Do you feel like you’re always comparing yourself to other women? A lot of women struggle with body confidence and feel like they’re not good enough, no matter what they do.
You work hard, but it seems like other women always have it all together. You can’t help but compare yourself to them, and that’s when you start to feel down on yourself.
And it doesn’t help when you’re constantly bombarded with images in the media of “perfect” women.
You’re definitely not alone. A lot of us feel this way, but it doesn’t mean that we have to accept it as our reality. There are steps we can take to start building body confidence and feeling better about ourselves – starting today.
I want to help you find the best way for you to develop body confidence and love your own unique self. That’s why I put together a list of 8 habits for building body confidence as a woman. These tips will help you focus on your own journey and figure out what works best for you.
These tips are simple, actionable, and effective.
Start implementing these habits today and see how they change your life for the better!
THE TOP 8 HABITS FOR WOMEN TO BUILD BODY CONFIDENCE
1. Start with small achievable goals
Women can boost their confidence over time by setting small but achievable goals—then building on those successes.
This method of achieving small goals to build on successes is shown in the book Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success, by G. Richard Shell. The book notes how Olympic Athletes train in a way that accumulates small wins and slowly builds confidence in their abilities.
If the highest performing athletes train this way, then why aren’t we training our minds to think this way?
Some small achievable goals could be reciting 5 positive affirmations to yourself in the mirror every morning or going for a walk every evening with your dog, or even waking up earlier to give yourself more “me time” in the morning.
2. Take care of your body and health
When you feel and look good you’re more apt to be more confident in yourself. Taking care of your body and health can be choosing to eat a healthier diet, deciding to go on one walk a day, or even switching beauty products to a greener option.
These little wins are how you will feel more confident and once you feel more confident you need to harness the power of your thoughts and actions to raise your self-esteem.
Practicing regular self-care and safeguarding your mental health are two important steps in building and maintaining self-confidence. These are just as important as getting enough sleep and exercising!
3. You do you
Eileen Scully, the founder of The Rising Tides and author of In the Company of Men, focuses on advancing women in the workplace through her work and as an international keynote speaker. She also writes about confident women and she talks with women all over the world about leadership and confidence.
She believes confident women don’t care about labels or logos but create their own style and aesthetic.
But this shouldn’t just apply to style, it should also apply to activities, friendships, and relationships. Be picky with friendships and choose to be around like-minded women who will make you feel empowered. Choose to be in relationships that boost your confidence and self-empowerment.
Apply “you do you” to every aspect of your life to see the biggest impacts.
4. Try new things
It’s easy to get stuck in the same routine day in and day out.
It can be hard to break out of our comfort zones and try new things, especially when it comes to our appearance.
We’re constantly bombarded with images and messages telling us that we’re not good enough the way we are.
Trying new things is the key to finding what makes you feel confident and beautiful.
And guess what? That’s different for everyone! Whether it’s taking a dance class, trying a new hairstyle, or wearing something that makes you feel powerful, just do it! You’ll be surprised at how good it feels to step outside of your comfort zone and embrace who you are.
5. Be fearless and bold
Women are constantly bombarded with images in the media of what they’re “supposed” to look like. This can lead to a lot of body confidence issues.
It’s hard to be confident when you don’t feel like you fit into the mold that society has created for us. We’re constantly told that we need to be thinner, have more muscle, and have perfect hair and skin.
Be fearless and bold! Embrace your unique beauty and start loving yourself exactly as you are.
Taking risks is part of being bold.
“Be brave and fearless to know that even if you do make a wrong decision, you’re making it for good reason.” – Adele
6. Take charge
Many women won’t, or don’t, take charge of their personal life choices and instead leave the decisions up to their partners – who don’t always have your best intentions in mind.
To be more empowered and confident in yourself, try making more decisions based on your needs.
By taking charge, you’ll soon start to see who in your life is there to support you and who you should bless and release.
