Come on now ladies, we all know who she is.
She’s the girl that is always prioritising herself. She has strong goals and does things to work towards them every single day. She is organised, fit and healthy, and always romanticises her life by finding joy in all the small things that we would normally overlook.
From the outside looking in, my friends always claimed I was THAT girl, but I never truly felt like I had my shit together. I often tried to sort myself out, having mad spurts of productivity, but after one mad night out I would wake up smelling of tan, cigarette smoke, McDonalds, and mistakes. I always slept late and missed my lectures and my style often resembled that of the homeless. I just struggled to know what I was supposed to do. How I was supposed to stay motivated and what the actual goal was.
It took until I finished university and moved home to realise that if you don’t force yourself to change, things will never get any better, you’ll never achieve what you want to achieve, and you’ll never reach the potential you could have done.
So, after a vast amount of trial and error, ive attempted to put together a how to guide on becoming THAT girl, split into sections so you can easily pick and choose which suggestions you want to apply into your own life.
1. PREPERATIONS
Everybody realistically knows that these changes don’t come naturally and most importantly don’t come easily. I often find that sometimes, preparing to implement these changes often means they go well because I feel like I don’t want to break my streak; not to mention they help to hype me up into doing those unpleasant tasks.
1.1 TIDY YOUR SPACE
First things first guys and gals. An untidy and disorganised space inspires NOBODY. Get your clothes off the floor and in the washing machine, get your bin emptied and get all those dirty pots in the kitchen sink. A tidy room means a tidy mind and you’ll be more likely to want to complete your daily tasks. There’s nothing more unmotivating to change than not being able to find your hairbrush, not being able to work out because your gym clothes stink and not being able to open your curtains without falling over piles of rubbish. So, rip it off like a bandage! Get the tunes on, light a candle, let the fresh air in and start organising!!!
1.2 PREPARE YOUR WEAPONS
I often find, when I’m in the mood to get my ducks in a row, this is often short lived and I don’t share the same enthusiasm the next morning when I wake up late, the weather is miserable, and I feel like crap. So, a small hack is getting everything you need ready so that in morning nothing can stop you! Here is a list of some of the things I do to ensure the most successful start
Buy a gym membership.
Spend some money on clothes that realistically fit your body shape, look good and go with a lot of things.
Fill up your water bottle and leave it on the night stand so you have no reason not to drink water as soon as soon as you wake up.
Set your alarms to make sure you are up at a reasonable time (and if you’re anything like me make sure you set multiple so you definitely get up).
Make a meal plan and do your food shopping at the beginning of the week.
Lay out your work out clothes and trainers.
1.3 DO YOUR RESEARCH
Now, everybody is different, there is no blanket routine and diet that everyone can follow to have a perfect life, which is why these are what works for me. To truly know what will work best for you, do your research, read around, and take tips from multiple blogs and videos. The type of daily routine you implement will vary, including skin care, hair care, your diet and how you view self-care.
2. DAILY ROUTINE
Being that girl is literally an artform. To master it, having healthy daily habits is a MUST. Its almost impossible to implement all of these habits into your life every single day, because let’s face it, who has the time? However, once these habits are repeated enough they become mindless tasks that you complete without even thinking about. For example, when I first started my skin care routine, I found it tediously long and effort some and I could never be bothered to do it, whereas now, I never miss a day, even if I’m black out drunk!! These are some of the habits I think are the most beneficial and try to complete every day.
Setting a realistic sleep schedule that includes early bedtimes and early morning starts. Sticking to this at all times, even weekends when I’m not at work.
Avoid using your phone first thing in the morning. The first 15 minutes of your day you are at your most vulnerable so anything bad will hit you 10x stronger and could potentially knock you off your stride.
Make the bed as soon as you get up, this has been shown to increase productivity and will stop you from climbing back in.
Opening the curtains and windows to let the light and fresh air in.
Doing a small workout or going for a walk by myself.
Showering and getting ready for the day.
Putting things away as you use them to keep your environment clean and tidy and stops it from getting out of control.
Completing a daily skin care routine.
Watching the sunrise / sunsets.
Yoga or stretching routines before getting into bed.
Opting out of bedtime TV and scrolling routines and instead, reading a book for 30 minutes before going to sleep.
3. PHYSICAL HEALTH
I absolutely hate working out. It is by far the most gruesome part of trying to get my life organised. However, I can also recognise that I feel the best I’ve ever felt once I have done it. And doing it regularly provides the biggest and most noticeable benefits. I sleep better, my mental health is better, I get less wound up and irritated, and most importantly I feel more confident in myself.
Working out doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to include expensive gym memberships or designer work out gear (although those things definitely motivate me). Ive listed a couple of my favourite FREE YouTube Workout Gurus below but I’m sure there are way more to try!
Yoga with Adrienne
Chloe Ting
Pamele Reif
Sydney Cummings
Caroline Girvan
Emi Wong
4. MENTAL HEALTH
Looking after your mental health is probably one of THE most important aspects to becoming THAT girl. Because if you don’t, it takes one bad experience or one stressful day to send you right back to the beginning. Looking after your mental health looks different to everybody, but for me, I find these things really do help me get a hold of my thoughts:
Journaling
o Gratitude
o Shadow work
o Self-reflection
o Goals
Meditation
Breathing exercises
Making vision boards
Reading daily
5. DIET
If you’ve ever heard the saying you are what you eat, you’ll know that making a conscious effort to improve what you put into your body improves your every day functioning. Since I sorted my diet out I have stopped snacking, whilst becoming hungry less regularly, less bloated and having less cravings. A lot of bad food habits come from being disorganised and lazy, so I have found that creating a solid meal plan each week and doing my shopping to follow that plan stops me from straying to the nearest takeaway. I often prep my lunches for work the night before to stop a last minute panic that results in me heading to the sandwich shop.
5.1 STAYING HYDRATED
Drinking 2L of water every single day has uncountable benefits to your health. It prevents infections, headaches, constipation, It normalises blood pressure, stabilises your heartbeat, cushions joints to prevent injuries, protects organs and tissues from damage, regulates body temperature, improves energy levels and brain activity, including memory and moods.
Adding lemon or limes to the water is a great way to vary the taste and provide additional benefits such as freshening breath, increasing intake of vitamin C and replenishing skin.
5.2 EATING WELL
Eating healthily is also important as a good routine and regular exercise can only go so far. My blog has many good recipe ideas to try out but for regular day-to-day cooking I love to use the ‘Hairy Bikers diet’ books, ‘Eat well for less’ and the ‘A pinch of nom’ series for inspiration to my weekly meals.
6. MOTIVATION TO KEEP GOING
You don’t get anywhere by bullying yourself. Be nice and if you’re not able to do things then that’s fine, just do what you can and be proud of that. I always tell my friends when they are having a bad day is “Do one thing today that future you will be grateful of” and that to me is my definition of practicing self-love.
It is so difficult to stay motivated to do these jobs, but its essential because nobody will come and force you to do the things you really don’t want to do. Nobody but you can do these things but fortunately if you push yourself, you do reap the benefits. Here are some of the quotes I tell myself on a daily basis to stay motivated
Think how much your future self will appreciate how much work you put in.
When you feel like quitting, remember why you started.
If you have the energy to complain, you have the energy to keep going.
Become the strongest person you know.
We wont stop when we are tired, we stop when we are done.
You didn’t get this far to stop now.
If it burns, it means its working