E173: Small Actions that Created BIG Impact in Only 21 Days

Listen and learn how seven women created small and simple habits that lead to powerful transformation and impacted their lives in only three weeks…

[00:28] At the beginning of this year we launched our first ever Elevate Your Life 21 Day Healthy Habit Challenge and over 75 people signed up! For 21 days we supported one another in building out a new habit or elevating an existing habit.

There was SO MUCH going on in the 21 days with many different people, and lots of different habits being formed. There was such a community being formed over the three weeks and it was incredible to watch so many people build, support, and elevate their lives with small actions every day.

Before the challenge had even finished people inside and outside the challenge were asking about how to join the next one! We will be hosting another 21 day challenge in early April this year. I’ll link to the waitlist/sign up form in the show notes.

Elevate Your Life 21 Day Healthy Habits Challenge

www.valerielavignelife.com/challenge

I thought it would be a fun idea to share some of the experiences of the challenge members on the podcast with you. Of course I couldn’t get all 75+ challengers on the show, but I did manage to have seven of the members share their words, and help take you, the listener, behind the scenes into the 21 Day Challenge.

The very first part of the challenge actually started on Day 0, the day before the 21 days. Before the challenge, I sent everyone a link to a shared Google Doc where we filled in our name, feeling word and habit(s) for the 21 days. Right away I wanted the members to understand that the goal wasn’t perfection, it was getting closer to that ‘feeling word’ every single day.

Here are some of those challenge members sharing their feeling words and habits…

Gaby: Hello, my name is Gabby, and the healthy habits I chose for the 21 Day Challenge was walking in nature for 45 minutes a day. And my feeling words were grounded and energized.

Kaitlin: My name is Kaitlin. My intention for the 21 day challenge was to feel energized and present, and the habits I was committing to wear daily walks, daily movement and loading my screen time, as well as being in bed by 10:30 every night.

Rae: Hi, my name is Rae. My feeling words were focused and peaceful and I decided to try to meditate daily. And then I also layer on intention setting for the 21 days.

Ingrid: Hi, my name is Ingrid Deon. My feeling word for the 21 days was strong and my daily habits were daily yoga practice as well as staying hydrated.

Milica: Hi my name is Milica. My feeling word for the 21 day habit challenge was invigorated. And my habits were to drink two litres of water a day and to work on my physiotherapy exercises.

Kaylie: My name is Kaylee Kreatrix checks and my feeling word was optimized. I decided to wake up early, meditate daily and try intermittent fasting for the first time.

Suzanne: Suzanne Zupan for the 21 day habit challenge my feeling word was resilience and strong.

[04:35] Throughout the challenge I was able to connect with each member personally and they kindly shared their experiences with me. What I thought was so powerful was hearing where they were before the challenge started and being able to witness and hold space for their growth and transformation within this three week container.

Gaby: I decided to do this challenge because at the time I was feeling very unmotivated and heavy in my body. And I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to change that mindset and change those feelings. So when this opportunity came up, I decided to jump on it.

Kaitlin: Before I began the 21 day challenge I was feeling a little bit stuck and just kind of like my days were revolving around my new baby and I kind of lost my own care routine. So I was just feeling a little bit depleted.

Rae: Before the challenge, I was feeling a little overwhelmed, maybe a little bit lost as well. I knew I needed to make some changes in my life.

Ingrid: Before starting the challenge, I was really excited about it energetically. And I felt before that I could use a lot more physical exercise and also noticed that I would go quite long periods of time without drinking a lot of water. So I was really excited to hopefully add some new habits to my daily life

Milica: Before starting the challenge, I was feeling inspired but energetically I think I was quite low, I think partially because it was winter time. I mean, it still is and it was sort of that slump that I feel usually after the holidays. So that's partially why my feeling word was invigorated because I wanted to up my energy levels a little bit.

Kaylie: Before starting the challenge I was experiencing a bit of difficulty getting back into my daily routine. So you still have a really good routine. And yeah, I fell out of it. And I was feeling like I was struggling to get back into it.

Suzanne: Energetically before starting the challenge. I was at a low point. I wouldn't say the lowest point in my life, but a really heavy time coming after Christmas, dealing with feelings of grief and situational depression and very low on energy, low on self esteem.

[07:34] I hosted the challenge through email and instagram. Email was a weekly check-in reminder and instagram was daily posts and stories sharing what the group was experiencing throughout the 21 days, as well as some tips for forming habits.

I also created a digital tracker that participants had the option of using during the 21 days and/or sharing to their instagram stories. This tracker had 21 squares in a grid that they could check off each day or add in a GIF or make their own. It was a tool to support them with accountability. I asked the participants to tag me in their stories so that I could see their habits and progress and cheer them on throughout the 21 days.

