Ready to glow up in 2024? Then this post is for you! I’ve collected my favorite, holistic glow up ideas for your consideration on your glow up journey. Keep reading for my Ultimate Glow Up Checklist to level up your life in 2024. And scroll to the end to download your free printable PDF of this realistic glow up checklist.
This post isn’t just about research. Glowing up in 2024 is personal to me.
See, last year, I went into major workaholic mode last year and practically stopped taking care of myself. I was able to keep up with some simple things like my skincare routine. But so many other things fell away.
I didn’t even realize it until I was doing my end-of-year reflection on what worked and what didn’t. The hard work was great, but this year I’m bringing WAY more balance and self care into the picture too.
While this isn’t the case for everyone, I realized that I wasn’t respecting my body, physical appearance, and overall health as much as I could. This goes beyond a simple glow up, but we gotta start somewhere sometimes, right?
So I thought, why not put together something I can share with The Chic Life community!
With that, I’m ready to jump into my glow up era. And you’re welcome to join me! I’ll be sharing my journey on social (@thechiclife on most platforms).
What Is a Glow Up?
I like to think of glow ups as an act of self care. And it’s not just about “being hot”. I’m not going to tell you to not want to look good, because I think aesthetic goals are totally valid. The point is – I find going for a holistic glow up beyond just beauty is best.
It’s not looks *or* mind.
Nor is it beauty *or* soul.
It’s not *or* it’s *and*.
You can glow up holistically in as many areas of your life as you choose!
You can glow up your appearance, yes! And you can also glow up your health, mind, and soul. Ooh doesn’t that sound niiiice?
Ideally a glow up is good for both your physical health, mental health, and emotional health while also helping you own your beauty and feel amazing in your body.
Basically, a glow up is a great way to step into the best version of yourself!
Welcome to a new era of you where you’re glowing up inside and out.
Let’s jump into the checklist, friend!
Ultimate Glow Up Checklist 2024
It was actually tough to put together this Ultimate Glow Up Checklist since we’re all so different. So what I did was gather some of the most common, realistic, and fun glow up ideas for not one but two checklist options.
I highly encourage you to use these glow up ideas as a baseline and customize them to align to your personal values, goals, and preferences.
You’ll find two types of Glow Up Checklists on this post:
- A Glow Up Checklist with ideas grouped by Mind, Health, Beauty, and Soul
- A Glow Up Checklist with one simple list (One Month / 4 Week Plan)
On top of that, there are a couple design options of each in the FREE glow up checklist PDF I made for you, so you can print your favorite! Scroll to the end to get your free printable.
Glow Up Checklist 2024 (Mind, Health, Beauty, and Soul)
Here are some holistic health related Glow Up Ideas for your Mind, Health, Beauty, and Soul for a well-rounded glow-up.
Mind Glow Up Ideas
Use these ideas to foster a positive mindset, manifest with more ease, and improve your mental well-being overall.
- Practice gratitude daily: Start your day with positive thinking and abundant energy. This will help you feel better and also manifest better outcomes throughout the day.
- Journal: Journaling can help you express yourself and gain clarity on things you’re experiencing in life. Click here to learn how to journal.
- Use a planner: Planners can help you keep your schedule organized and are also a great place to write your daily to-do list. Click here for tips on how to use a planner effectively.
- Use a habit tracker: Habit trackers aren’t necessary, but they can be a helpful tool to help you keep up with your daily habits and actions as you progress towards your goals.
- Read 30 minutes a day: Opt for self-help books and non-fiction to help you with personal development. Choose entertaining fiction books to relax or use as part of your night routine to prepare for sleep. Either way a good book is a great addition to your glow up routine.
- Listen to podcasts / audiobooks: Get your learning and motivation on with some fun podcasts and/or audiobooks.
- Meditate daily: Meditation can help you relax, connect with source energy, manifest your dream life, and release stress. See if you can do something realistic like meditating for 5 minutes a day. Use a meditation timer like the one on the Insight Timer app or follow a guided meditation. Even focusing on your breath for 5 minutes counts!
- Use positive affirmations: Say your favorite affirmations to yourself, put them on a sticky note where you can see them often, or even play an affirmation YouTube video you can use to speak your affirmations out loud. Use them frequently. Affirmations work best with repetition. You can even try these glow-up affirmations.
Health Glow Up Ideas
Use these ideas to form some new healthy habits to help you boost your energy levels and help you feel good inside and out.
- Aim for 80/20 health: The 80/20 rule is all about balanced health. If you were to eat 100% healthy all day every day, that wouldn’t necessarily be the healthiest thing you could do. Real health is about finding the balance that works for you. A common guide is 80% healthy and 20% fun. Find your perfect balance.
