Hi Lovelies !
So this has been playing on my mind a lot more often than usual the past few days , so I thought I’d post about it and see if any of you can relate…
I can’t be the only one guilty of doubting myself , right ?
Do you ever find yourself focusing on your flaws a lot more than you focus on your good qualities ? I’m the first to admit I do it way too much , recently to the point where I ended up feeling so anxious that I couldn’t breathe properly , just because I was so worried that I was doing everything wrong and just wasn’t good enough.
It happens in jobs, relationships, friendships, and even around some people you might not even know. I might not admit to it to people but lately I’ve admitted to myself that I compare myself to other women far too much, and it needs to stop.
I think a lot of girls and women might be able to relate to this… Why ? Because in my opinion, from experience, these days people are quicker to judge people, women in particular, and point out something that the women herself could be self conscious about. Let’s be honest, we all have something we feel self conscious about, and people need to realise that we already see those things, and that it’ll make us feel so much worse about it if you point it out to us.
Why not be one of those people that are just as quick to say “guuuurl you look great!” ? A little compliment can go a long way, maybe even turn the girl’s day around.
In the past, I’ve found myself doubting myself so much, that I started making decisions based on what other people expected of me, rather than what I wanted myself.
How have I learned to overcome this? Start by thinking of yourself for once. Stop thinking like “oh I wish I looked like that” and comparing yourself to others, and start thinking like “I’m me, I’m never gonna be exactly like them, I can only be the best version of myself”. Always remember to give yourself a little credit and treat yourself every once in a while, even if it’s something just as simple as having a nice bath… just to give yourself a little pat on the back and say “you’re great to, keep it up”.
In the past year or so, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’m still working on having the confidence to speak up for what I want, instead of saying things and making choices just to keep other people happy.
But one thing I feel proud of myself for working on is having the confidence to wear a bikini, and shorts, on holiday this year. Last year, I joined slimming world, and it was the best thing I ever did. The difference I saw in myself as a whole after loosing almost 2 stone was just insane. I’ll do a separate post on my weight loss if you guys would like one, let me know if you would read it. Reminding myself by writing this post and looking at the holiday pictures makes me want to get back into it so bad. I can’t even describe the feeling when I put on a bikini, and just didn’t care what anyone else thought. I’ve never, ever worn a bikini, let alone a pair of shorts, so I think you can only imagine how it felt! I need to work on having this level of confidence all the time because I felt like I could actually be the best version of me, a happier, bubbler, more confident Laura.
I didn’t have a care in the world because I realised that I have to learn to love myself, before I let someone else love me. I have to give a big shoutout to Gracie Francesca and her blog posts about body confidence for helping me realise that I needed learn to start loving myself, instead of hating the way I looked and finding ways to love the way I look, instead of more reasons to hate my body. Her body confidence inspired me to start aiming to reach the same level of confidence. Check out her blog here http://www.graciefrancesca.com/ and please show her so much love.
One of the most important things I’ve learned to do is when I find myself comparing myself to others, look in the mirror and remind yourself that you’re beautiful too. And instead of trying to look at your flaws, look at what makes you beautiful too. Because yes, it’s the truth, you are beautiful too.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed !
Laura x
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Twitter – @CallMeLauraaaa
Instagram – lauraotoole_x
Snapchat – lauraotoole_x
Email – lauratoole93@hotmail.com
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Love it Laura 😘😊 x
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Its lovely hear that you’ve gained so much confidence!
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Absolutely adored this post! Amazing to see how much confidence you’ve grown. Self love is so important 💗
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well done on your weight lose! feeling confident in yourself is such a nice feeling
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Fantastic post, I can completely relate! Remember you’re beautiful and very special! Kisses,
– Jade x
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Having self confidence and focussing on the positives is important but, you are right, it can be so hard. We are all unique people and that is something we all need to embrace!
Lisabeth
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Lovely post. Having confidence in yourself is important but so, so difficult.
Dani
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aww i love this post!! you go gurl, you look beautiful!! xox
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aww this is such a a lovely post, you go gurl!!! xox
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I swear this post made me cry. To know someone has such similar thoughts and goes through such similar things is just so nice to read. I love that you are gaining confidence and I wish I can gain confidence about my body too. Loved your post
Thank you for writing on this topic.
