Loving Me: A 28 Day Challenge That Changed Everything
Updated: Nov 19, 2022
Have you ever found yourself avoiding the mirrors in your home or hitting that alarm clock button just for an extra bit of sleep instead of getting yourself ready for the day? This was me 28 days ago. I had no zeal for life, I struggled to take care of myself even on my good days, and I found that I was drained, exhausted, and ugly.
For the entire month of February, I decided to recommit and to hone in on who I am. The sole purpose was to revitalize who I am. To set a standard for myself that would keep me going and keep me healthy for the rest of the year.
I believe life builds upon itself and that each layer, drop, and piece that is added to it brings greater light to the whole that it is a part of. This is the case for this mini challenge, everything didn’t happen all at once.
I started this mini challenge with three intentions:
1. To grow my self-worth via my body love, my mindset, my spirituality, and my emotional self-reliance.
2. To better my body through exercising daily, plant-based meals, and practicing intentional personal hygiene rituals.
3. To try new things like hairstyling and recipes.
This challenge took an interesting turn. Time will tell just how big the impact will be however it has changed everything for me.
Here are 5 lessons I learned about myself in this challenge:
New Tools Became Available To Me: As I centered my intention on improving my entire being (body, mind, and spirit) specific and needful things came into my path. My intention to better myself made me more aware to specific and incredible things that would bolster this intention. For example: I found out I have curly hair, it’s always frizzy and as I researched how to help my hair and scalp better, I found answers in specific companies that specialize in curls. I found specific essential oils to help with dry scalps, and I found specific foods that help with hair, nails, and teeth strengthening.
Getting Ready Wasn’t Enough: Showering and taking care of my appearance just wasn’t enough. It had to be thought through. Planned and prepared. I found that if I took time to just get ready, I was disappointed throughout the day. However, if I admired, praised, and mindfully was present while I showered and beautified myself, then there was a big difference. The words I would use, the expressions I would give, the body admiration I would fortify, and then I would leave not just satisfied but flourishing in all that I had chosen to create.
Adding Personal Flare: Discovering what looks the BEST on me was an adventure. It was amazing to see how specific hairstyles would boost my image times one hundred. Or how when I wore specific colors my energy was more vibrant. Or how I would blast music in the kitchen and just dance because I was enjoying that moment. More of me was present, more of me was happening, more of me was naturally coming forward and outwards into my daily life.
Confidence and Attitude Shifts: I cannot tell you how much better I treated those around me, especially my children. I was more confident in myself, so the chatter in my head was extremely less. I was more present because I desired to experience life more instead of just pass through it. My attitude was much easier to manage and everyone around me started paying attention about day 5 that I was different somehow. That was the greatest compliment of them all and it completely fortified the person I confidently show up as.
More Me, Less Limitations: For me anxiety and depression are usually kept at bay. For this entire month, they were almost nonexistent. I did experience one huge battle at one point where all my progress was put up against the test. The constant limitations I had put on myself that made me believe that I was worthless were fought side by side with the understanding that I know who I am, I know my worth, and I know that I am a daughter of God. It was the faith I had in God combined with the love I had cultivated for myself that helped the feelings and limitations of the berating “worthlessness” not stay one minute more inside of me. In the end, there has been less of my limited self-worth and more of everything that makes me more and more myself.
More of all that I am! That is the ultimate goal and the ultimate conclusion. I made a record of all the talents that I have. Then within the weeks of February I recorded daily which talents I used and expressed. I used over 25 different kinds of talents/gifts, and I expressed or shared those gifts over 87 times throughout the month. This became evidence that I am making a difference in my life if not the lives of others.
I also found that I took care of myself better. I fueled myself better. My exercising routine was more an expression of body love than it was a requirement to just do it, just because I knew it was good for me. I found that I was able to bend and flex according to my needs and that overall, my mood was more consistent, and my mind was clearer because the choice wasn’t should I take care of myself, the questions was: what can I do to bring greater beauty and love into my life today?
The mantra that came along with this mini challenge is I expand in the beauty of pure love.
What did you like about this mini challenge? Do you think you would try a “love yourself” mini challenge? Leave a comment below!👇👇👇
IF YOU WANT TO SEE THESE SAME RESULTS IN YOUR LIFE, check out my 7-day challenge to start your journey to loving yourself.
Article Written By: Kaitlyn Andrews, an International Life Coach for Women
