Did you know that more than 70% of girls are unhappy about their appearance and how they fit in with friends? And whilst they are quick to see the beauty in others they rarely recognise it in themselves!

The truth is we are all beautiful in our own way and very often we compare the way we feel on the inside to the way others look on the outside…which seems silly when you think about it!!!

The trick to being confident is to learn to be more comfortable with who you are as a person, by doing this you will be less likely to worry about how others see you and no longer feel the need to follow the crowd.

Here are some tips to help guide you to a more confident you.

• Find your own style - rather than trying to copy the most recent trends in music and fashion, spend some time considering what really appeals to you and don’t worry about what others may think. Pull together as many snippets of things you love and add them to a mood board and put this somewhere you can see it every day.
• Form your own opinion – take an hour or so to consider how you feel about the world around you, reflecting on topics such as careers, religion, drugs, sex, relationships, life and death etc… It’s important to have your own sense of what you believe in…and stick to it.
• Start questioning – stop to consider all sides of what you hear and see before making your mind up. You may just find others start to trust your judgement and choices.
• Make the most of what nature gave you – all too often we don’t like to play up our best features for fear of people thinking we are being big-headed. But we all have one, so take a look in the mirror and be nice to yourself, you could have beautiful big eyes, long eyelashes, shiny hair, long legs, a tiny waist.
• Love yourself – we’re not saying you should go and shout out to the world how fabulous you are, but rather celebrate privately how proud you are of the person you are becoming. Pat yourself on the back if you have been extra helpful to a friend, or helped parents and siblings around the home.
• Be proud – if you do well in an exam, or feel you have handled an awkward situation diplomatically, pat yourself on the back.
• Learn to take criticism – not everyone will approve of what you do or say and that’s just life. So don’t take it personally. Let someone know that you respect their comments but you really must follow your own ideals.