From 'This is Stupid' to 'Holy Sh*t, It Works': A Skeptic's Guide to Giving Affirmations a Real Try

Let's call a spade a spade.

The concept of affirmations sounds monumentally stupid to a logical brain. The idea that standing in a mirror and saying "I am a woodland money fairy" will somehow fix your life feels like a scam wrapped in unicorn farts and sold to the desperate.

Your meat suit has a finely-tuned bullshit detector, and it’s screaming right now. Every time you hear someone talk about "manifesting your reality," you feel a full-body cringe. You're rolling your eyes so hard you’re at risk of pulling a muscle.

Good.

That skepticism is a sign of a healthy, functioning brain. It’s what stops you from joining cults and buying time-shares. We’re not here to ask you to abandon it.

We’re here to ask you to use it.

This is not a guide about faith. This is a guide to conducting a simple, 30-day experiment with a single variable: you. Don’t believe anything. Just come along to collect some data and see what happens.

Ready to put on your lab coat over that giraffe onesie? Let's do a little science.

Part 1: The Hypothesis — You Don't Attract Things, You Notice Them

Here’s why your skeptical brain is right to be doubtful: most affirmations fail because they ask you to lie to yourself. The cognitive dissonance is overwhelming.

But let’s reframe the mechanism. Forget about "sending vibes to the universe." Let’s talk about the Reticular Activating System (RAS). This is a real part of your brain, a bundle of nerves at the brainstem, that acts as a filter for your attention.

You know how when you decide to buy a red car, you suddenly see red cars everywhere? They were always there. Your RAS just started tagging "red car" as important.

An affirmation, when done correctly, is just a piece of code you’re feeding to your internal filter. You’re telling your RAS, "Hey, start tagging 'opportunity' for me." Or, "Start tagging 'evidence of my own badassery'."

You're not magically creating opportunities out of thin air. You're priming your brain to finally notice the opportunities that have been there all along. That's it. No magic required.

Part 2: The 30-Day "Fuck It, Let's See" Experiment

This is a 30-day, low-stakes experiment. You don’t have to sell your soul to get the prize. The rules are simple. No belief necessary. Just adherence to the protocol.

STEP 1: Forge ONE "Believable-Ish" Sledgehammer

Do not go from zero to "I am the God of Thunder." Your logical brain will snap. We need a "Bridge Belief"—something that feels like a slight stretch, not a delusional leap.

If you’re broke and anxious:

• Nope: "I am a millionaire."

• Try: "I am a resourceful problem-solver, and I am getting better at seeing financial opportunities every day."

  
  

If you feel like a fraud:

• Nope: "I am a flawless genius."

• Try: "I am open to the possibility that I know more than I give myself credit for."

  
  

Pick ONE. It should make you feel about 2% cringe and 98% "...fine, whatever." That’s the sweet spot. Write it down. This is your variable.

STEP 2: The Daily 60-Second Data Point

Every day for 30 days, you must perform one simple action. No exceptions. It takes 60 seconds.

Tie it to an existing habit. Immediately after you brush your teeth, or while the coffee is brewing.

Stand up straight. Shoulders back.

Say your "Believable-ish" Sledgehammer out loud five times. Don't just mumble it. Say it like you’re reading a shipping manifest. It’s a piece of data.

That’s it. You’re done for the day. No more required.

STEP 3: The Data Log (This is NOT a Feelings Journal)

This is the most critical step for a skeptic. Get a notebook. Call it your "Lab Notebook." At the end of each day, you are to log any and all tiny, objective data points that could remotely be related to your affirmation.

Do NOT log "I felt hopeful." That's subjective fluff. Log observable facts.

Affirmation: "...better at seeing financial opportunities..."

• Day 4 Log: "Neighbor offered to pay me to watch their dog."

• Day 9 Log: "Remembered I had an old gift card with $17 left on it."

• Day 21 Log: "An old colleague emailed me about a freelance gig completely out of the blue."

  
  

Affirmation: "...open to the possibility that I know more than I give myself credit for."

• Day 6 Log: "Answered a question in a meeting without second-guessing myself first."

• Day 15 Log: "My boss asked for my opinion on the project plan."

• Day 24 Log: "Helped a stranger figure out the new parking meter. Felt oddly competent."

  
  

Part 3: Analyzing the Data

After 30 days, you will have a list of 10, 20, maybe 30 tiny, undeniable data points.

Look at the list. A single one of these could be dismissed as a coincidence. But a list of 30? That's not a coincidence. That's a pattern. That's data suggesting a correlation between your input (the affirmation) and the output (your life).

This is where the "Holy sh*t" moment happens. Not in a flash of divine light, but in the quiet, undeniable weight of your own collected evidence. You can’t argue with your own data.

You set out to prove this was all stupid. You may have accidentally proven that it works.

A Skeptic's FAQ

Q: Isn’t this just confirmation bias?

• A: YES. That's literally the whole point! You are intentionally creating a confirmation bias for positive outcomes. You're hijacking the brain's natural tendency to find what it's looking for and pointing that powerful spotlight toward things that help you instead of hinder you. You're using a "bug" in the human OS as a feature.

  
  

Q: What if I feel absolutely nothing while saying it?

• A: Perfect. This experiment doesn’t require feelings. It's not about feeling good immediately; it's about shifting your filter so the feel-good can arrive. Just say the words, log the data, and let the results speak for themselves. The feeling might be the last thing to show up, long after the proof has been collected.

  
  

So, what do you have to lose? Thirty minutes of your time, spread over a month? Give it a shot. Your inner Gremlin is dying for you to fail. Don’t you want to piss it off on the off-chance you’re right?

Big love, -Heath Co-founder

About the Author

Heath Armstrong is the Co-founder of Rage Create, an artist, and a firm believer in using unconventional tools to smash through creative blocks. He's dedicated his work to helping people escape spiritual fluff and get into tangible, weird, and joyful action.