21 Day Positivity Challenge (& How it Changed My Life)
This post has been sponsored by the PRIMP Network. All opinions are my own.
It’s no secret that I’ve been on a journey (a long one, at that) to learning how to love myself and my body again. For a long time, I felt very pretty dang betrayed by my body and had a very hard time coming to grips with the fact that it would never be the same again. Cancer has a funny way of staying with you like that, even 11 years later. October is a rough month for me - it’s the month I celebrate my remission anniversary, but it is also the month I lost one of my closest friends from my hospital floor, Maddie. To say that the survivor’s guilt is heavy is an understatement. So, as we approached October, I knew I needed to do something drastic to prevent myself from slipping into some negative ruts in life. So, when PRIMP and Pamprin approached me and asked if I would team up with them this month for a 21 Day positivity challenge, I felt like it was a sign from the universe telling me that I could make it through this October in a much better way.
Positively Powerful 21 Day Challenge:
Day One - Start today with 3 positive self-affirmations Attach your list to your mirror. Read them aloud every day. Add to the list every day.
Day Two - Find Positive Company Who are the stars in your social circle? Who builds you up? Stick with the stars and become one.
Day Three - Make a list of things for which you’re grateful An attitude of gratitude is a sure fire way to attract positive vibes.
Day Four - Give yourself and others an “atta girl (boy.)” When you give encouraging words, you also receive them.
Day Five - Seek, and you will find We are responsible for choosing our perception. Look for the good, and you’re 100% guaranteed to find it.
Day Six - Find what brings you joy And order it up every single day. Unlike fleeting pleasure, joy is consistent. We cultivate it internally.
Day Seven - Stop to smell the roses. Give one away. Be present minded enough to give and receive life’s simple gifts.
Day Eight - Hit replay and make it a habit.
How I Applied These Challenges to Myself:
I wanted to list some of my person takeaways from this challenge below because it truly helped me find some more positivity and self-love during a month that is very complex for me. Additionally, this challenge gave me a lot of time to take a break from my online life and below I share why that was so, SO refreshing for me.
Positive Self-Affirmations - I used to think self-affirmations were ridiculous. Why on earth would I tell my reflection how awesome I am? That just sounded silly to me, mainly because I normally didn’t have many good things to say about myself. I would look at myself in the mirror and instantly think about how my skin was too flawed or how chemo ruined my left eyelashes. However, I realized that there are times where I catch my reflection in the mirror (usually on a good hair day or when I’m wearing kick-a heels) and I think “Chelsie, you are freaking awesome.” I wanted to give myself the chance to celebrate myself more, so I decided to give it a go. I wrote down three self-affirmations that I felt like I could stay to myself without feeling silly and started by looking at myself and just thinking them. It’s funny how those affirmations stuck in my head all day and how whenever I was thrown some kind of loop, I’d think “Chelsie, you are freaking awesome” and I’d embrace it.
Find Positive Company - There have been some people in my life recently that were weighing me down and draining a lot of my energy. When I got to this part of the challenge the first time around, it was a wakeup call that I needed to put some distance between myself and them because it wasn’t healthy for me or my mindset. That doesn’t mean I cut all ties and was rude to those people - but I just made sure to not get caught up in the things that were dragging them down and choose to spend my free time with more positive, like-minded people instead. It was SO freeing and really helped me stay focused on the things that mattered to me during the day, and not get distracted by unnecessary drama or negativity.
Find what Brings You Joy - This was one of my favorite parts of the challenge - I really focused in on what brings me joy and cut out the things that were sucking me down. As a blogger, one of the biggest things that HASN’T brought me joy recently has been Instagram. And so, I’ve taken some SIGNIFICANT time off from it and have completely stopped stressing about posting on it consistently, having a perfectly curated feed, and posting DSLR images. It’s not a great move for me as a business owner, but as a human being, it has done absolute wonders for my mental health and positivity. I’m no longer worrying about numbers or basing my self-worth off of likes.
After cutting out things that were weighing me down, I focused in on things that really bring me joy. This month specifically, I filled my calendar up with photo shoots for my other side-hustle: Chelsie Caroline Photography. It brings me so much joy to work on a skill that I love having, and it brings me so much joy to capture families in photos that I know they will treasure forever. Plus, Dustin always comes to my shoots with me to help with gear, lighting, and getting small children to smile, so it’s great to spend time with him.
Stop to Smell the Roses - Going hand-in-hand with taking a break from Instagram, I decided to be a bit more unplugged during this challenge (which is why I haven’t posted as much on the blog.) I really wanted to focus in on being present with my family, friends, and in my life, and not be as distracted by the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I love my blog, but sometimes, you just need a good detox. I couldn’t believe how refreshed and less-stressed I felt after making sure I put my life in front of my computer. Some nights, I just sat next to Dustin and watched The Office and snuggled without checking my phone. Other days, Dustin and I would go Jeeping with my sister and brother-in-law and I would MAYBE take a couple pictures but then put my phone away and just enjoy the present experience instead.
Living this way over the last few weeks has re-opened my eyes to the simple beauties in life that I often take for granted, and has given me a stronger appreciation for my body and it’s willingness to SURVIVE so that I can have these experiences and make these memories. It has totally changed my perspective and given me more to smile about and more to look forward to.
Positivity Help with Pamprin Multi-Symptom
Of course, there is a week in October where it’s even harder for me to be positive and kind to myself (and to others, let’s be honest) and that’s the week where I get my dot. So, on top of working on my mental positivity, I made sure to take Pamprin Multi-Symptom, because it contains three active ingredients to combat all the un-fun parts of a dot. It contains an antihistamine to relieve irritability, a diuretic to fight against bloating and water weight gain, and a pain reliever to alleviate cramps. Pamprin Multi-Symptom has the same strength as Extra Strength Tylenol PLUS the added benefits of fighting against bloating and irritability. So, basically, it’s a must-have during that time of the week and essential to keeping the positive vibes going and the crabbiness away.
Also, I love that they make two versions (one with caffeine and one without) so that you aren’t bouncing off the walls during night time! You can check out both versions of Pamprin at Pamprin Multi-Symptom
Final Takeaways from this Challenge
This challenge not only helped me focus more on positivity in general, but it gave me a chance to really re-evaluate my life and the things that truly matter to me and the things that were weighing me down. My biggest takeaway here was that I was putting way too much energy into social media, like Instagram, and letting the results negatively affect how I felt about myself. If my photos were getting a certain amount of engagement, I immediately felt like I needed to throw in the towel and give up on blogging altogether. Taking a pretty decent break from Instagram has helped me re-evaluate my priorities, and realize that as long as I’m putting some positivity into the world, it doesn’t matter how many likes I get.
It also gave me the ability to focus back in on the things I love about my body, instead of getting negative about the things that get me down about it. I may have a leg that’s a bit funny, but I can still power through an afternoon in kick-a heels and that is something I never thought I would be able to do again. I may get really tired or drained before others, but I can still get up and go out and have fun. I have a lot of GOOD things to offer this world and I matter and I am important to many people. Even though I get down about what cancer did to me, I realize that I still have so much to offer others. It’s not always easy to stay in this mindset, but practicing daily positivity habits like this challenge really helped me eliminate a lot of the negativity I normally let seep into my life.
This challenge has seriously changed my life and I challenge all of you to try it out for the next 21 days and see what happens!