- Workout 3-4 times per week: Find a workout routine that you love that is realistic for you. Remember to make incremental changes over time and move at your own pace. If you’re working out 0 times a week now, consider starting with just 1 workout per week and continue tweaking your workout schedule til it works best for you.
- Walk daily: You don’t have to walk 10k steps a day to reap the benefits of daily walking. If you have a dog, you’re probably already doing this anyway. Lol!
- Prioritize whole foods and reduce processed foods: Whilst eating clean 100% of the time isn’t realistic for a lot of people (or most of us, really), prioritizing whole foods can be a simple shift with powerful results.
- Eat fruits and veggies: Eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables can help fuel your body by giving it the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs to function best.
- Take your probiotics / supplements: Keyword = “your”. Work with your trusted healthcare provider to determine the best supplements for your health. When I worked with a naturopath, I’d sometimes ask about trendy supplements. And she’d say, “You can take them, but they won’t do anything for you.” I know not everyone can afford to work with a naturopath, but it’s important to find the right supplements for you so you avoid taking any that could harm your health, don’t waste money on useless supplements, and actually get the results you desire.
- Hydrate: Everyone’s hydration needs are unique , so find the right hydration amount for you and see if you can stay hydrated throughout the day. I like to start my day by drinking a cup of water before anything else. It’s a great way to start the day strong and helps give me a healthy glow naturally.
- Get enough sleep: The number of hours of sleep that each of us need is bioindividual to you. This glow up idea is really about prioritizing your sleep and not driving yourself into the ground by pushing too hard. (Speaking from experience)
Beauty Glow Up Ideas
- Morning / evening skincare routines: take care of your skin in the morning and evening with a skincare routine. If your’e new to skincare, start small. If you’re a skincare lover, enjoy your favorite products and treat yourself!
- Wear sunscreen: Protect your skin health with the appropriate sun protection.
- Use makeup you love: Makeup is totally NOT required, but it can be a fun way to glow up. Not sure about you, but when I’m using makeup I love, I feel so much more confident and have more FUN.
- Take care of your teeth: Create a tooth-care routine and make sure you stay on top of it.
- Face mask once per week: Totally optional! But really everything on this list is. A weekly face mask can be a great addition to your skincare routine.
- Use a satin pillowcase: Satin pillowcases are good for your hair and skin. Plus they feel cool and soft. I just got a satin pillowcase from Kitsch, and I love it!
- Keep up with your mani / pedi: You don’t have to go to the nail salon or even use nail polish to take care of your nails. Getting my nails done is one of my current splurges. Having my nails done makes me feel so uch more put together!
Related: Click here for my favorite 100+ Best Beauty Affirmations
Soul Glow Up Ideas
Remember to put some attention on your inner self as well with these glow up ideas for your soul.
- Raise your vibe: We’re all made of energy and your energy attracts like energy. So it’s important to keep your vibes high. Now, this does NOT mean you need to do toxic positivity or gaslight yourself. All of your feelings are valid. You can be sad and still be high vibe. Being high vibe isn’t about not being sad, it’s about not being a toxic person who takes negative or harmful action. Allow your feelings and if it feels good, try some activities to raise your vibration.
- Laugh often: Laughing helps raise your vibe and feel good. As they say, laughter is great medicine!
- Make time for play and joy: Making time to play not only can help heal your inner child, it’s a more fulfilling way to live life. We’re not robots. We’re not meant to go to work and eat food. Make space for your joy!
- Avoid mindless scrolling: It’s so easy to lose your day to mindless scrolling. You don’t have to be productive 100% of the time, but *mindless* scrolling serves almost no purpose. Consider either doing something you’d actually enjoy, doing something useful, or finding a better way to unwind and relax.
- Keep your home organized: Your home is a reflection of your mind. And vice versa. An organized home can help you manage stress and stay organized. Plus, it’s just a more enjoyable way to live.
- Spend time with people who light you up: As they say – You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose wisely! Not to mention, you can literally feel when people take your energy or give you energy.
- Make space to rest and relax: A truly balanced life includes time for rest. And no, you don’t need to earn it. You deserve to rest.
Prefer one simple list? Check out the next Glow-Up Checklist idea…
4 Week Glow Up Checklist (Simple Glow Up Checklist)
4 Week Glow Up List
Use this 4 week glow up list to form new habits, live a balanced healthy lifestyle, and enjoy personal growth overall.
- Know that making small positive changes is better than stressing yourself out trying to do everything perfectly
- Open the windows and let your eyes see sunlight first thing: If you’re able to wake up with the sun, this is a lovely way to start the day.
- Make your bed every morning: This can help you feel put together first thing and also help you keep your home organized.
- Drink a cup of water first thing and stay hydrated throughout the day: When I did my hydration challenge years ago, I found that chugging a glass of water first thing made a lovely dent in my hydration goal straightaway. This helped me not only be more likely to drink enough water the rest of the day but to feel great fast too.
