When will your ‘Glow Up’ happen? #UnifiedFem

You’re at university and you’re having the time of your life, surely your glow up should occur now right?

It’s the perfect time to get fuller hair, cuter face and a banging body so you can update your Instagram profile picture, right? Everybody is chasing the same thing, but does anybody now how to really get there?

The definition of ‘Glow Up’ according to Urban Dictionary:

“A twist of the phrase “grow up”, referring to a person’s incredible transformation. This is usually based on increase of style and self-confidence (and potentially one’s squad).”

Let’s get things straight: a glow up is a lot more than mending the insecurities about your appearance. Because anything you do out of insecurity will never last.

We should all go through an internal glow up first, and everything else will follow.

It’s time to nurture a mental, spiritual and intellectual glow up. The results will speak for itself. It has a lot more to do with how you see yourself rather than how others see you.

So, here’s a step-by-step guide to achieving your best glow up yet.

You’ll get that glow when…

1) When you let go of toxic relationships.

Surrounding yourself with negative relationships can eat away at your mental health. As emotional beings, we naturally absorb people’s feelings – so make sure you’re surrounding yourself with the kind of energy you want to attract in your life.

You can’t expect a positive change in your lifestyle when you’re being weighed down by anchors.

2) When you stop looking for other people’s approval.

A key concept to the glow up is confidence. You have to love yourself first in order to truly appreciate admiration from others. You don’t need to stay on top of the beauty trends or be #bodygoals to transform yourself.

It’s all about having enough self-confidence to see the glow in you that others can’t.

When they say that confidence is one of the most attractive traits – they weren’t kidding.

3) When you accept yourself.

There’s liberty in accepting yourself for who you are, flaws and all. There will only ever be one version of you in this planet, so why strive to be someone else?

Instead of trying to ride the wave of conventional beauty standards, work on being the best version of yourself.

4) When you take the time to take care of yourself.

Nurture yourself internally by genuinely taking care. You know that feeling after you’ve eaten a healthy meal, taken a long relaxing bath and read an inspiring book? That warm feeling of content? Do more of the things that make you feel like that.

Taking care of yourself will take care of your internal and external glow up. Here’s some self-care tips to get you started.

5) When you stop smelling bad.

Anger and bad attitude has a terrible smell. Nobody wants to be around a person who’s constantly moaning and angry at the world. All that negative energy is polluting the air! Work on it and drop it.

Spread the kind of energy that you want to encounter every day.

You’ll find that even smiling more often can change the atmosphere around you. And a person who’s always smiling, is always glowing.

6) When you take the time out to be a kinder person.

“What goes around, comes around.”

Start practicing altruism. Start being kinder to people. Don’t you find that genuine, caring people have a spark about them? They emit so much kindness that you feel like a better person just by being around them. Be that person. Emit kindness and attract kindness.

7) When you nurture healthy relationships.

Be around the people that make you a better woman. The kind of relationships that empower you and pushes you to break through your limitations. These are the kind of people who will be there to witness your glow up, and you’ll have them to thank for it.

Spend more time nurturing strong sisterhood rather than wasting time on friends you have for convenience.

8) When you rejoice in being alone.

When we tell you to be independent, it’s more than just listening to Beyonce and telling your date that you’ll split the bill. It’s about breaking off any co-dependency behaviour so you can focus on learning how to be alone.

I don’t mean hibernating from the world, it’s being comfortable with your own company.

It’s self-assurance that you are enough to provide happiness in your life. No one else.

9) When resilience and positivity becomes your middle name.

Bad things happen even to good people. But it’s all about how you react to these bad situations. Do you choose to let it drag you further down? Or do you use it as a tool to push yourself up and train your resilience? Unfortunate events are only unfortunate when you did not learn anything from it.

For me, glowing up is about being mentally strong, spiritually lifted and intellectually stimulated.

Empowerment, self-confidence and resilience are the primary results of a serious glow up. Fuller hair and fleeky make up are only secondary effects on the wonderful work you’ve completed from the inside. So, let’s work on that glow up.