When I was connecting with the participants I really noticed the change in their expressions and their voices as the challenge went on; as they started to build consistency and momentum with their habits. I was so blown away by their connection to each other and the support they shared. The accountability went beyond the daily tracker and into more group connection and community. It was probably one of my favourite pieces of the challenge. I wanted to know what they loved most about the Elevate Your Life 21 day Healthy Habit Challenge…

Gaby: So I took away quite a few little nuggets from this challenge. But my favourite part was that this challenge motivated me or pushed me to do the hard thing, which often days it was minus 20. And, you know, I wasn't really feeling like going outside for a walk, but I did anyway. And while I was out there walking, I felt so good and so proud and so happy that I was committed. I was committing myself to this challenge, but I was also reaping so many benefits. I was embracing winter, I was getting out in nature, and I was just physically feeling the benefits from committing to this challenge.

Rae: My favourite part of the challenge was support from Val, obviously, but also from the community that had been brought together through the challenge. And then also through my posts, created conversation with people in my own circle, which was just such an amazing opportunity to talk about what I was doing, why I was doing it and how it was helping.

Ingrid: My favourite part about the 21 Day Challenge was the accountability. I think it's really hard to stick to a habit if you don't have that accountability and having, you know, thinking about having to post you know, the grid, saying whether I had done my habit that day. That was a great sense of accountability and really kept me going.

Milica: My favourite part of the 21 Day Challenge was I would say I have two parts. I think one of it is obviously the accountability and just being able to check in with somebody pretty much daily and have that motivation from Valerie and also the community as a whole to just continue going and you know, have the support to even like recalibrate my goal if needed not to feel so bad about it.

And then the other part was just the community aspect of being able to connect with people and talk about things that are a little bit deeper than the everyday that I think also was a really supportive aspect in making me feel less alone in trying to get to my habit goal.

Suzanne: Favourite part about the 21 Day Challenge was basically the accountability. I know that we didn't have to post every day but posting every day made the habit easier. and the connection with the group members who I had never met. It was really nice to connect with people through social media, and have a more positive connection to social media.

[11:58] I’ll be honest, I was a little worried at the very beginning of the challenge because there were multiple new habits for each person and when I’m working one-on-one with a client, we really focus on building one or two habits at a time.

That being said, I did not encourage anyone to change their habits or narrow their list down, instead I really had them focus on their feeling word. Again, it was less about doing the habit every single day, and more about showing up every day with the energy of that feeling word, even if we didn’t do the actual habit, we were creating new neural pathways to create those elevated feelings and an elevated life by planting seeds over the 21 days.

One of my goals for the challenge was to demonstrate the impact that a small action can have. The reason why I prefer to build one habit at a time is because it’s easier to change ONE thing than it is to make multiple changes and since it’s easier we are more likely to be consistent and build confidence and therefore continue with our habits.

The impact really happens when we show up consistently.

Gaby: this challenge, also reawaken the part of me that actually loves to challenge myself. And I haven't been doing that for the past two years. So when I was out for one of those minus 20 walks, I thought even if I just get around the block, it's good enough. But once I got my butt out there, I was committed and focused and said no, I am doing this full walk 45 minute walk and after I did, I was so proud. And it just kind of lit a little bit of a fire inside of me again.

Kaitlin: I think the part of the challenge that impacted me most was my daily walks. That was something I was used to doing before I had my child and so getting back to that really felt like uplifting and just getting outside every day really helped my mental health and my attitude towards the day.

Rae: Meditation itself is by far the thing that made the biggest impact. But it was also the fact that I was accomplishing this goal. And it felt like I was I felt like I was accomplishing it so easily. And so it was like one success just inspired another. I came out of the challenge feeling so accomplished. And it gave me the confidence that I could take on another new healthy habit and just continue building.

Milica: I would say the biggest impact during the 21 days was it was really just seeing how even a little bit of consistency goes a really long way. I think after the 21 Day Challenge ended I really wanted to keep going with the water intake goal that I had, and that it's actually quite easy to create a habit. It's just that the problem is starting which is always the most difficult part for me.

So being able to even create really small goals and trying to if it's too big of a goal trying to readjust it. That was really impactful for me and seeing that I don't have to be 100% all of the time in order to feel good and like to achieve something it's just the trying that really matters.

Kaylie: The challenge that impacted me most was discovering intermittent fasting. It was something I'd heard about, but I hadn't ever tried out and just having that support group to really dive into it completely changed my life and I am for sure continuing this habit for a long time.

