Well hello to you my reader chums! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'd know that self-love is my no1 priority and something I talk about a lot as we all deserve to love ourselves and know that we are worthy.

Working on your self-love journey isn't easy, it doesn't happen overnight and it also doesn't have a singular end goal. Over the past year or so, I've really focused on working on being the love of my own life, accepting who I was, and have come leaps and bounds in my journey with self-love. But, that doesn't mean I'm all the way there as I have hard days like everybody else.

Whether you're starting out on your self-love journey or need some tips to boost you along, here are 5 things you can do to help your self-love journey.

Put yourself and your goals first

When it comes to self-love, it needs to be a priority in your life like you should be a priority in your life. Sometimes, life can get busy and we put other people around us before ourselves which can be a good thing if we're helping them but shouldn't be something that happens all the time. It's important to put boundaries in place and ensure you're putting yourself first when needed and your goals.

When you choose yourself, it'll throw you further into your self-love journey. It may sound like an odd phrase, however, if you keep putting other people's needs before your own then you'll never have the time to care for your needs. Once you give yourself the time, you can focus on what goals you're aiming and striving towards, as well as falling in love with exactly who you are.

Realise this journey will have its ups and downs

Being the love of your own life isn't a quick solution or an easy thing, but it is a process we're all capable for. However, your self-love journey will have both its ups and downs. The ups are the amazing part where you'll see all of your progress come into play. The hours of affirmations, mantras, and changing your mindset into accepting the love you deserve for yourself.

But it's important to note that the downs even though may seem like a drawback, aren't a bad thing. In any healing journey, the process isn't linear and there are ups and downs, and it's the same with self-love. When you're having the down days and don't like parts of yourself, accept that it is okay to feel this way. You're okay to feel down and not love yourself, it doesn't mean your journey has come to a halt.

Live your authentic self

We all deserve to live the life we've dreamt about and be our authentic selves. When it comes to your self-love journey, it's hard to fall in love with yourself when you're not living your authentic self. We all go through life seeking our authentic self and wanting to live that way of life, but a lot of the time, we refrain from doing so because of society and those around us, when we shouldn't let other people's opinions affect us.

Once you take the step in living your authentic self, you'll find your self-love journey is easiest to come to terms with. Self-love is about accepting the good parts and the bad parts of yourself, and accepting the more authentic parts of yourself is a lot easier than the false part of yourself.

Get confident in front of the camera

The camera and being in front of it may not be for everyone, but it's a great way to capture memories and look back on photos in years to come. Being confident in yourself comes to play when a camera is in front of you and I've physically seen that as the photos have changed of myself in my twenties. I look happier and confident when I've gotten older and I love that.

To get confident in front of the camera, start by doing fun photoshoots with your pals or taking selfies in front of the mirror. By doing that, you'll know what you're comfortable with in terms of poses and start to feel more confident. And once, you're feeling confident, then you'll fall in love with yourself even more and how you look in photos too.

Talk to yourself like your best friend

This tip is something I say in every self-love post because it's my favourite bit of advice. Talk to yourself like your best friend. Do you put your best friend down? Do you say mean comments to them? No. Then why do you do that to yourself? We're not here for negative self-talk, it's not necessary. You need to speak to yourself with confidence, love, and assurance just like your best pal. This regular self-talk will aid you forward in your self-love journey.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What other tips do you have?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well, hello to you, my reader chums! Self-love is a term I used to chat about when I was in my 'healing' era a couple of years back, and it is still a topic I adore talking about today. Everyone has a different definition of what self-love means, how they practice it and what the effects look like.

We're all evolving, and for me, self-love has been a journey like no other.

If you're on your self-love journey and keen to hear my thoughts, here's what self-love means to me now.

Self-love is a term used widely, with the idea of falling in love with ourselves and loving every piece, including how we look, our personality and the life we lead. Self-love can mean whatever you want, and as I've grown, my definition has also changed.

What does self-love mean to me?

Self-love means showing up for yourself consistently and loving and appreciating that version of yourself. We don't wake up every day feeling like a 10/10. Some days, I'm bloated, some days, I'm in a low mood, and some days, I get frustrated at myself, and that's okay. Self-love on those days is being respectful and appreciative that you're not feeling 100% at that time, but you will again. It's accepting it's okay to feel rubbish about myself and I won't always feel a 10/10.

