Hello, I completely agree with you! Though waking yourself up in the middle of the night seems a bit harsh... :-)
Mental messaging really works. You can "programme your brain" to whatever you would like to achive. The best time for that is before sleeping when you are in the bed wondering about your day and immediately after waking up in the morning. These are the times when we are normally in the so-called "alpha-state". This is the mental state when our brain is most susceptible to stimuli. Therefore it is not all the same what you feed it with. Feeding it with positive thoughts will result in success, better self-perception and happiness.
So keep going! And congratulations!