- Practice gratitude in the morning: This can help improve your mental state and generate the energy of abundance at the start of your day so you can carry it with you through the rest of the day.
- Eat healthy 80/20: Being 100% healthy 100% of the time is not only unrealistic for most of us, it’s not even necessarily the best idea, especially if that causes you stress or anxiety. Instead, aim for 80% healthy with 20% fun. Or find your own balance that works best for you.
- Prioritize whole foods and reduce processed foods: enjoy a balanced diet without being too restrictive by focusing on enjoying more whole foods when you can. Processed foods can be a help when you’re short on time, but see if you can prioritize whole foods.
- Eat enough fruits and veggies (or increase a bit from where you are): Food can not only heal your body, but eating enough fruits and veggies can help give your body the nutrients it needs to run best and help you feel good and have lots of energy. Click here to get tips and recipes to eat more fruit.
- Aim for no caffeine after noon: Since the half life of caffeine can last for hours, drinking caffeine after roughly noon can disrupt your sleep. Everyone’s body works a little different so find your personal time cut-off using noon as a starting point.
- Move your body daily (do a workout or take a walk): Physical fitness is an important part of a beautiful life. Not only does it help you improve your actual health, moving your body can also help you sleep better, boost your confidence, and feel amazing.
- Use positive affirmations daily (speak them out loud with a YouTube video or write your current favorite on a sticky note and put it on your mirror so you can see it and say it often): Affirmations are one of the most powerful tools to help you overcome negative thoughts and shift into positive thinking.
- Read for 30 minutes a day: Personal development books are best to read as part of your morning routine or another time during the day. In the evening or as part of your night routine, help your brain relax by opting for a more soothing fiction book.
- Listen to podcasts and audiobooks that motivate you and help you with your goals: Get some motivation, learn some new skills, and hear success stories to encourage you to keep going after your own goals and dreams.
- Create and do a skincare routine, ideally in the morning and at night if you can: Enjoy great skin by taking care of it morning and night. Make it fun by adding a product you’ve been wanting to try or using a face roller.
- Meditate for 5 minutes a day: Daily meditation can be a powerful thing, and you don’t have to do it for hours to get the benefit. Even doing 5 minutes a day can be wonderful. If you’re new to meditation, start small and try doing it once per week. Find the number and duration of meditation sessions that feel best to you.
- Aim for 8 hours of sleep: 8 hours of sleep is the widely shared goal, but we’re all so unique. Some of us need more, some of us need less. The point is to aim to get enough sleep for your needs.
- Know that glow ups are fun but that you are already worthy – always have been, always will be ❤️
And here’s another graphic version of the same list:
Both are available in your FREE Glow Up Checklist Printable PDF. Scoll to the end to get your copy!
Glow Up Reminder
Glow ups are fun, but remember – you don’t need to fix yourself because you’re not broken. You are already so beautiful AND you were born worthy. Always have been, always will be!
I like to think of glow ups as a way to honor and respect yourself. For me a glow up is an act of self love. It’s about taking care of yourself and prioritizing yourself because you love yourself.
Remember to use these glow up checklists as base ideas and customize your own glow up to fit your needs, wants, and values best.
Ultimate Glow Up Checklist 2024 (FREE Printable PDF)
Get your FREE Ultimate Glow Up Checklist 2024 printable PDF here!
Note: So there’s a little something for everyone, my printable includes multiple versions of the Ultimate Glow Up Checklist 2024. Use whichever version is your fave!
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Summary
While a glow up isn’t for everyone, glow ups can be the best way for us to respect ourselves and take action from a place of self love to uplevel our life overall.
Many glow ups are more about making physical changes to your face, body, and appearance in general, but I’m recommending a more holistic approach in this post.
The glow up ideas I’m sharing are intended to help you glow up in the areas of mind, body, soul, AND of course – beauty. Be sure to use these lists as a baseline and customize them to fit your values, needs, and preferences.
While the start of a new year is a great time to kick off your glow up, you can do yours any time of year.
And the checklists on this post are designed to help you glow up in about 4 weeks / one month. But tailor your glow up to the schedule that works best for YOU!
Enjoy your glow-up journey!
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Glow Up by Season
Click here for my Summer Glow Up Ideas
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More Ideas for Your Glow Up
Click here for 80 Amazing Glow Up Affirmations
Click here for my current makeup routine
Click here for some amazing beauty confidence quotes
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Thank you for stopping by and checking out my Ultimate Glow Up Checklist to Level Up Your Life in 2024 blog post. Hope you found some tips you love!
Comment below: what are your favorite glow up ideas – from my lists or from your own. Let’s share ideas!