Self-love isn't only loving what you look like, it's loving your personality, the good and bad of that, the quirks and unique ways that make me who I am. I think a lot of self-love is down to liking what you look like, but your personality is worth more than that as looks do change, but your personality is everything, showcasing your soul. It's helped me appreciate my humour, my kindness, my giving nature and my adventurous spirit.

Self-love is about setting boundaries, stepping away from people in my life who don't make me feel my best and investing time in others who lift me up and allow me to be myself. It's about having respect for myself enough to wave goodbye to certain friendships and now allow myself to remain in spaces where I feel seen.

Self-love is being grateful for my life and working on a positive mindset to help me stay hopeful about my everyday life and what's to come. It's about preventing that negative and mean voice in my mind, always trying to look on the brighter side of life rather than what's gone wrong.

Self-love is believing in myself, knowing I have what it takes to achieve my dreams, but also being able to try new things and push myself out of my comfort zone. It's my biggest supporter and the thing that keeps me going in the hard moments. 

Ultimately, self-love is learning to put my needs first. I spent years people-pleasing and thinking about everyone else, but now, I'm focusing more on what feels right for me, prioritising my mental health and wellbeing and creating a life that serves that.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What does self-love mean to you? 

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Self-love is the most important thing for your mental health and self-esteem, and something I preach about it on a daily basis. It's a journey for us all in different ways and not something that happens overnight, and I wish it was normalised and taught more when I was growing up.

I've had a very long journey with self-love and learning to be the love of my own life, but it is something I want to talk about as much as possible, and share with my readers. Whether you're new to self-love or would learn more about it, here is what self-love is to me.

What is self-love?

Self-love has a wide definition in my opinion but the crux of what it means caring and loving yourself, and valuing who you are as the most important thing. You are the number one priority in your life, and that's exactly how you should view and appreciate yourself. You should talk to yourself with kindness, pursue what makes you happy, and ultimately, be your own hype girl.

Understanding what self-love is is important, but then practicing that on yourself is even more so. Self-love to me means first accepting yourself for who you are and that means the good parts, the flaws but also the insecurities. We all have insecurities, even the most confident people, however, with confident individuals, they have just accepted and learnt to live with them - and you can do that too.

Having confidence in yourself and your body is a big stepping point in your journey to self-love and a way to help you realise your worth. I always say, once you know your worth, you can take on the world and that's so true. As when you have that true love and belief in yourself, any problem or obstacle that comes your way, you'll be able to overcome it a lot easier than if you have no confidence in yourself.

Self-love isn't just about liking what you look like and who you are, it's also accepting when you've done wrong, made mistakes, taking accountability for every choice you make, and constantly working on yourself to make the best version of yourself. Nobody is perfect and there is always something to improve on and learn from, that's the whole beauty in being a human being.

You need to love yourself enough to be self-aware of a situation, admitting what you've done right and wrong, setting boundaries, and always trying to do what's best for you. We can all get distracted by the world and people around us, and that is a very important part of your life. However, self-love also means encompasses all the best parts of your life and living for the things that make you happy, not anyone else.

Why is self-love so important?

Self-love should be a top priority in your life and is something we need to normalise as an everyday practice. It's not selfish to love yourself, it's not 'full of yourself' to love the way you look or adore your appearance, and being single isn't 'depressing' or 'lonely', it's a wonderful and empowering time, to learn more about yourself.

Self-love is important because:

