50 Ways to Build Confidence

Tuesday, August 14

50 Ways to Build Confidence

Here are some tips and tricks I've picked up along the way.  Plus a few things I'm still trying to get myself to do/believe.  My hope is that this helps you unleash that inner BOSS! One thing I know for sure: confidence is a journey, not a destination.

Enjoy!

Via Pinterest

 

1. Find a fun way to workout. Endorphins are nature’s happy pill

2. Talk to a good friend. No frenemies allowed!

3. Identify your favorite physical feature and accentuate it.

4. Buy a new outfit that looks fabulous on you.

5. Create or re-work your budget. Being in control of your finances increases confidence!

6. Set a SMART goal for yourself and work toward it.

7. Put a few affirmations on sticky notes wherever you will see them often.

8. Try a new hairstyle.

9. Practice the discipline of daily gratitude.

10. Pray, meditate, or reflect often.

11. Focus your thoughts on your positive attributes/qualities/skills. Replace negative thoughts instantly with positive ones.

12. Learn a new hobby.

13. Volunteer! Getting outside of your own problems to help others builds confidence.

14. Create something. A song, a painting, a letter, a craft…whatever it may be.

15. Incorporate healthy foods into your diet. Doing good things for your body will help you feel better about YOU!

16. Experiment with color. Paint a wall, wear a scarf, try that lipstick!

17. Give yourself a break. If you wouldn’t say it to your best friend don’t say it to yourself.

18. Genuinely compliment someone else.

19. Identify your core values. Are the things you do daily in line with those values? Make necessary changes.

20. Take a class in your area of interest.

21. Meet new people! Join a club or go to a mixer. Just get creative!

22. This should’ve been first on the list! You MUST believe you can actually attain more confidence.

23. Learn to say ‘No’

24. Try to take more risks. Do that thing you’ve always wanted to do but were too afraid.

25. Conquer your To-Do list! Cross off one task at a time.

26. Stop comparing yourself to other people. You can be the best version of yourself; no one else will ever beat you at that!

27. Make a list of things of things you’ve done/accomplished that you are proud of. It can be as small as ‘being awesome at taking care of  your pup’ to ‘winning the Nobel prize…twice’

28. Find value in yourself, first and foremost. Not your job, not your relationships and not your net-worth.

29. Clean up your space! Disorganization and excess clutter disrupt your inner peace.

30. Don’t be too afraid to seek counsel or aid when you need it.

31. Stop focusing on the things you don’t like about your life. Change your mindset and you will be able to see the beauty all around you.

32. Receive criticism with an open but discerning mind. Sift through it to find any truth, throw out the rest, make changes if necessary and move on.

33. Release guilt over mistakes and missed opportunities in the past. As long as you are breathing you will mess up, the key is to learn from the messy and keep growing.

34. Know that building self-esteem is a process that takes lots of little steps over time.

35. Learn to love, respect and trust yourself.

36. Read books about confidence, taking risks and achieving dreams.

37. Put yourself out there! Share your opinions and passions with others.

38. Cultivate increased generosity in your life.

39. Realize that everyone else is too busy worrying about their own hair/clothes/impressions/flaws to be thinking about yours.

40. Relax. Unplug. Just BE.

41. Do what makes you happy!

42. Eliminate any negative or abusive relationships from your life completely and immediately.

43. Fill your life with positive, encouraging and loving relationships.

44. Don’t play the victim. Accept that you are in control of your life.

45. Adopt a ZERO-tolerance policy for any negative self-talk.

46. Begin to accept things that are beyond your control. Eventually embrace those things.

47. Remember that good ‘ol advice “Fake it 'till you make it”. Even if you don’t feeeel confident today, behave like the you who is confident.

48. Practice good posture. Slumped shoulders and a lowered head convey self-doubt and unimportance to other people as well as to your own brain!

49. Let your hair down and have some fun!

50. BE YOURSELF. ALWAYS.

-Love, S

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Grow Everyday

Wednesday, August 8

Grow Everyday

via pinterest

Hi lovelies!

Last night I came up with the novel idea to do something everyday that leads me closer to the life I want to live.  Brilliant, right? But here's the thing, I am living the life I want to and I do feel that I'm on the right track for further enrichment. It's just that personally, I feel much better any day that is filled with things/thoughts/experiences/habits/people that line up with what I love, value and ultimately desire for my life.  I don't always make the choices that I want to consistently because at times I get caught up in what I want at the moment instead of choosing what will lead me to what I want the most.  I'm the kind of girl who craves change and growth and newness regularly so even though I'm so grateful for the person I am today, I'm equally excited about the person I am becoming. Want to join the fun?

Define your values
This means you might have to do some serious soul-searching. What are your core beliefs? What drives your major decisions? What do you desire most in life for yourself and for others? What do you need to feel purposeful, at peace, connected, loved and/or happy?