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I really love this post! Congrats on losing weight but you are so pretty anyway! I can relate too about not wearing shorts and definitely not a bikini! I miss my 18 year old body but you are such an inspiration!
Ashley
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I love your post, it is absolutely spot on! I struggle with my self-confidence a lot, particularly in the work place, but I am very lucky to have supportive colleagues who are quick to set me straight when I doubt myself. I also had quite bad acne up until a year ago and felt miserable about how I looked for a long time. My skin is still not perfect now but as it has settled down a lot I am usually secure with my appearance, but I know there will be some women out there who would struggle to feel pretty with the smattering of scars I carry with me now. Sadly it can be hard to overlook our flaws when the media only publishes “perfect” images and shames women who look less than pristine. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the topic, I really related to it when reading. Becca xx
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I was going to post something similar to this yesterday!!! I absolutely love this post. Self confidence is so important. X
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To answer to your title: yes you are. And to answer to your first question: yes we all do. It’s such a natural thing to doubt yourself – also because we’re constantly told that to think too much of yourself is a bad thing – why though? I love this post and I love that you found the confidence to write about this – thank you for sharing?
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Lovely post ! So happy to read you’ve grown more confident ! Love, Larice
https://hilarice.wordpress.com
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I loved reading this. It’s so wonderful that you have grown more confident, you are very pretty and should be proud of yourself. Also well done on the weight loss xx
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This is a fantastic post. and WELL DONE I lost 2 stone this year so I know how hard it is and you look amazing!!!! I really believe that it’s not all about how we look though also about how we feel and although everyone has moments of doubt, we are all beautiful in our own way if we stop comparing! You’re doing great 🙂 x
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this is such a lovely comment ! thank you so much , well done to you too beaut ! 😊 Xx
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Loved this post! You are good enough
http://Www.kimberleyjessica.co.uk
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Beautiful blog post, well done x
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I love the honesty of this post! And glad someone else understands how I feel sometimes! Thank you!
http://karinahearts.com
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I go through stages of feeling like this! Sometimes I can be really confident and sometimes I can have so much self doubt. I happy you’ve gained self confidence it’s the best feeling 🙂 X
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I defiantly can agree I am always over thinking and always focusing on my imperfections that lead me to fall into my depression but I’ve been fighting it for so long now. Would love to read your weight loss journey too congrats for loosing that much babe xxx Pixie http://www.pixieox.co
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Love this blog post! x
http://www.izzieslife.co.uk
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You’re so gorgeous 😍 This post is actually really inspiring to me because I’ve never had the confidence to wear a bikini (at least not since I was about 12 haha!) summer 2017 will have to be the year I step out of that comfort zone 😬 X
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this comment made my night , thank you lovely ! and so are you ! makes me so happy that it inspires you to do the same , you go girl ! x
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So crazy because I also lost almost two stone with Slimming World last year (well last year and this year cos it took a while 😂) but yay go us haha 😊 Xx
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no way ! that’s crazy haha ! you’re damn right , go us ! 😊 Summer 2017 we’re coming for ya ! 👙 just followed you lovely , your blog is fab ! xx
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This post is so relatable. I doubt there’s a single person in the world that isn’t guilty of judging themselves a little too harshly or holding themselves to impossibly high standards at some point. The more positive your outlook the better position you’re in to make a change, if that’s what you really think would benefit your health and happiness. So glad you feel like you’re moving in a good direction – also you’re such a beauty, you deserve all the confidence!!!
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Such an amazing post! There is so much truth in this and so much that we can learn from you! I used to be so negative about myself until I learnt I needed to stop comparing myself to others! https://midnightandlace.blogspot.co.uk/
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You have a gorgeous smile! There is so much pressure on women to be “perfect” and it’s so important to love everything about who we are, including our weaknesses. So happy to hear that you found your confidence again and may we all support each other along the journey!
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Lovely post and really relatable! I often compare myself to other girls and it’s so horrible, I love how you’re starting to feel comfortable in your own skin, well done on your weight loss too chick.
Charlotte xx
theporcelaindollblog.blogspot.co.uk
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I absolutely love this post! I posted a blog post on the same subject “You Are Enough” because people need the encouragement! They need the self confidence and you gave that in this post! Love posts that do this!
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Beautifully written post my love 🙂 your blog is beautiful xxx
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thank you so much my lovely 🙂 xx
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