• You are the most important in your life - It took me a long while to realise this point. I was constantly putting everyone else's needs before mine as I've always been taught to be kind and caring, and look out for one another, but that always made me neglect myself. This is a very important thing to do as treating people with kindness is necessary, but you are also a person and deserve the same kindness you give to everyone else. When I began this journey of self-love and to understand this principle, I started to focus on myself and my goals and realised how happy it made me. I didn't need to find happiness in other people when I could find it in myself - and learnt I am the most important person in my life.
• You deserve to feel happy within yourself - We all deserve happiness, and sometimes when we don't love ourselves or believe in ourselves, we think we're not worthy of happiness. Spoiler - that's not right. Happiness is a journey but learning to love yourself and who you are will give you a step in the right direction of knowing you deserve it.
• You are unique - One of the reasons a lot of us feel inadequate or not good enough is that we compare ourselves to everyone else and feel like they are better than us. However, that's not the case. Everyone has insecurities and everyone compares themselves to other people, despite how 'perfect' they look. Learning to love yourself will make you realise you are unique and beautiful and amazing, just the way you are. You don't need to be anyone else.
• The media can be toxic - It's no secret that traditional media and social media can be a toxic environment a lot of the time when it comes to how we view and value ourselves, often plastering 'perfect' looking people everywhere and also, shaming a lot of people for how they look or what they do. Nobody has the right to judge anyone for how they look or what they do in their life. It's their choice and their life, you shouldn't get a say - and that's the same with your life. Self-love is important because it goes against everything the media is trying to promote to us, making us feel inadequate so they can market products to us to 'feel better about ourselves.'  Diet culture, airbrush imagery, and influencer culture all feed into this idea. You're good enough and worthy enough already, I promise you.
• Life is too short - Life can go by quicker than we all think. I'm nearly 25 and it seems like my twenties are zooming by and as much as time scares me, it also makes me realise I need to cherish and use every moment and be grateful for everything I've experienced. Although I've had lots of lows, I've had the best of highs in the course of my life and as I'm growing older and falling in love with myself more, it makes me even more appreciative of that. Life is too short to worry about people's opinions on you - once you realise how absorbed people are in their own life, you can have more energy to focus on your and your beautiful life.
• It can help you understand boundaries - Learning to set boundaries is an act of self-care and looking after your own mental health, and cutting out unnecessary toxic energy. When you love yourself or are in the journey of self-love, you will soon come to realise the reason of how and why people act around you, and how to set the right boundaries in your life, in terms of your interactions and what makes you happy.
• It lets you make mistakes - We've all beaten ourselves up at one time or another if we've done something wrong, made a mistake, or hurt someone and that's totally normal. However, what's not normal, is beating yourself up so much you hurt yourself, emotionally and hurt your own feelings. Self-love can teach you to appreciate and respect the mistakes you make but also teach you accountability and how to learn from them, rather than convincing yourself you're the worst person on the planet.
• It assures you having bad days is normal - I would always put pressure on myself that I should feel happy all the time, and I wasn't feeling that way and wondered why. But, it's not normal for anyone to feel happy all the time, we all have bad days and that's okay. Learning to love yourself means that on the bad days, instead of beating yourself up for feeling down, you'll learn to take care of yourself on those days instead.

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Self-love is something I talk about a lot on my blog as I genuinely believe, it's at the core of everything we do. We all want to feel loved, it's human nature and that's why many of us try and seek it in other ways, however, the key is finding it within yourself first.

Whether you're struggling with self-love, looking for some advice, or simply having a bad day, here are 10 self-love reminders you need to hear.

Your self-love journey isn't linear

Healing isn't linear in every way and this is the same with self-love. Going through a self-love journey is hard as it goes against a lot of what society teaches us about self-love, as we live in a world that encourages you to think badly of yourself (hello diet culture) and how self-love is selfish. This is why when you're working through a journey of self-love, one of the reasons you can find yourself falling backwards is because of the societal influence you've had your whole life. But, those dips and backward steps aren't a bad thing, they're normal. It's normal to have ups and downs with any journey including self-love. Just know, that whatever progress you make is still progress.

You deserve to feel loved

Love is life's greatest gift and something we all deserve to feel every single day. You deserve love, so much of it, even if you don't feel like it. You deserve to give yourself so much love, the same you give everybody else. You are worthy of this level of love because you are uniquely you, and there's nobody else like you. And simply because you're human, and we all deserve to feel loved.

Loving yourself isn't selfish 

Self-love isn't selfish (say this 10 times over). There is nothing selfish about being in love with all that is you. The only person that will be with you throughout your whole life is yourself so you should love that person, more than you love anyone else really. You deserve to love yourself when you're feeling the greatest and when you're feeling not so great. Loving yourself is the number one priority.

You are strong and resilient

You are so strong. Look at how far you've already come, that in itself is amazing. Falling in love with yourself is hard and at times, can make you feel even weaker because all your insecurities will crop up, that's only natural. But in these moments, it's important to remind yourself about how strong and resilient you are to even have gotten to this point.

