June/July 2026 Aspire Magazine | Page 36

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!”

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. If that’ s self-care to you, great. It’ s not the entirety of what self-care means, though, and it has an element of privilege that makes it seem like only people with excess time and money can practice selfcare.

I’ m talking about things that actually fill your cup and bring you energy, and they don’ t have to be expensive or complicated. Selfcare for you might be deep breathing. It might be moving your body, getting outside, or reading a book.