Wellness

Why Has Confidence Become So Overpriced?

woman in monochromatic clothes

Now, it makes total sense if you want a full confidence reset, like a blank slate. But the problem is, confidence has become weirdly expensive. Sure, theres always been a price tag, or someone always trying to sell something, but it’s gotten a lot worse online. 

Basically, somewhere along the line, feeling better about yourself stopped being about actually feeling better about yourself, and turned into this whole production, new hair, new clothes, expensive skincare, cosmetic treatments, “maintenance” appointments, a hundred products sitting on a bathroom shelf, and some running total in the background that just keeps climbing. 

Actually, around New Years its so much worse (with the whole New Year, New Me mindset). It gets old fast, and it’s exhausting overall. It also makes normal people feel like they’re somehow behind for not turning self-esteem into a direct debit. Which sounds mean, sure, but it’s true. And that’s the annoying part, because a lot of people aren’t even trying to become a whole new person. They just want to feel like them, but a better version, that’s literally it. 

Social Media has Turned Confidence into a Shopping List

Yep, right here, that’s really where so much of this starts, because social media has this lovely habit of taking a normal insecurity and turning it into a full-blown project. Like, a giant one. A person can log on feeling fine enough, not perfect, not miserable, just normal, and then ten minutes later start wondering if the issue is the hair, the wardrobe, the skin, the teeth, the body, the face, or everything. It’s not an accident either.

There’s always something being sold, always some new reason to feel like confidence is one purchase away, when it usually isn’t. There’s always pressure, there’s always that comparison trap. So, as generic as the advice is, it’s going to help to step very far away from social media because it’s known to have a negative effect on mental health. 

A Lot of Confidence Comes from Very Basic Things

Which isn’t fun or grand or whatever else, but it’s not brought up all that often because you can’t be sold to if they’re just basic things, right? Think about it, there’s not much glamour in going to bed earlier, drinking more water, limiting processed junk food, and getting off Instagram for a bit. But those things do matter, and to a degree, they can actually be life-changing too.

Someone who has slept properly, eaten decently, been outside, and had a little break from comparison usually feels a lot better than somebody running on caffeine, stress, and glued to a phone. So, it’s just these small day-to-day things. But sure, it’s fine to add more routines like a skincare routine with a couple of more steps, getting, affordable clear aligners having a hair care routine, those things can help too. But overall, the biggest changes to confidence are the ones that you technically should have been doing already. 

a woman wearing brown jacket

The Internet has Made Simple Feel too Small

And that’s probably the biggest issue with all of this. Simple things don’t look exciting online, so they get dismissed. No one profits from that, and no one even wants to click on that stuff online either. People want to chase quick fixes; they’re willing to spend on it, when the real changes take time build through regular habits, and usually are fairly simple to do.

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