Do you consider yourself a self-confident person? What do you think constitutes self-confidence? I have always had an uncanny ability to feel good about myself, and especially be OK with myself no matter what anyone else thinks about me…however, there have definitely been times in my life when something has happened that has rocked my world and caused me to doubt myself, feel insecure about myself and ultimately question my abilities.
Self-confidence is a difficult thing for the majority of us to grasp. It’s hard to ignore your own flaws because you are your own worst critic. You see all the tiny negative details and aspects about yourself that nobody else notices. In fact, you see all the flaws that aren’t even flaws. That’s part of the cruel trick your psychology plays on you. Still, you don’t have to let yourself feel swamped by self-doubt concerning your appearance. There are ways in which you can switch your thinking and start to feel beautiful in your own skin. Here are just a few thoughts which might give you some inspiration.
Your face
The first step towards feeling beautiful in your own skin is learning to love your face. This is perhaps the most important aspect of beauty because your face is your defining feature. It’s important that you look after the health of your face because, sometimes, taking a step back from excessive amounts of cosmetic products and simply going for the natural route can make a big difference. You might want to take a break from makeup, as blasphemous as that might be to say. Whilst makeup has become a barrier to the world for many women, it can, ironically, do more harm than good to your face if you wear it too often.
Give your pores some room to breathe now and then because you might find that your blemishes, such as acne and blackheads, start to fade away. You’ll also find that your skin feels and looks fresher too. It’s a good mental test in being brave enough to love your bare skin; you’ll start to feel more beautiful once you step out of your comfort zone more frequently. A little makeup now and then is fine but you shouldn’t be dependent on the stuff; it should be used occasionally to accentuate your favorite beauty aspects rather than conceal yourself.
Your hair
Sticking to the theme of your facial region, let’s talk about the other big thing that gives the majority of us nightmares: our hair. Again, much as we talked about enough, you should always think about the healthiness of your hair when you’re trying to beautify yourself. You don’t want to bleach or dye it excessively because this can lead to very damaged hair. Of course, this article isn’t trying to suggest that you must go the natural route for everything but that you should simply avoid excessive habits that can damage your appearance. You might want to spruce up your appearance with something a little less damaging, such as tape in hair extensions. It’s okay to use a little non-natural help to get the beautiful appearance you want and feel more confident in your own skin but just don’t do so at the expense of your health or comfort.
Your dietary and fitness routine
It was going so well until I mentioned the two things everybody hates to hear. Yes, we all groan a little at the thought of exercise and healthy food but the best way to feel comfortable in your own skin is to look after it. That’s been the general theme throughout this article but it’s important not to misinterpret this point. Whilst over-eating is unhealthy, under-eating is just as bad.
Having the perfect figure doesn’t mean you should starve yourself because that’ll do your body damage. It’s all about eating a full diet with plenty of nutritious value. The occasional chocolate bar is fine as long as you’re eating well every day. Things that are lacking in many people’s diets include magnesium (which helps with fatigue and headaches and can be found in spinach, bread, etc) and iron (again, this helps with energy levels and can be found in broccoli, peas, etc). Do a little research and see if your body is getting what it needs. A healthier glow to your skin might start when you eat more healthily.
I don’t know about you, but I have definitely been guilty of self-sabotaging myself and how I look by sometimes not eating (I have been known to just forget and then I’m starving and eat something that is bad for me), by frying my hair with a hot tool, getting carried away with beautifying procedures (like eyebrow waxing and other treatments, where the wax was too hot and it burned my eyelids)…
All these things can take away from us feeling good about ourselves, and honestly there are enough things going on in our lives at work or at home that can cause us to feel down on ourselves anyway that we don’t need to add to it. Sometimes the act of beautifying can do exactly the opposite, so my new mantra…”less is more” – and that goes for makeup, hair treatments, waxing, thinking bad things about myself etc. In fact, I have a new resolution that for every bad thought I have about myself, I will replace it with 2 things about myself that I like…I know the happier I am with myself, the happier I am at home, at work and in general…
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