It’s that time of year again: the weather is getting warmer and everyone is anxious to get back outside to enjoy nature, so spring cannot come any faster. Along with the change in weather, there are a lot of other changes that begin around this time: people’s moods are beginning to improve, schools begin to wind down for the year, and it’s time to start shedding our hoodies and sweatpants to welcome in the shorts and tank tops. For some girls, this is a glorious time to walk around in clothes that just cover enough and can truly show themselves off and feel good about themselves all day. However, for other girls, it’s a challenging time because they aren’t huge fans of revealing clothes and walking around to show themselves off all summer. It can be difficult to watch other girls feel so good about themselves and wear certain clothes when you don’t feel like you also can.
Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle (although I do lean more towards the first group now). I completely understand walking around feeling like the most beautiful creature to ever bless this earth, but I also understand the craving for it to be hoodie season again so I can cover myself up and disappear from everyone. I was able to work for a while and get myself to this good middle ground, though, and I genuinely feel good about myself. So, I want to share some of the things I did to help myself build up my confidence for the warmer months.
1. Changing your mindset
As simple as it is, my biggest thing was just changing my mindset. Instead of sitting there all summer, thinking about how I wish I could feel better about myself so I could go out and be more confident, I began to think about how I did look good enough to show off my confidence. As cliché as it sounds, it truly is all about perspective, and if you genuinely think that you look good, you’ll feel good. It’s not an easy thing to do, but even just thinking about it differently once a day makes it easier and it’ll come naturally before you realize.
2. Wear What Makes YOU feel Good
This is something that I always felt like I heard when people talked about confidence: if you’re wearing what you like, then you’ll automatically feel good about yourself. That’s not entirely true and I won’t pretend like it is. However, there is some truth in the concept: if you’re wearing things that you enjoy wearing, you’ll naturally feel better about yourself. You don’t have to be wearing over-the-top, “everyone says I’ll look good in this”, flashy things in order to feel good about yourself. It can be something that you just genuinely enjoy wearing and you can look fantastic in it solely because you feel better. My go-to over the summer is a shirt and some shorts. It’s never anything overly cute, but it makes me feel comfortable. Clothes were made for you, not the other way around, so wear things you feel comfortable in and don’t force yourself to wear things because others are wearing them!
3. Do the Little Things
It’s not an easy or fast process, so giving yourself little goals helps a lot. Something I liked to do a lot in the beginning was complimenting one thing about myself at least once a day. It could be as big or as little as I wanted. It can be something as small as picking something new to wear that you think might make you feel good. Nothing too major, just something like trying a new pair of shoes or different pants. Along with that, try changing accessories. For me, accessories were one of the biggest things to help boost my confidence. I found that wearing a bunch of necklaces, bracelets, and rings with big earrings helped me feel really good about myself, so try to find the thing that works best for you. Experiment with the little things until you find the best combination for you.
4. Focus On Yourself
When working on your confidence, it’s extremely important to also focus on yourself. It can be so easy to begin comparing yourself to others and allow that to alter your process. I know how hard it can be to not compare yourself, but when you don’t, the entire process is so much easier. When you realize that you’re doing it, just remind yourself that they’re their own person, and so are you. That means that the two of you are different, and that’s perfectly okay. This is your progress, not someone else’s.
5. Be Patient
It’s not an easy process to suddenly be extremely confident in yourself and everything you do. It might seem like it will be and you might really want it to be, but it’s so important for you to remember to be patient with yourself. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that it’s not frustrating, because there were so many times where I would be so frustrated that things weren’t just falling into place like I wanted them to. However, as long as you are patient and kind to yourself, it won’t be a painful process. Remind yourself that you’re doing an amazing job!
Overall, I know it’s not the most fun process to do, but it’s so rewarding. I genuinely hope these tips work as well for you as they did for me. You’re all genuinely so naturally beautiful and I hope you all feel it this summer and enjoy yourselves!