What is Owning Our Worth REALLY Worth?

“She looks like a million bucks.”

What does this statement really mean?  To me, it comes down to a woman who looks like she owns her worth.  I don’t believe that a woman’s individual worth can be calculated in dollars - but most people would probably agree that a million dollars is high in value.  So, if we think a woman looks like she’s a million bucks – it’s probably because we perceive that the woman owns her value.

I wholeheartedly encourage individual expression of beauty, rather than conformity to some widely-accepted societal standard.  Truth be told, I want each and every woman to own what it feels like to truly be standing in her power by owning her value.  That doesn’t necessarily mean stilettos, red lips, and long shiny hair – unless those things most accurately capture HER individual expression.  I’ve seen women of all walks of life who possess ownership of their beauty- regardless of age, regardless of skin color, regardless of income.

I remember when one of my good friends told me her secret to feeling good: You are what you feel. I believe that what she meant was that you must become what you want to feel. For her, waking up an extra 10 minutes early just to curl her eyelashes and run a curling iron through her hair made her feel one hundred percent better as she headed out to face the world each morning. At the time, I needed that lesson, because I was the person who pressed snooze as many times as my alarm clock would allow, and then made a mad dash into the shower and out the door, sometimes managing to apply a little mascara while stopped at a stoplight.  The advice was timely, as I mentioned to her that I avoided chatting with other people in my office building from day to day, because I felt like I looked haggard.  And when I actually gave myself that bit of extra time to do my hair instead of throw it into a ponytail before I left the house, I felt ten times more confident.

Like a million bucks.  Maybe a more accurate way of saying it is like the highest value of who she is.  Now, I give myself permission to say “I’m worth it” when I spend 5 minutes perfecting my brows as part of my morning routine.  I like to pick the colors that my inner child wants to wear, which means that on a Monday morning, I may be wearing a neon green blouse and red lipstick. So now when someone smiles at me from across the train, I might actually smile back.  Or I might even be inclined to start a conversation with someone while I wait in line for my coffee. And who knows where that may lead?  A client?  An apartment? A trip to Europe? What I know for sure is that I’ll find out what feeling like a million bucks may bring me.  What might it bring you?