Am I the only one who has been feeling in a bit of a slump lately? This pandemic has played a part in letting myself go in more ways than one. I haven’t felt as motivated and productive. That’s why I decided to create a glow up challenge for myself. A lot of these tips have helped me in the past and I am hoping they will help you too. I think it’s important to set personal goals every month to continue to work on finding your best self. Here are 50 simple ways to glow up your life.
Glow Up Challenge: 50 Ways To Glow Up Your Life
Personal Growth Glow Up:
If you have been following me for a while now then you might know that back in 2017 I was going through a dark time in my life. I used to have a negative mindset and truly believed that I had no purpose. A huge turning point for me was when I started my blog back in April 2017. This lead me to finding some incredibly motivating podcasts that helped me reframe my mindset. The first part of the glow up challenge is to work on setting and achieving personal growth goals.
1. Start your day with journaling and positive affirmations
I am a huge fan of positive affirmations. Repeating affirmations to myself throughout the day makes a huge difference on my mood. I recommend starting your day off with 5 positive affirmations and journaling. I put together a few journaling challenges that you should check out for inspiration.
- Journaling prompts for self discovery
- Journaling prompts for personal growth
- Journaling prompts for goal setting
- Journaling prompts for confidence
You can also check out this post for a list of 100 positive affirmations to start your day off right.
2. Figure out your limiting beliefs and eliminate them.
The next step in the personal growth glow up challenge is to eliminate your limiting beliefs. This took me a while to work on. We tend to self sabotage ourselves with our thoughts without even realizing it.
Do you ever see someone succeeding in something that YOU WANT TO DO and think “wow, that must be nice but that will never be me.” That thought right there is a limiting belief and it’s stopping you from moving forward and pursuing your dreams.
There are many limiting beliefs that I am guilty of and I still am working on reframing my mindset daily.
Instead of thinking “that will never be me.” I try to think “If they can do it, that means I can do it and I will get there one day.”
The more you believe in your abilities, the more motivation you have to want to actually achieve that goal.
Take the time to sit down and write out the limiting beliefs that are holding you back and then reframe those thoughts into a positive, motivating statement.
3.Do things that make you happy
It sounds so simple right? However, more times than not I find myself making excuses as to why I can’t do things that actually make me happy. It’s almost as if I am afraid that it makes me selfish to do things that I love.
If you are feeling a similar way, then this is the next step in the personal growth glow up challenge that you should work on!
Make a bucket list of things you enjoy doing and get to completing it!
4.Try something new that you’ve always wanted to try
I think it’s important to try new things. I have always been someone who enjoys trying new things but, I know there are many who like their comfort zone. Trying new things tends to scare a lot of people. I want you to try 2-3 new things this month. Don’t be afraid. What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but have been too afraid? GO DO IT!
5.Take more risks
The best thing you can do to glow up your life is to take more risks. This ties into trying something new and stepping outside of your comfort zone. I have taken countless amounts of risks in the past and they have all taught me valuable lessons and even brought me great accomplishments.
Before I started my blog I was a full time waitress and I barely made it by. I started my blog with the intentions of hopefully inspiring others through my writing.
Eventually my blog began to bring me an income. I made $40,000 my first full year blogging and the BIGGEST risk I took to date was quitting my full time waitressing job the beginning of 2019 to blog full time. I haven’t looked back since and I have since then doubled my income. Sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones and taking risks lead to great results and rewards. Other times it is a great lesson learned.
6.Listen to motivational podcasts
As I said earlier, motivational podcasts really helped change my mindset and outlook on life. They helped me pull myself up and out of the rut I felt like I was in. If you are looking for some binge worthy podcasts to help you glow up your life then you need to check out these.
7.Set goals and actually accomplish them
It’s really easy to set a goal but, the glow up comes when the goal is accomplished. I challenge you to set personal growth and life goals that you can accomplish. One issue I used to have when setting goals was that I would set big goals and overwhelm myself. This lead to burnout, giving up, and disappointment.
When setting goals, set one big goal and then break that goal down into small attainable goals.
For example,
One big goal: PURCHASE MY FIRST HOME
Small goals: GET PREAPPROVED, SAVE ENOUGH FOR 5% DOWNPAYMENT, FIND A REALTOR
8.Figure out your priorities
I enjoy listing out my priorities from the most important to least important. This helps me figure out where I should put most of my focus. It’s okay for your priorities to change. I challenge you to do this too.
9.Challenge yourself
There is no glow up without a challenge. When it comes to personal growth it’s so important to challenge ourselves. If you don’t feel challenged then your goals aren’t big enough. I always say DREAM BIGGER.