Identify small steps
Try not to be too over zealous here. You can't expect to go from 0 to 60 and sustain that long-term. That's what we want, long-term transformation, which will inevitably be slow and gradual.  If you sit on the couch all day now don't decide to run 5 miles a day at 6am starting tomorrow. Instead you would start by taking walks after dinner or going to the gym for a class 2-3 times a week.  It helps to look for evidence of the behavior that you desire in your current life. For example, you may want to read more daily and you already web surf for more hours than you'd care to admit. You could replace a few website views with reading a few pages of an ebook. The key is small actions that you can repeat daily without completely shocking your system.

Commit 
Decide officially what you will be doing and when you will start. Write down your goals, this is very important! Tell someone who will keep you accountable like friends, family or a group of people with the similar goals.

Help yourself
Hopefully you know yourself well and you can recognize potential areas or times where you are more likely to give up on your goals.  Use that to help you! Back to that reading example, you could set a timer when you first get on the computer to limit your web surfing and remind you to read your book. You could also change your homepage to something that will remind you to read instead of web surf for hours on end.  Will power is never enough, its imperative that you help yourself with effective  guardrails (for you).

Act everyday
Now it's time to do exactly what you wanted to do! Take it one day at a time, one action at a time. You can do this!

Forgive yourself and keep moving
You will fail. You will mess up. You will want to give up and go back to your old behaviors.  Let's just get that out of the way upfront so there aren't any surprises.  Dust yourself off and try again! We are going for overall consistency NOT perfection. You can still do this :)

Experience change!

 Oh, did you want to hear what my 'change actions' are?
Exercise daily-I'll do short walks on rest days
Quite time daily-Doesn't mean I have to be quiet, but I will be centered on Jesus
Read something - Books, the Bible, magazines, articles anything that adds to my life
Create something- Write, make a video, knit, paint, develop an idea etc

I do all of these thing often and I've seen a lot of fruit from them, when I do them. Now I want to commit to intentionally do these things daily!

-Love, S

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Cleaning Frenzy

Cleaning Frenzy

Hi there lovelies!

I took a break from my recent cleaning frenzy to relax on the couch and catch up on my favorite blogs.  I was inspired to do some serious cleaning because 1. it was desperately needed and 2. I read in my current book, The Happiness Project, that getting organized helps to boost mood. Of course, I already knew that little fact but it was a nice reminder especially since over the last few days every time I glanced over the apartment I let out a defeated sigh at the sight of all the clutter and grime. But those days are no more! I've been attacking one room at a time each night, mostly because the entire apartment would be too great an undertaking for me alone in one day. I didn't create this mess alone, it was the combined doing of 6 guests! Although I do miss them terribly and I would keep the mess in a heartbeat if it meant I could keep them here too.  But now that the place is empty {sad sigh} a thorough clean up was overdue.


So this book so far is pretty great! It's filled with lots of ideas and stories about experiencing more happiness. I, like the author, am already quite a happy girl but who says you can't have more of a good thing? I say check it out.

 The after in the living room.  I wasn't even willing to show you the before...let's just say I worked a mini miracle in there.  I'm thinking of adding some pillows to the mix, what colors do you think I should get?

Just take my word for it, yet another miracle was performed in the kitchen as well.  Dontcha just love how I created a makeshift napkin holder with two candles?? Yes, I thought you'd appreciate that.
















Next thing on my list? I want to freshen up my bedroom a bit but more importantly I need to go through my closet and drawers for a seasonal 'keep/donate/trash' cleanout. Wish me luck!

Love, S

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Finding Happy

Monday, August 6

Finding Happy

For me, for many years summers have been about rest and adventure and letting life teach you a lesson or two (as opposed to forcing yourself to listen in class for hours on end).  Now that I've been out of school for a little bit I thought maybe those times were over.  I have always looked forward to those lazy days and those jammed-packed-full-of-fun days that the summer months have always promised me.  Surely Summer 2012 did not disappoint. I started out on a month long trip to Nigeria to explore, relax and reconnect with the lovely fam. It's like my whole perspective changed and my mind's eye just opened up to all the possibilities and blessings that surround me.  I was coming out of an extended period of lowness and suffering to which I will refer to as the "dark year" so this summer couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  Just when I thought I had received enough life and joy to not only heal my wounds but to carry me forward I was showered with even more lovely upon returning to the states.  There's nothing like new friends and old friends to remind you who you are,  refill your confidence and bolster your faith in the Father.  Even if I had a thousand tounges I couldn't praise God enough for what He has done for me and for who He is.  There's always a light at the end of the tunnel and there's always beauty in the midst of the desert.  We just have to learn to experience life beyond what we see in the physical.

 New friends hit the beach!

 Summer beauty

 My favorite treat all year round. Froyo!

 Best movie of the summer EVER! The Dark Knight Rises

 Me and the loveliest Momma

 Monday night dinner with the interns

 View from my Mom's backyard in Nigeria

I hope you lovelies are having a fantastic summer and that you are opening your hearts to all that life has for you!

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