Suzanne: The challenge that impacted me most was discovering intermittent fasting. It was something I'd heard about, but I hadn't ever tried out and just having that support group to really dive into it completely changed my life and I am for sure continuing this habit for a long time.

And I think that had the biggest impact over the three weeks because it had a trifecta effect on me.

By being kinder to myself. I also started eating healthier and just putting more energy into positive habits like working out and again like getting more sleep and just being kinder to my body both mentally and physically.

[16:59] Hearing how each unique person and their specific habits has impacted them in only three weeks gives me chills! I know the power of habits and I’ve seen how small actions can impact our lives over and over again, but it never ceases to amaze me how powerful and transformational habits really are.

Most of the time the healthy habits we set are REALLY easy! They are so easy to do, but they are also easier to not do. And this is because we are already in other habits that are automated so this new habit starts to form in a new part of our brain and it is not yet automatic. However, with the combination of setting a goal, attaching it to a feeling, joining an accountability group, sharing your success and progress, and checking into the community, and to myself you’ve got a really incredible formula for success.

I know that in 21 days you will learn more about yourself, your goals, and you will even notice some surprises in three short weeks!

Gaby: I also love the accountability part of this challenge. You know, getting creative and posting my pictures of nature or being out in nature every day was was fun and really part of the challenge I enjoyed

Kaitlin: what surprised me about the challenge was I didn't feel overwhelmed by committing to these habits I felt like they really helped me to enjoy every day and to feel more energized and also like I could just tackle each day with a little bit more calm and clarity

Rae: what surprised me most was, I hate to say this, but it was almost how easy it became a daily habit. So quickly. It went from being something I had to get done to something I was craving to do. And I couldn't even imagine going a day now without doing it because it's something that has stayed with me. Since the challenge I knew almost immediately that this wasn't going to be something that I gave up after 21 days. So it was really just easily becoming an actual part of my my daily routine.

Ingrid: I hadn't done daily yoga practice for quite a while, like several years. So it was a lot of fun to get back into that and kind of surprised me that it was as easy as it was. And something really great that happened was that my boyfriend joined me in daily yoga practice and, you know, he's done some yoga in the past, but it's not one of his favorite activities. However, every night and when we did it after supper every night after we did yoga, he would always thank me and always said how great it made him feel. Even though he really didn't want to do it before we started.

Milica: I think what surprised me in the habit challenge was how I tend to actually have quite lofty goals for myself at the beginning, but I really surprised myself in the amount of grace I gave myself and how I was able to adapt and readjust my goal according to how I was feeling because I know that sometimes depending on what the goal is, it's it's connected to how I'm feeling that particular day. So for example, my goal was to do my physiotherapy exercises. I didn't keep up with that one. That much because I just wasn't really feeling my best and I allowed myself that period of grace to just, you know, readjust what I was doing and try and focus on my other goal and that way I have a bigger sense of accomplishment even accomplishing the one thing

Kaylie: I was surprised about how easy it was to just change small things in my daily routine to create big impacts. And like big changes or taking on new habits doesn't have to be a big change. It's just finding those little things to alter and I know Val talks about it all the time, but I really experienced it during the challenge and that really surprised me. And yeah, it was a great pleasant surprise and I'm happy to have felt the effects of just those small changes in the right places.

Suzanne: What surprised me about working on my healthy habits in the challenge was how easy it was to do each day. And then to build on that as well. So, again, by starting off the day, being kinder to myself saying something positive to myself that I would carried through the day. And if there was something that became a bit of a challenge. It was easier because I was already in a better mindset. It was easier to handle that challenge and not be defeated immediately. It was easier for me to work ideas into my head to work through the challenge or solutions for the challenge were prior to the healthy habit challenge. I was probably more inclined to just be defeated right away.

[22:51] What healthy habit are you going to create and show up for for our next 21 day challenge? Are you already thinking about the daily actions? The feeling word for the three weeks? I hope so!

No matter where you are currently in life: feeling depleted, unmotivated, tired, stressed, overwhelmed, stuck, or perhaps you are feeling inspired and excited to make a change in life…

The Elevate Your Life 21 Day Health Habit Challenge is an excellent place to start in creating and maintaining your new habits.

Currently the challenge is FREE to join and I am so thrilled to be offering this second round as we ease into this new spring season!

If you are ready to join us please go to VALERIELAVIGNELIFE.COM/CHALLENGE and sign up today! Our upcoming challenge starts April 6th however there will be more challenges in the future if you’re listening to this post spring – use the same link and join us for future rounds!

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!