Loving life starts with loving yourself.

Figuring out that one road to happiness is finding a way to truly love yourself.

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Self-love: having regard for one’s own well-being and happiness. Pretty straight to the point, right? So why do so many people struggle with figuring out how to love themselves.

Blame it on society, social media, the film industry, Instagram Models, or whatever you want but it is getting harder and harder for young women to love who they are. Whether they feel like they are too big, or too small, not fit enough or too fit, maybe they’re nerdy or not smart enough whatever it is there is pressure to always be better and not nearly enough attention on being ENOUGH.

Let me remind you of something, you are enough. Every part of you makes you exactly who you are and that is amazing. Take a step towards happiness and start realizing that you are truly incredible and perfect in so many ways even if you can’t always see this.

Learn to be gracious with yourself. Give yourself credit for how far you’ve already come. We all feel it sometimes; kind of gross in our own skin, unconfident in a room full of people, or like we have no talent, no skill, or nothing that makes us special. Sometimes we just forget that we are incredible. Well, I’m here to help you find ways to start loving the person you are.

Negative self-talk is so last year.

We are leaving those negative comments in the past babe. Anytime you tell yourself you’re stupid, or fat, or lazy, or ugly, take those words, and shove them right up your cute little a##. Because they‘re all lies. You are uniquely beautiful, incredibly talented, amazingly strong, and you deserve to know it. So, ditch the negative comments you say throughout the day and give yourself the love you deserve.

Say it over, and over, and over again until you believe it.

Practice makes perfect right? Even if you have to fake it ‘til you make it; start reminding yourself every single day how amazing and how beautiful you are. Say it louder and louder until your brain doesn’t have to think twice. Smile harder at that beautiful reflection in the mirror because she is counting on you to get her through the day and you can’t do that if you’re not loving who you are.

Send some friendly reminders to your sexy gal pals.

Take some time to send some uplifting messages to your beautiful boss babes who also might be feeling a little crappy about life or about themselves. By empowering others, you are empowering yourself and reminding yourself what it means to be a good friend. Spread that love like you spread your peanut butter on your toast in the mornings because we all need a little more of it now and then.

Stop comparing yourself to everyone else.

Want to know something awesome? You and I are not the same. All of us are different. You don’t have to look like some of the girls you follow on Instagram, you don’t have to be the CEO of a company to feel successful. You don’t have to impress anyone other than yourself, Start being true to who you are and accepting that you are wonderful in your own way, and soon you will start to see how amazing you are and start loving yourself more.

Comparing yourself to others is nothing but unfair. We are all on different paths, and at different parts of our journeys. Stop wasting your time and hurting your own feelings by comparing yourself to anyone else and start focusing on how far you’ve come and where you want to be.

Everyone is searching for ways to make themselves happier. We talk about self-care all the time like it’s as simple as reading a few self-help books, dropping some unicorn scented bath bombs into your tub, staying hydrated and doing facials on the reg.

Don’t get me wrong, all of this can really help you feel your best every now and then, but the goal of really loving yourself is a lot deeper. It takes patience and effort and a lot of convincing your brain of something that is so evident but has been forgotten because of the pressures of society and because of this crazy desire to be ‘perfect’. Nobody is perfect. We all have flaws. And we all struggle with finding ways to really, truly, love ourselves.

Walk over to that mirror right now girl and tell yourself how gorgeous you really are. Then say three things you love about yourself. Do this every morning this week, pick three new things a day and start hyping yourself up because you deserve this type of love.

It starts with loving yourself. You are enough. Make loving yourself your biggest goal this year and I promise you’ll only get closer to being your happiest healthiest self.