How to Be a Badass Girl

Gaining Confidence

1

Develop a badass vision for yourself and your future. What does it mean to be a badass, in your world? What parts of yourself do you think need the badass treatment? Envision yourself as the badass you want to become. What's different about the way you move, act, or dress?

Visualize the badass you want to become. What changes? Are you more talkative, or less? Do you dress differently, or the same? Where do you live? What do you do? Who do you associate with? Think of badass icons that you'd like to emulate. Are you more of a Joan Jett or a Madonna? Joni Mitchell or Janis Joplin? Angelina Jolie or Judi Dench? There are lots of badass women who make for good role models.

2

Anchor your actions. Once you've got a badass vision of yourself in place, the first and best way to make little changes is to anchor your actions in this vision. It may sound stupid, but try to move, behave, and even think like this badass vision of yourself. Start small and gradually work your way up to more significant changes.

Badasses exude confidence in everything they do. Anchor your vision in that confidence. Try walking down the hall like yourself. Now do it again as your badass self. Make the change you want to see.If it helps, pick one of your icons, an Angelina or a Janis, and pretend to walk like she would walk all day. Dress like you think she would dress, given your wardrobe. Say what you think she would say, given that situation.

3

Develop your passions. What do you want out of your life? What goals do you have? Badasses aren't wet blankets. Badasses take control of their lives, and reach out to get what they want. If you don't know what you want, or how to get it, that becomes a lot more difficult.If the concept of "passions" seems too complicated, just think about interests. What do you like to do? What do you see yourself doing in five years, ten years, thirty years?

4

Stop waiting for permission. Badass girls don't wait around to find out whether or not it's ok to do what they want to do. As a badass, you need to act from a place of intelligence and drive, going after what you want without worrying about whether or not someone else says you can.People-pleasing behavior isn't badass. Act for yourself, without being selfish, just being confident.Of course, if you're still in school, or underage, you'll be susceptible to some rules, and you'll need to follow them to avoid setting yourself back. Learning how to negotiate those rules while still being the assertive person you want to be, though, will be the challenge.

5

Get out of your head. Badasses are reflective and thoughtful, but not locked inside their own heads. It's important to remember that you need to live outwardly, and let your inner light shine through. Think about and plan for your badass persona, but make sure that you adopt it in the real world, instead of living in fantasy.

Don't be afraid to speak your mind. If you have something to say, a badass will always say it.Create a running narrative for your life, one that includes you as the badass character at the center of it. Look at yourself as both the main character and the narrator of your own personal bio-pic.

6

Relax. Badasses are at ease in the world that they inhabit. Be unshakable, unflappable, and cool above all. If you can do one thing to make yourself more badass, it's to be cool in the face of pressure, and seem like you're floating above the lesser concerns of your peers. You're not interested in trends, fads, or following the group. You move to the beat of your own drummer, and that drummer is chill.

Badasses aren't cold, emotionless robots, either. Get passionate when the occasion calls for it. Try reflecting back what you're getting from the world. If everyone in the group is over-excited, stay calm. If everyone's too cool for school, get lively. Oppose the norm.