We tend to think we can’t obtain a dream that is so big but, why not? Is it because we are taught to think this way? Who’s to say you can’t be a millionaire? It’s all about what you believe you can achieve and the action you take to make it possible. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself more.
10. Let go of what you can’t control
This is probably the best lesson I learned. When you learn to let go of what you can’t control, you begin to feel a weight lifted off your shoulder. Trying to control something that you simply cannot, leads to exhaustion, disappointment, and feeling unfulfilled.
Health and Wellness Glow Up
You can’t have a glow up challenge without focusing on your health and well being. These past few months I put my health and well being on the back burner and it shows. There is so much uncertainty in the world right now with this pandemic that I began to feel unmotivated. I am making a promise to myself to get motivated and start putting my health and well being first again with these 10 simple tips.
1. Drink more water
This is simple right? I haven’t been glowing the way I used to and I am sure that not drinking enough water has played a part in this. Drinking more water can make you glow from the inside out. I am aiming to drink 10 cups of water a day.
2. Choose foods that make your body happy
I will be 27 in December and at this point I know what foods my body likes and doesn’t like. Fueling your body with healthy foods is going to give you more energy and it’s going to help you glow. I will be the first to admit that my diet is awful at the moment. I hate to cook therefore, I am always eating frozen meals and fast food. This is not fueling my body the way I want it to. Part of the glow up challenge is to start eating healthier.
3. Get enough sleep at night
It’s important to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep but, most of the time this is hard to do when you have priorities that keep you up at night. Currently I am on the worst sleeping schedule. I go to bed around 5am and wake up around 12:30pm Mostly because I work from home as a full time blogger and I tend to work better at night. However, this sleeping schedule has me feeling mopey and unmotivated. I want to wake up earlier and enjoy more daylight.
4. Get outside and walk more
This ties into enjoying more daylight. Getting outside and walking more is essential to a life glow up. Sunlight is a great source of vitamin D and our body craves it. Being outside in nature can also boost your mood. I love to take hikes when I can and I am going to strive to take more before the summer is over.
5. Have time for yourself to meditate
Part of the well being glow up challenge is to make sure you have time by yourself to just meditate and enjoy the quiet. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the busy days of life that we forget to take a breather. Meditating can be extremely effective when it comes to unwinding from stressful, busy days. Take the time each day to meditate for a few minutes and enjoy some quiet time alone.
6. Exercise for 30 mins each day
Exercising is essential to a glow up challenge. I have let myself go during quarantine. I started drinking wine more often than I should, I ate snacks late at night, and I never once exercised. I am challenging myself to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
7. Wake up earlier
As I mentioned earlier, I am in a bit of a sleeping schedule rut. I have been staying up until the early morning hours and sleeping until 12:30pm. I am challenging myself to going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier to enjoy more daylight.
8. have a daily routine
Having a daily routine can have a huge effect on the day we have. I find that when I have a daily routine in place I feel more motivated to get more done that day. Some things I like to incorporate in my daily routine are:
- Making sure I eat breakfast
- Journaling and affirmations
- Making time to mediate
- Setting boundaries for times I should work and when to put my work away
- Taking time to step outside
- Setting aside time to exercise
9. Take care of your skin
I can tell when my skin is glowing and when it is dull. Having a proper skin care routine is essential to a health and wellness glow up. This includes making sure you are properly protecting your skin with SPF when you are in the sun. I mention some of my favorite skin care products in this post.
10. Have a daily mindset check in
Lastly, make sure to have a daily mindset check in. This is so important. I have been trying to get better at checking in with myself throughout the day to make sure that I am feeling at my best. It’s okay to have days where you aren’t feeling 100%. We all have days like this. Be easy on yourself and make sure to practice self love and self care. I have 85 self care ideas in this post that you might find helpful.
Financial Glow Up
The next part of this life glow up challenge is having a financial glow up. This part is HUGE for me. If you have been following me for a while then you probably know that I got myself into 16 credit cards worth of debt. My credit score back in 2017 was below 700. I believe it was around 640. I had no money in my savings account and I was struggling to pay my bills.
Fast forward 3 years later and I officially have no more credit card debt, I have managed to save $11,000+, and I got approved for a mortgage ALL ON MY OWN with no co-signer. Here are 10 easy was to have a financial glow up.
1. Have an emergency fund
I can’t stress this enough. There is going to be a time when an unexpected bill appears like needing new tires for your car or fixing an appliance. You don’t want to have to stress this and you also don’t want to have to put yourself into debt trying to fix the problem. This is why it is so important to have an emergency fund. Try to save whatever you can each month into this emergency fund and only use it for emergencies.
