Salam,

Thank you for trusting me with your question. It is one that I am sure is on the minds of many convert women these days, as Islam is growing fast and most of those converting are in fact women. There are two different ways that you can prepare yourself or even motivate yourself to wear hijab, one being spiritual and the other physical.

In the spiritual approach, which is extremely effective, you can learn about your Lord. The more we know about Allah and all His attributes, including mercy and love, the more we come to love Him and want to please Him. Look around you at all He has created, ponder on His might and unlimited ability to create and sustain us and all that exists. This kind of pursuit of knowledge will cause you to taste or increase in iman (faith), which is sweeter than anything in this world. Draw closer to Allah by doing as many good deeds as you can and staying away from the bad deeds with the intention of attaining Allah’s love. Our goal in this life is all about returning to our originator, Allah. When we do these things, Allah comes closer to us and makes the seemingly impossible, possible.

In a Hadith Qudsi Allah says:

He who draws close to Me a hand’s span, I will draw close to him an arm’s length. And whoever draws near Me an arm’s length, I will draw near him a fathom’s length. And whoever comes to Me walking, I will go to him running. And whoever faces Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, I will meet him with forgiveness nearly as great as that, provided he does not worship something with me. (reported by Muslim, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad).

So the closer you come to Allah, the closer Allah comes to you and will make all things easy for you. When you come closer to Allah, Allah will put the love of all that He loves in your heart and that inshaAllah will include modesty and following His command of hijab.

As for the physical steps, simply do your best to dress modestly. Wear longer, looser clothing when you leave the house. If you were wearing shorts before, try wearing something longer. If you were wearing tight tops before, try wearing something a bit looser. If you were not covering your hair, try to start wearing hats or loose scarves. Take the steps toward hijab gradually. This inshaAllah will make the transition easier. But hijab is not just about covering the hair. It is about being modest in all respects. It is a manifestation of faith: a faith that transforms the heart to incline toward humility and modesty. But this doesn’t happen overnight. Give yourself time and keep taking steps toward modesty and toward Allah. And Allah will without a doubt come closer to you and make your journey easy.

It might also help to inspire you to read here and here about why other women wear hijab. 

I hope this helps. 

Salam.