Your body is beautiful

I'm a big advocate for body confidence and body acceptance because I believe we all deserve to adore every inch of our body and know what we look like is the least interesting thing about us. If you're having doubts about your body, know it's beautiful. Know that, every day it cares for you, it keeps you alive, it protects you and ultimately, it's a part of you which in itself is incredibly important. 

You are trying your best 

One thing we can all do in life is to try our best, nothing more. Nobody is perfect and nobody is getting it all right. All of us are simply trying to get through this thing called life and guess whether we're making the right decisions or not. Your self-love journey is the same, you are trying your best and it's all that matters.

You are worthy of good things

Let me repeat that again 'you are worthy of good things.' If you're not feeling great, down, or like you deserve nothing, let me tell you, you are wrong. You deserve good things to happen to you. You deserve to have good people around you. You deserve to make incredible memories. You deserve to feel loved and live your best life.

You are worthy of love around you

This brings me to this point. One thing many of us have in common is we feel as if we don't deserve love from people around us or we settle for less - and this isn't right. Never settle for anything more than love. The type of love that makes you feel giddy and happy every time you think of it. This goes with relationships, friendships, and family members. You are worthy of content love and to feel cherished every single day.

You are enough

This point goes without saying but plain and simple, you are enough. You're wonderful and stunning you and the world is a better place with you in it.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What other reminders would you say?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Love is a wonderful and magical thing and something we all deserve to experience in our lives. I've been lucky to enter a new relationship this year and it has made me realise a lot of things not only about love as a whole but the importance of self-love and why we should never stop working on ourselves.

Self-love is the core of everything we do and a journey that never really stops. We're constantly evolving and growing and that's why the love for ourselves needs to be something to constantly work at. If you've been single for a long time or are looking to get into a relationship, here is my advice on how falling in love with yourself can help you find love.

Just a little disclaimer on this topic, this advice post is all from my own personal experience and what I've witnessed by working on my self-love journey, learning more about the law of attraction and manifestation as a whole.

You'll realise your worth and what you deserve

Self-love is something I can talk about all day long because we all deserve to accept and fall in love with who we are. As cliché as it sounds, we're all unique and for a reason, to be that individual person we were born to be. Not everyone is going to like you and you're not going to like everyone, but someone you should always like is yourself. You're the only person that is with you your entire life and that's why the love begins with you.

Falling in love with yourself isn't a luxury, it's a life skill and to be honest, can be a hard graft, but it's worth it in the long run for a few reasons. Once you love yourself, you'll realise your worth and what you deserve. This means, you learn to say no to things that do not serve you or bring you happiness, whether that's friendships or relationships and know that you can and do deserve better. You deserve someone to give you their full attention, care and love. And, it's only when you fall in love with every part of yourself, that this idea becomes vividly clear.

You'll understand that your standards were never too high

How many times have you heard 'your standards are way too high' or 'you're never going to find someone thinking like that'? These statements are incorrect for so many reasons. If you set high standards for yourself and your life, you want to be attracting someone with the same energy and on a higher frequency of life, and trust me they are out there. They're harder to find because falling for mediocre relationships any of us can do. However, falling in love with yourself will put you in that higher frequency to find a better partnership, one that'll give you the same efforts you're willing to put in.

Self-love is hard work and finding love is hard work because you have to put in the mental work to understand you deserve this high standard you've set for yourself and love that'll make you feel on top of the world every day. You attract the energy you put out into the world, so if you're full of love and positivity, it'll come back around to you.

You'll realise what you want in a relationship and start searching for it

That leads me to this point. The standards you've set in your head will be a list of everything you expect to have in a relationship - and you can never ask for too much because if you look for it hard enough, you'll find it. The love for yourself links into this idea of not only realising what you want in a relationship but realising you deserve it. Being in a bubble of self-love, opens up new opportunities for love all around us, including in relationships. You'll find yourself more open to searching for the right kind of love, rather than validation or hit and miss vibes from people.

You'll understand that a relationship is there to complement your life

This is a big thing I think everyone needs to learn and I definitely believe when you're on a journey of self-love, the idea becomes more apparent. Relationships aren't there to be your whole life or fill up your love tank fully. They're a part of your life to compliment the love you feel for yourself and boost it up as and when you need it, and allow you to fall for someone that makes everything feel okay and right about the world.

