also believe in building better young minds for the future of the world. ” — feeling inspired.
Identify goals and dreams that you’re blocking yourself in currently.
-I can’t finish college.
-I can’t attract anyone I like.
-I can’t stop myself from being distracted.
-I can’t make something out of myself.
-I can’t be who and what I am and be happy.
Identify your self-limiting belief(s) in this goal/dream.
I can’t finish college because I can’t stop myself from being distracted. Because I can’t finish college, I can’t make something out of myself. Because I can’t have a good career, I can’t attract anyone that I like, and no woman I like will ever want me. If I’m stuck with who and what I am, my potential cannot be fully realized and I can’t be happy…
note: It’s very interesting how I let a problem in one area of my life completely spill over to all the other compartments of my life. It would be beneficial if I learn how to compartmentalize all the different parts of my life, unless I consciously allow these problems/situations to come together.
Change this self-limiting belief(s).
I am gradually getting a firmer / stronger grip in regards to controlling the distractions around my life. I must avoid TV series, sports blogs and video games because I have the tendency to get fully absorbed into them once I have a small taste of it. Without these major distractions, I can easily focus what’s important and strive towards achieving great things and attracting the things that I want.
Identify action step(s) you’re going to take to realize this goal/dream.
-Avoid sports blogs like a plague.
-Going to friends’ house to play video games is never an option.
-Continue to use Stickk.com to keep me honest to my commitments and my goals.
-Sundays are for planning out my week ahead. I need to get assessments of all the obligations within my life, and consciously plan around them.
-Find new hobbies that I have to “work” to make them work. They should be activities that are deliberately done. Preferably something that builds into my “life resume”, but important that I do enjoy them at the same time.
-Be more of an active participant, and less of a passive spectator.
To edit the last post all the things that were positive to me I went the other direction.
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