Non-Dominant Affirmations

The Non-Dominant Hand Hack: 30-Day Challenge to Silence Clutter & Find Your Inner Voice ✍️ 

The fastest way out of mental clutter and the doom loop of negativity is through your other hand.

This self-help episode introduces the powerful mindset hack: Write one short affirmation with your non-dominant hand for 30 days.

The science of the awkward:

• Awkwardness is the Doorway: Fine-motor focus on shaky letters forces mental noise to recede, instantly interrupting rumination.
• New Neural Pathways: It engages fresh brain parts, quieting the inner narrator for a calmer inner voice (your soul).
• Embodied Repetition: Physical writing creates a deep, felt experience, not a hollow slogan.

This builds resilience by training tolerance for discomfort. It’s not about ambidexterity—it's about becoming more present and intentional.

Takeaways for Mental Clarity:

• The Left-Hand Hack: A safe tool to interrupt chaos and get out of your head into presence.
• Science of Stillness: Fine-motor focus occupies the urge to control, creating a pocket of stillness where your inner voice surfaces.
• Awkwardness = Growth: Discomfort signals fresh neural pathways and adapting. This rehearses courage for worthwhile dreams.
• Choosing Your Affirmation: Pick a concise, aspirational statement (e.g., "I'm brilliant, bright...").
• Friction-Free Routine: Do not fix the messy letters; let the messiness stand as proof you showed up.
• Building Resilience: Rehearse courage daily to become responsive, not reactive.
• Result = Momentum: Trade the doom loop of negativity for an upward success cycle and self-trust.

Join the 30-day challenge for practical momentum and clarity!

• 30-day non-dominant hand writing challenge for clarity.
• Writing affirmations with your non-dominant hand benefits.
• Mindfulness techniques for busy people.
• How to build tolerance for discomfort in personal development.
• Neuroscience of fine motor tasks and calming the mind.

Transcript

From Negativity To Living Lucky

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer 0:14

Good morning.

Jana Shelfer 0:15

I'm Jana. I'm Jason. And we are Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer 0:18

You are too.

The Left-Hand Affirmation Hack

Jana Shelfer 0:19

Here's our hack for today. Write an affirmation with your non-dominant hand. Do this for 30 days. That's so hard for me. Wait, is it so hard to do it for 30 days? Is it so hard?

Jason Shelfer 0:34

It's so hard writing with my left hand.

Jana Shelfer 0:35

Oh, I know, right?

Jason Shelfer 0:37

Like it is just something, and it's just because I don't do it ever.

Jana Shelfer 0:42

Really? Yes. Because I feel like if we practiced a little more, it might get better, but it still would feel awkward.

Jason Shelfer 0:50

I almost lost my left arm in an accident when I was 12.

Jana Shelfer 0:53

That is true. In a tomato packing plant.

Jason Shelfer 0:56

I was so thankful it was my left because I was like, what would I do?

Jana Shelfer 1:02

Oh, I know. It's so weird that you bring that up because in the last couple months, we have befriended some one-armed people. Right. And I think that every time. I'm like, oh my God.

Jason Shelfer 1:13

But you know what's funny is, and we talk to them about, well, were you non-dominant? Is that your non-dominant? And oftentimes it's like, we will figure it out.

Jana Shelfer 1:24

So I know, but still there's that awkward. I mean, it just feels awkward. Even I played basketball for so many years, and we practiced over and over left-handed layups. Left-handed layups.

Awkwardness, Practice, And Growth

Jason Shelfer 1:37

Dribbling, dribbling for the first time for me with my left hand was just, it was like something that wasn't gonna happen. The more I practiced, the better I got. Like I looked like I was trying to dribble a rock when I tried to dribble with my left hand. Like my wrist just wasn't gonna push the ball down. It wasn't gonna receive the rock or the basketball gracefully. So, and that this is the whole thing about going after a worthwhile dream, is it's not gonna feel natural at first. It's gonna feel scary.

The Brain Shift Behind Non-Dominant Writing

Jana Shelfer 2:11

Okay, so let's not get squirreled off. We're talking about writing with your left hand. And I oftentimes will go to my journal, and if I get stuck or if I get somehow writer's block or whatnot, if I put it in my left hand, all of a sudden things start flowing. And here's the science behind it is because you are so concentrated on making the letters that you get out of your thoughts.

Jason Shelfer 2:43

Yes.

Jana Shelfer 2:44

You get out of your head, and you start tapping into a part of your brain where your soul is speaking, and you can actually listen for a for a a chance because you're not so busy trying to orchestrate.

Jason Shelfer 3:03

Oh, you're not trying to control. Control. Well, so there's this there's this part of you that's just so focused on the movement of your hand that the rest of life is around you, is is the noise is gone.