2. Treat your savings account like an extra bill you pay each month
A huge part of my financial glow up has been having over $11,000 in my savings account. I can’t recall a time I have ever felt this financially stable. I made this happen by treating my savings account like a monthly bill. I figured out my budget to see how much I could afford to save each month. Then I made sure that I put aside that amount every month (acting as if it was a bill I could not afford to miss paying)You can read my top tips for saving your first $1,000 here.
3. Cut your expenses
Sometimes we are paying for unnecessary items without even realizing it. Cutting your expenses can improve your finances in a major way. I put together this list of 15 things I cut out of my budget to save money.
4. Live below your means
Living below your means is a huge glow up. Many would think the opposite. If you don’t have the fanciest car, biggest house, and newest item on the market then you are considered broke. This is false. I have been living below my means for over 3 years now and have felt the wealthiest i’ve felt in a long time. You don’t need the brand name item. You don’t need to have the biggest house on the block to be wealthy. If you have $1,000 act as if you only have $750 and watch your money increase.
5. Tackle your debt
Debt was my worst enemy for a long time. I had 16 credit cards and maxed out quite a few of them. It took me a while to pay them off and I even had to go onto a debt wave program, NO SHAME. However, once I paid them all off it improved my credit score immensely. I went from a 640 to now a 760.
6. Pay more than your monthly minimum
I wish someone taught me this when I was younger. I would always pay the bare minimum monthly with my credit cards. HOWEVER, this leads to accumulating more interest and my balance would barely go down. If you are able to pay more than your monthly minimum, then do so! I started with the credit card that had the highest interest rate and paid that one off first and so on.
7. Invest in your retirement fund
Being self employed I don’t get the option to have money come out of my paycheck for my 401k. Instead I need to be self determined enough to save and invest into a retirement fund on my own. If you want to retire in the future and have money to live off of, make sure to invest in a retirement fund and preferably one that allows you to collect interest.
8. Reflect every month
The best thing to do is reflect on your personal finance goals every month. Were you able to save the amount you wanted? Were there any expenses you could have cut? What did you do this month that helped or didn’t help you?
9. Create a money mindset
In order to glow up in my personal finances I needed to create a positive money mindset. When I was broke with no savings a huge part of it had to do with my negative money mindset.
It’s easy to say “I will never be able to afford this.” or “Money is the root of all evil” when you don’t have much of it. However, these negative mindsets are blocking money from entering our lives. When you create a positive money mindset that allows room for growth and you start to see more of it flowing in. I have this helpful post here that teaches you how to create a positive money mindset that is ready to receive.
10. Don’t impulse buy
Lastly, refrain from impulse buying. I was extremely guilty of this. There was a time when I went into a car dealership wanting to purchase a new car. I remember purchasing the first car I saw instead of taking the time to shop around and find the best bang for my buck. This lead to overpaying.
Now I try to be smart with my purchases. I also try to limit my shopping when I am in a funk. I find that when I am having a bad day I turn to retail therapy which leads to impulse buying. Be smart with your purchases.
Confidence Glow Up
Step four in our life glow up challenge is boosting our confidence. This goes hand in hand with our personal growth glow up. My confidence these past few months has dropped drastically and most of it has to do with not taking care of my mind, body and soul the way I should. These 10 tips are going to help you create a confidence that makes you radiate and glow from the inside, out.
1. Practice positive self affirmations
You know I am all about the affirmations. Practicing positive self affirmations is a perfect way to have a confidence glow up. Repeat these positive self affirmations to yourself daily.
Here are some examples:
- I am worthy of happiness
- I can accomplish anything I set my mind to
- I am beautiful in every way
- I am strong and no one can stop me
- I am smart and there is no limit of what I can achieve
2. Celebrate all your wins both big and small
Another great way to boost your confidence is to make sure you are celebrating all of your wins both big and small. It’s so easy to celebrate our big accomplishments but, it’s important to make sure you are acknowledging your small accomplishments too! Without those small accomplishments you would have never reached your big goal.
3. Journaling for confidence
Journaling prompts for self love and confidence boosting is a great way to glow up. I put together this list of journal prompts to boost your confidence that you might find helpful.
4. Wear what makes you feel confident
Don’t be afraid to wear what makes you feel confident. For the past few months I haven’t been leaving the house much because of the pandemic. This means I have been in sweat pants and baggy t-shirts. I definitely don’t feel sexy wearing that. I am challenging myself to get ready everyday and wear what makes me glow!
5. Practice self love
If you don’t love yourself then you will never be happy. Learning to love yourself can be tough. We are our own worst critics. That’s why practicing self love is crucial when it comes to a confidence glow up. I put together 25 ways to practice self love in this post. It’s worth reading.
