Five Ways To Boost Confidence

I often find myself struggling with confidence.

It's so hard to feel 100 percent with yourself, when every ad/social media post around you makes you feel inadequate. Don't get me wrong, I love social media and the connection that it creates between people. It just took me a while to realize, I can't let what other's post affect how I feel about myself.

so here I am sharing five things that I have started doing to boost my confidence.

1. SPOIL YOURSELF- I LOVE shopping!! Like it’s a problem lol, but I hate spending unnecessary amounts of money. What I love to do is look around and see what deals I can find. The better the deal, the better I feel. Anyway… I have given myself a small budget every week. So while I’m shopping, or cruising the isles of target I am on the lookout for one item I can’t live without. This way I can have a new outfit for date night, a day out or an event coming up, without emptying my bank account. I have found that it helps me feel super confident in my wardrobe, and slowly but surely, it will fill my closet.

I love clothes, so that’s where the majority of my spending money goes. Although, occasionally I love to buy a new pair of shoes, a cute clutch, etc. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I go through fazes where I want to buy clothes, décor or art supplies. So what I spoil myself with that week really just depends on what I’m feeling motivated by. Which in my opinion is the whole point of spoiling myself, so I feel motivated and confident in who I am.

1. SOLO DATE- I used to hate going anywhere alone. I have always dealt with anxiety so being in public; by myself was not always my cup of tea. Living life in fear is not living a life at all.

So over time, I’ve forced myself to get out and about solo. The funny thing is I actually love it now. Once a week I treat myself, nothing big. I’ll go grab a bite to eat while I people watch, read a book, or play on my phone. It took me a long time to get to the point where I didn’t feel really awkward sitting alone. Honestly sometimes I still feel really weird, but it makes me happy to be out and to feel confident enough to do these things solo.

1. EATING RIGHT/STAYING ACTIVE- I LOVE food and I’m lazy by nature, so this one is hard sometimes. I have tried diets and exercise plans before, but I could never fully commit to them. I am great with incorporating healthy meals into my diet and making good choices most of the time. When you add the pressure and commitment into it, I fail hard core. I judge myself too much when it comes to cheat meals, and wanting to be perfect at it. I try to steer away from any plan, because that is not what works for me.

I find that when I make time to prepare meals for myself and Ross I feel more confident in my eating habits. When we make it a point to get out as a family and take the dog for a walk, or go on a hike. I feel great about our time spent together. Then when I actually make it to the gym and put forth the effort, I am proud of myself. Then I’m Just as happy when I take a day off from all that and give my body the rest it needs. It’s all about balance for me, putting forth effort, but not judging myself too harshly if I fail.

1. SKIN/FACE/NAILS- I am a real girly-girl, but this is not my area of expertise. I am the worst at keeping my nails painted and I do occasionally fall asleep with my makeup on. Lately I have been making it a point to set time aside to pamper myself.

My routine is pretty simple as far as washing my face goes, but now I love to throw a mask on every once and a while. I take time to pay attention to what my skin needs and try to treat my face accordingly. It does make you feel really good when you take care of your face and love the skin you are in. Plus who doesn’t love a fresh manicure every once in a while.

1. GETTING READY- This is a pretty obvious one when it comes to feeling confident in whom you are. What I find that makes me feel good is listening to my heart on this one. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but let me explain. As women I feel like there is this stigma on us that we always need to be on point. That to be beautiful, you need to have on a full face of makeup and your hair has to be perfect. That is just crazy to me, don’t get me wrong I love fixing myself up with a fresh do and some makeup. I just don’t agree that is the only version of a beautiful woman.

I know it’s going to sound corny when I say that beauty comes in all different looks and styles, but it’s totally true. When I go to get ready, sometimes I don’t want to spend all that extra time and effort going above and beyond. To be honest if you don’t want to, you shouldn’t have to. Some days, I’ll just go with natural hair and no makeup. The great thing about this is that I feel just as confident as if I had on my full face and perfectly done hair. The reason I feel confident is that I listened to my heart and how I felt that day and I went with it. I don’t wear makeup for other people, I wear it for me. Sure some days I need a little extra getting ready and pampering to lift my spirits and to feel good that day. When I’m doing it for myself and no one else I have noticed I’m so much happier.

xoxo, Courtney