Jana Shelfer 3:17

It's the same concept. I know many times I've talked about my puzzles, but my puzzles do this same little technique for me. If I'm busy with my hands and busy looking for the pieces, all of a sudden I start hearing this inner voice deep, deep, deep within. It's very still, but for some reason I have to almost keep those the chaos occupied.

Jason Shelfer 3:47

Oh, interesting.

Jana Shelfer 3:48

Does that make sense? It does make sense, and it's the same concept with writing with your left hand. When you write with your left hand, you're you're trying to get the letters. You're like, wait, does an S go this way or or the other way?

Challenge Details And Daily Practice

Jason Shelfer 4:01

And I think it just opens up a newness. It opens it creates this new area of beingness within you that creates a new availability of you for whatever's coming.

Jana Shelfer 4:13

Yeah. No, it's so weird that we are doing this challenge right now because I just two days ago, I was on a call with my, I call her my niece, but she's really my cousin. She's really my second cousin. And I told her the same thing. I'm like, you know what? To get outside of the clutter in your mind, write with your left hand. Write with your left hand. And then this morning, Jason said, I think we need to do a 30-day challenge. We need to write an affirmation with our left hand for 30 days.

Jason Shelfer 4:47

Yeah, it's because that's to me, that's something that is not natural. It's a little bit, it freaks me out a little bit because I I don't want to write one. I it's nothing I don't want to do.

Jana Shelfer 4:58

Really?

Jason Shelfer 4:58

It is.

Jana Shelfer 4:59

Oh, I'm so excited to do this.

Jason Shelfer 5:01

Well, I am too, because I like doing things that I don't necessarily want to do.

Jana Shelfer 5:05

Okay, so today I am writing. I'm brilliant, I'm bright, I'm a radiant being of light. And I'm gonna write that with my left hand. And that's all I'm gonna do. So, like this challenge literally will take me. Well, I don't know, those Bs. Sometimes B's can be a little hard to write with your left hand, right?

Jason Shelfer 5:25

They turn out backwards, they turn into D's with a hump. Or I guess D's and B's are the same side, aren't they? See, I get confused just thinking about it.

Jana Shelfer 5:33

Really?

Jason Shelfer 5:34

Yes, because I start thinking about it.

Jana Shelfer 5:35

I wonder if this is how people with dyslexia feel sometimes.

Jason Shelfer 5:38

Yeah, well, and then I get so I get a little bit um envious of the ambidextrous people that are like left-handed, right-handed person.

Jana Shelfer 5:45

Are you really ambidextrous?

Jason Shelfer 5:47

Or do you think they learn to do it both both ways?

Jana Shelfer 5:50

Yeah, I think when they were younger, they're like, I'm gonna be different. Yeah, and so they started learning with both hands. It's like those people in gymnastics class. They were like, Oh, I can do it left-handed. I can do it right, I can do it either way.

Jason Shelfer 6:02

I can do a backhand spring and a forward hand spring.

Jana Shelfer 6:05

No, that's different.

Jason Shelfer 6:07

Okay. Are those not gymnastics?

Jana Shelfer 6:11

Yeah, no, no, no. That's gymnastics, but that's not left hand, right hand. That's forward, backward.

Jason Shelfer 6:16

Okay. That's not to me left-handed, left hand and okay. So this is the and this is the difference between wheelchairs and and walkers is you think lateral and I think left hand or just backwards and forwards. Like I'm thinking left to right, backwards and forwards, and you're thinking we're in the weeds.

Jana Shelfer 6:35

We are way in the weeds. Cut the grass, get us out of the weeds. The point of this podcast.

Jason Shelfer 6:43

This is what happens though with our brains.

Jana Shelfer 6:45

Welcome to our marriage. This is what happens to Jana and Jason.

Jason Shelfer 6:49

Left-handed, right-handed.

Jana Shelfer 6:50

We start communicating, we have a little disagreement, and next thing you know, we're talking about how to carve carrots.

Jason Shelfer 6:58

With your teeth. I love it.

Jana Shelfer 7:03

Oh, yeah, it's what makes us genius. Okay, so here's the challenge. Write an affirmation with your left hand every morning for 30 days. And then let's let's all report together. I already know what's gonna happen because I've I've done this exercise many times in my journal. However, I think a 30-day challenge would be really great for all of us.

Jason Shelfer 7:27

That sounds exciting. Let's do it.

Jana Shelfer 7:29

Have a great day.

Jason Shelfer 7:30

Keep Living Lucky®.

Wrap-Up And Community Invitation

Jana Shelfer 7:30

Bye bye. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at LivingLucky.com.