6. Take care of your mind, body and soul
When you take care of your mind, body, and soul you start to feel more confident. This means positive self talk, exercising, eating foods that make your body feel good, drinking more water, getting enough rest, and doing more of what makes you happy.
7. Practice Positive Self Talk
Throughout the day I like to check in and give myself a little bit of a pep talk. I know it sounds silly but, it actually works. Talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love. If you find your mind shifting to a negative space, try to reframe that thought it a positive thought.
8. Surround yourself with positive people
It’s true what they say, you are who you surround yourself with. Positive energy attracts positive energy. If you are constantly surrounding yourself with people who are negative and bring your energy down, you start to attract more negativity yourself. Surround yourself with people who uplift and want to see you succeed.
9. Reframe your mindset
This is similar to practicing positive self talk but, for a life glow up you really need to focus on reframing your mindset. I started implementing mindset work 2 years ago and it has made a heck of a difference. I recommend listening to the manifestation babe podcast. She is the best when it comes to personal growth and mindset.
10. Take time to invest in yourself
In order to glow up, you need to treat yourself. Make sure you are investing in your health, well being, finances, and goals. For the longest time I would dread having to go to the doctor’s office especially with copays etc. However, it’s so important to invest in your health. I put together a list of 9 ways to invest in yourself and I think everyone should read it.
Home Glow Up
Last but not least, let’s talk about how to have a home glow up and why it’s important. When it comes to feeling good and being the best versions of ourselves it’s important that our space and environment makes us feel good. If you have a cluttered, messy space that you can’t stand living in, that makes for an unmotivated mentality. Here are 10 ways to glow up your life by glowing up your space!
1. Get organized
Fun fact, I can’t stand my current house. It’s dark and small. However, even though I don’t like my space right now, I know it’s not my forever home. In order to stay motivated while I am still living here I need to focus on what I CAN do to make the space more enjoyable.
The first step to my home glow up would be to get organized. This means organizing my cabinets, closets, each room and more.
2. Declutter
If you are anything like me then clutter tends to drive you crazy. Before the year is over I am challenging myself to go through each room and declutter anything that no longer serves me any purpose. There are plenty of things I have in my home that I don’t use that are just taking up space. I plan to declutter my clothes and donate those items as well.
3. Set a cleaning schedule
Having a cleaning schedule that you stick to can help make sure that you are keeping your home glowing daily. It’s easy to fall into a rut where you forget to clean because cleaning is a huge chore for many of us. We don’t like to do it but, it needs to get done.
Have daily tasks you can do each day instead of focusing on one day where you do it all. This prevents feeling burnout and tired from a big day of cleaning. In my opinion having daily cleaning schedule is more manageable.
4. Don’t go to bed with dishes in the sink
This is a great life hack that I need to start implementing more. My mom used to never go to bed with dishes in the sink. This is something I want to start doing more. I don’t own a dishwasher currently so dishes are one of my least favorite chores. Doing the dishes every night rather than a few times a week feels like less work than doing a huge load of dishes at once. It also makes you feel better about your space.
5. Make your bed daily
There’s just something about a tidy bed that makes you feel good. I have had my days where I don’t make the bed BUT, with this glow up challenge I am going to make sure I make my bed first thing when I wake up.
6. Make use of laundry baskets
There is nothing more unappealing than seeing a pile of laundry on the floor. If there are spots in your home that tend to collect dirty laundry, place a laundry basket in that spot so you can easily collect the dirty laundry rather than having a pile in a corner. I like to use hampers that close so it hides the clothes. It looks more appealing and less messy.
7. Clean areas you don’t usually clean
We all have those areas in our home that we fail to clean regularly. Maybe it’s under the couch or under your bed? Perhaps it’s the windowsills? Whatever it may be, make the effort to make sure you are cleaning those spots weekly.
8. Make your home cozy
There’s just something about a cozy home that makes me feel good and boosts my mood. Do you agree? Take the time to cozy up your home and add things that make you feel good. For me I like to add cozy throw pillows, candles and scents that I enjoy, and cozy throw blankets. I have more ideas in this post.
9. Open the blinds
A simple but effective tip to a home glow up is to open up your blinds and let the light shine in. Having that natural sunlight shine into your home can instantly boost your mood and make your feel more productive and motivated.
10. Make your home smell good
Lastly, make your home smell good! I have 4 pets so it’s easy for my house to smell a bit like my fur babies. I try to have plugins throughout my home and candles that help with the odor. Diffusing essential oils can also help a great amount with masking any pet odors, you just have to be careful where you use essential oils in your home because certain essential oils can be harmful to pets.
I hope you enjoyed this glow up challenge and list of ways to glow up your life! It’s time to get motivated and ready to tackle the rest of the year. I have no doubt you will make it happen!