7. Adopt a growth and learner mindset
Confident women are always learning and growing.
Knowledge is power. And in this case, power is confidence, empowerment, and exuding positive vibes.
Confident women don’t have to be the constant center of attention and know they can learn and grow from others.
Adopting a growth, or learners, mindset is backed by research – Carol Dweck found that having a “growth mindset” helps people reach their full potential in life.
Being a confident woman doesn’t mean you have to have it all figured out. It means you’re willing to learn and grow no matter what life throws your way. And that’s something we can all aspire to be
8. Choose your friends wisely
It can be tough to stay confident when you’re constantly being put down by the people in your life.
No one deserves to be treated badly, especially by people who say they care about your well-being.
Confident women know how to walk away from people who bring them down and they don’t apologize for it.
By surrounding yourself with other positive people you will start to feel differently about yourself and will become more body confident.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ROADBLOCKS WOMEN FACE WITH BODY CONFIDENCE?
Some of the factors that contribute to a negative body image include but are not limited to:
Being teased about appearance in childhood
Many people don’t realize how damaging “bullying” can be in childhood. Some of our worst body appearance memories come from when we were young and someone said something to us or used a term that stuck with us into adulthood.
Being in a relationship with someone who wants to have a say in your appearance
Too many people feel entitled to their partner’s body once they are in a relationship, engaged, or married. THAT IS NOT TRUE!
Your body is YOUR body – no one else’s! You can look the way you want and can be happy doing it! Don’t let your significant other control how you want to look, what you want to eat, or what diet you should try.
A cultural tendency to judge people by their appearance
The media and our society tell women, and men, how they should look.
Women should have big butts, small waists, long hair, and nails with perfect skin. Men should have six-packs, with the big arm and leg muscles, maybe a beard, and chest hair.
But how many men and women look like this? Not many…
This is how the media, magazines, apps, and advertising companies portray the “typical” body. This is what we believe we are supposed to look like and beat ourselves up when we don’t fit that mold.
The moral of the story is? Don’t always believe what you see in the media. Make your own decisions and try to live the happiest and fullest life with the body you have.
A tendency in women’s media to push fad diets and weight loss programs
It is very often that we see advertisements for supplements, a new fad diet, or a new piece of equipment that you NEED in order to lose weight fast. It is typically geared towards women, as well.
I remember seeing commercials when I was really young about new diets to try or new workouts. When I was a teenager, they were geared more to my age range and I remember girls in middle and high school trying these diets by themselves or with their moms. Slim Fast, anyone?!
Now, as an adult, I remember a few years ago many of my peers were trying a new fad diet of hypnosis! As with every other fad diet, hypnosis worked for some and not for others.
The key to losing weight is consistency and making small changes every day to become a healthier version of yourself.
IMPLEMENTING THESE HABITS WILL BOOST YOUR BODY CONFIDENCE
We all know that feeling. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and suddenly you feel like a bloated, dumpy version of your confident self.
As women, we are constantly inundated with images and messages telling us that we need to look a certain way in order to be considered attractive and successful. It’s no wonder that so many of us feel insecure about our bodies!
It’s hard to have body confidence as a woman but don’t worry, it’s not impossible to learn how to love your body. Practice these 8 habits regularly and you’ll start to see a change in the way you feel about yourself.
I hope you’ve found these habits helpful and that you will start to see a difference in your body confidence levels.
Remember, it takes time and practice to form new habits, so be patient with yourself!
Obviously, they won’t work for everyone in exactly the same way – we all have different personalities, bodies, and lifestyles. But hopefully, you can find a few of these tips helpful as you start working on feeling more confident in your own skin.
And most importantly, have fun with this! Experiment with different things until you find what works best for you.
Let me know what habits you use OR are going to start using!!!
And don’t forget to share this guide with your friends if you think they could use some help too.
If you’re interested in a free health discovery session, be sure to email me at [email protected] – I’d be happy to set up a free 30-minute health discovery session with you!
