What started as some personal inspiration has turned into a business opportunity for one local woman.
Tsawwassen's Angela Dopud has always loved a good challenge.
"I was always challenging myself," she said, whether it was hiking the Grouse Grind every day or cutting out sugar.
And from a young age, she always stayed active by going to the gym.
Things changed, however, when she had her first child.
"After our son was born I was thrown for a loop because now I was needed," she said, adding she stopped working out and didn't like how she was feeling.
She tried to get back into going to the gym but found it difficult to maintain a routine.
Dopud said she's always believed in the philosophy that if you do something every day for 21 days it becomes a habit. She said research has shown that brain circuits have memory traces, also known as engrams, that will produce a neuroconnection if a set behavior is practiced consistently for 21 days.
One rainy day in 2007 as she sat in traffic, she looked at the beads hanging from the rearview mirror and inspiration struck. She decided to make herself a bracelet with 21 beads. Each bead would represent another day working toward her goal of getting in a daily workout.
It worked and the young mom found a little time each day for a workout.
Initially Dopud started making the bracelets to give to friends and in 2009 she decided to branch out and started going to trade shows to market the bracelet.
"It's just grown from there," she said. "I've sold so many."
Dopud said she's heard from people who have used the bracelet to quit smoking, lose weight, run 5K and quit gambling, among much else.
Each day you achieve your goal, you move a marker, or charm, forward one bead. If you miss a day, then you move the marker back to the beginning and start over.
For more on the 21 Day Empower Bracelet, visit www.21daybracelet.com.
