Alright, all… This is the one you’ve been waiting for! I’ve done it before, but never with the Wholee Healthy community! This challenge will help you to dig deep, discover new qualities inside of you that you can draw confidence from, and overall, become more comfortable in your own skin. Being mid-pregnancy has put me in a place of feeling rather, well… large… and quite unattractive, so I was feeling the need for this challenge again. I hope you will join me and reap the benefits of “going natural” for the month of July!
The Challenge: No make-up (or insert vanity habit of choice here) for a month (see below for variation ideas)
As I mentioned, Go Natural Challenge was the first challenge I accomplished, and it helped me grow so much! It focused on the Mental/Emotional Dimension of Health. I did the challenge for 40 days. It was a good amount of time for me to get comfortable in my skin, and it was long enough to provide enough obstacles to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I am a stay at home mom, so I found a little longer was needed to really help me be challenged. If you work or are around people every day, you can adjust the challenge length as you see fit– maybe a month. (28 days is the length of time is takes to form a habit, so try not to do any less!)
Other Options for the Challenge: Now, the original challenge of “no make-up” does not apply to everyone, seeing as most guys don’t wear make-up and some women don’t either. This is why I named it a “Go Natural Challenge”, not a “No-Make-up Challenge”. You can choose something that you think would be a challenge for you to go without. Possibly just wear less make-up (no eye-liner, but keep the mascara?), change out the high heels or platform shoes that you wear to make you taller, wear heels instead of flats that make you look shorter, wear “v” or scoop neck shirts that you haven’t worn in a decade because you’re self-conscious of your neck, or skip a part of your wardrobe or beauty routine that you use as a crutch: dying your hair, manicures/pedicures, purchasing new clothes, blow drying/straightening/curling/styling/gelling your hair, shaving (guys?), or something else entirely that fits you specifically.
The Outcome of the Challenge?: This challenge is to help you depend less on looks/physical appearance and to gain a deeper confidence in your other qualities. This doesn’t mean you should go out looking disheveled or like you don’t care about yourself, but to eliminate some portion of your “vanity routine” that you draw confidence–maybe too much confidence– from.
But… I Can’t!: This challenge can get difficult at times, especially since you are eliminating something that gives you confidence. But, ask yourself, is this really where I want my confidence to originate? If you are someone that is hesitant to take on this challenge, why is that? Where does your self-worth lie? What ingrained view of yourself or fear do you have of exposing yourself in a new way that is holding you back? You might find that whatever you are afraid of losing by cutting something out of your beauty routine will be replaced with a deeper gain… a gain of more confidence and self-worth that is grounded in something much deeper than your looks! You are a unique human being and you can dress, look, and be who you want… don’t let your physical appearance interfere with who you truly are!
I’d personally much rather receive a compliment on my intelligence, work ethic, sense of humor, kindness, organization skills, or a number of other qualities before they tell me I look good. Sure, it is still nice to hear, but life is about so much more than our looks! The media and society, especially in the US, tells us looks are what gives us status, success, and happiness. But, is this true? And is it lasting or fulfilling? Dig deeper, and start to appreciate your other, unique and more meaningful qualities more fully! When this challenge gets hard (which it should if you’re doing it right), draw confidence from these other qualities.
Focus on Others Too: Challenge yourself to look deeper not only at yourself, but at those around you. I have attempted to do this for most of my life, but this challenge helped me get much better at this. Take a look at the people around you, and then, look deeper and see these people surrounding you for who they truly are- their strengths, personality, hopes, and motivation in life.
What this Challenge did for Me: As mentioned in my post (<–click to read!), I truly think this challenge helped me get my footing to lose 30 pounds, train for a few races, feel happier with my body, be healthier, and draw my motivation from new places. This challenge helped me dig deeper and realize that what others think of my appearance means so little. Now, my motivation is (1) to be healthy for my family, (2) to be a good role model for my daughter, and (3) to be happy with the body God gave me to reside in. I could (and might) write a whole post about each of these! But, overall, the lesson I learned, and hope each of you learn as well, is this: physical appearance is only skin deep; draw confidence from and focus your energy on the qualities that truly matter in life.
Are you interested!? What changes are you going to make this month!?
CHALLENGES
The Go Natural Challenge starts July 1st! If you are interested in doing past challenges, <–click or check it out from the menu above!
Follow Me!
Follow me on: Facebook and Instagram for daily motivation, YouTube for health tutorials, NOW ON TWITTER!, and, if you haven’t already, subscribe to my blog on wholeehealthy.wordpress.com to make sure you don’t miss a post!
Also, feel free to comment below or email me with suggestions for future challenges, post ideas, questions, or anything else you’d like to chat about: wholeehealthy@gmail.com
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
Wholee Healthy 