5 Ways To Become Your Own Biggest Cheerleader

1. Remind yourself that you are the most important person in your life.

Not your mom or your dad, not your significant other. You are it. This sounds selfish, but it’s not. At the end of the day, all you have is you. How you feel is going to mirror how you live your life. If you feel stressed out and you haven’t slept in a week, are you giving the world your best self? There’s no way you can. What version of you are you giving the people you love and care about?

You are one human being. ONE. Please stop taking on too much. It’s a hard cross to bear. You may be doing it without even knowing it. But that’s the worst kind of self-neglect, because guess who you are abandoning by taking care of everyone else? Yourself. Do you have responsibilities? Absolutely. Can you fulfill all of your responsibilities and prioritize yourself at the same time? Absolutely. Your priority needs to be your health and happiness first. You cannot give from a depleted source!

2. Take time to do something for you at least once a day.

For me, it’s working out. It gives me energy to get through my week; it gives me an excuse to listen to rap music while I run out all of my frustrations. What does making you happy look like? Is it drinking a glass of wine and reading a book? Is it going to the Target that has the Starbucks? Is your happiness driving with the windows down, getting rowdy with some Cardi B? Maybe it is a combination of things, but find at least thirty minutes a day to do something that makes you happy.

3. Get over whatever makes you feel uncomfortable so you can have what you want.

Sometimes we allow our personal insecurities to hold us back. I want you to think about what you are keeping from the world. It isn’t fair to keep all of that ability to yourself. It is natural to feel scared about doing something that is out of your comfort zone. It is easy to stay where it is easy, but don’t. Admit that you are afraid, recognize that you will feel uncomfortable, and then do it anyway. What if Andrea Bocelli, the Italian singer-songwriter, didn’t get on stage and sing because he had stage fright, which in fact he does. The world wouldn’t get to hear his gift. He is scared, but he goes nonetheless. You are scared, but you will do it anyway. You are too strong and too brave to allow fear to control you!

Take all your failures, all the times you fell on your ass and thought you couldn’t get back up, and let that catapult you into the life you deserve.

4. Prioritize you, and then the important stuff.

Part of not taking on too much daily stress is getting you into the habit of recognizing and prioritizing what is important and what is not. You know the saying, “work smarter, not harder”? If you waste your time doing a lot of unimportant tasks, you’ll be running without getting anywhere, which will surely leave you feeling exhausted.

Find what is important to you in life and make it a priority. All of the other stuff can wait. If it’s important, you will make time for it in your life. Trust your gut here, friends. Don’t say you can’t do it, because if it truly matters, you can.

5. Stop comparing yourself.

What a boring freaking world we would live in if everyone were the same. No, thank you! If you spend your precious time scrolling through Instagram following models and you feel like shit after, then STOP! Comparing yourself will take away your happiness. It will drain the spark right out of you.

You need to hear this: you’ve got something that someone else wants. Someone is looking at you, thinking, Man, how are they so outgoing? How did they get her hair to curl like that?. They are so good at talking to other people! I wish I were a better listener like them! Appreciate your good qualities and stop comparing yourself. As the great Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”