2 . CREATE AND COMMUNICATE BOUNDARIES
Important note here : this is not about perfection . You are human , and you ’ ll let yourself and others down on occasion . Your opportunity here is to give yourself grace , practice forgiveness , learn , grow , and be better next time .
3 . PRACTICE SELF-CARE
46 www . AspireMAG . net | October / November 2024
2 . CREATE AND COMMUNICATE BOUNDARIES
As women , we tend to be better about honoring the commitments we make to others ; we put our internal agreements on the backburner . If it has to do with our family , friends , and our work , we often do what we say we will .
But if it ’ s something that impacts only us , we can get pretty loosey-goosey with our word . When you don ’ t follow through on the commitments you make to yourself , you ’ re breaking trust and chipping away at your confidence .
Important note here : this is not about perfection . You are human , and you ’ ll let yourself and others down on occasion . Your opportunity here is to give yourself grace , practice forgiveness , learn , grow , and be better next time .
Another way to build internal confidence is to set and communicate healthy boundaries . But I hear from so many women that they have a hard time saying no because many of us have been socialized to be people pleasers and martyrs , so we feel like we ’ re never supposed to say no .
Every time we say yes to something , however , we ’ re saying no to something else , and it ’ s usually something that matters to us . We have a hard time saying no , often because we feel selfish or feel like we ’ re disappointing someone . But the reality is you ’ ll either disappoint them or yourself . An even bigger reality is that in saying no , you may gain your own trust and respect along with theirs .
Plan out what you ’ ll say ahead of time , so the next time someone asks , you ’ ll have a prepared response and won ’ t automatically default to , “ Sure , I ’ ll do it !”
3 . PRACTICE SELF-CARE
Yes , I ’ m jumping on the self-care bandwagon . However , how self-care is being modeled and encouraged has become a bit of a pet peeve of mine . I ’ m not talking about getting your hair and nails done or having frequent spa days .
46 www . AspireMAG . net | October / November 2024