Falling in love with yourself puts you on a wavelength to be fully independent and know you can stand on your own feet, you don't need to rely on anyone else. And, a good relationship will complement that idea because you know you can rely on them but also, you can hold your own.

You will focus on your own goals and dreams

We all have goals and dreams and we all deserve to experience them fully. Self-love helps you focus on what you want out of life and helps you understand that it's not selfish to focus on everything you want to be. This links in to the idea of finding love because by being in the energy of wishing for good things, and manifesting them, you can navigate your way to your dream partner.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Do you have anything to add?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm a huge advocate for self-love as you may know if you've been following my blog for a while. We all deserve to love ourselves and be our own number one fan because each and every one of us is incredible in our own way. It sounds cliche but it's true and that's where self-love comes in to help us feel the love we should for who we are. 

Whether you're new to a relationship or have been in one for a while, here are 5 reasons why self-love is important in a relationship.

It helps you not seek validation for love

When you love yourself, the rest of the world becomes a lot brighter as you're not constantly seeking validation from others around you. This is especially true in relationships. They always say you need to love yourself before entering a relationship and I agree to an extent. If you don't love yourself, then when you enter the relationship, you will constantly be asking for love, attention, and validation from them. When really a relationship is there to compliment and support your life, and the love you already have for yourself. Your partner can't give you all the love you seek as you need to find that within yourself. They can help top it up on days when you're not feeling it and support you, but they're not there to be the 'love yourself' remedy.

It helps you feel fulfilled in your own life and goals

Self-love is the key to loving your own life as once you love yourself, you love everything around you. It'll make you feel certain in yourself and what you want out of life, so when you get in a relationship, that'll fit nicely into it, rather than be the whole thing. You walk with a vision of certainty and fulfillment and that radiates around you. Self-love helps you see the appreciation in your life and gives you the boost you need to achieve your goals so really, it's kind of like a hype girl inside of you. And that hype girl wants you to be happy.

You will experience a healthier relationship

When you love yourself, you don't rely on your partner for every single bit of emotional support as you can hold your own and they just compliment it, the way a loving partner should. Loving yourself means emotional intelligence as you know your worth, you know what you deserve and you're going to strive and get it - which in turn, means your relationship will be healthier. You will know how to communicate your needs and expect the same energy back. You'll know how to be open and your authentic self which is the most attractive thing anyone can be.

It teaches you independence and value for yourself

We all deserve to value ourselves highly and think the world of who we are. You owe yourself that. A journey of self-love can aid this valued feeling because you'll learn to accept the bits of you you don't like, have the want to always be a better person, and love everything around you. This value then helps you feel more independent - as you know, this relationship is just a good thing added onto your life rather than your whole life. You can live independently and do your own thing and enjoy the exciting and fun journey that is love together, without thinking if you lose them you'll have nothing left.

It helps you set boundaries and standards

Boundaries are the most important things any of us can have because they help our mental health and wellbeing and know when enough is enough. This becomes more apparent in a relationship because when you know your self-worth and love yourself, you can put the boundaries in place to ensure your feelings are heard and protected, as well as allowing them to understand your triggers too. 

It's never too much to have high standards because if you have high standards of yourself, the same should be reciprocated in a partner and that's how you know you've attracted the right one as they're on your level with everything. Loving yourself will give your the confidence to own those high standards and experience the most loving relationship possible.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What other reasons do you have?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm a huge advocate for self-love as many of you may know. It's something I promote and talk about all the time on my blog because I believe we all deserve to be the love of our own life and fully accept who we are.

When entering into a relationship, many of us don't think self-love is needed as much but honestly, it's needed even more than ever. You need to learn how to love yourself so you're able to show your partner how best to love you. And, it's important to remember relationships should add to or compliment your life, they aren't there to fill up your whole happiness cup.

If you're in a new relationship or looking for advice on self-love, here are my best tips to practice self-love in a relationship.

Have 'you' time

'You' time is incredibly important but especially when you're in a relationship. When in a relationship, your time isn't fully your own anymore because you'll want to spend time with your partner and your social circle, inevitably gets a lot bigger - this is why it's essential to prioritise that time for you. It could be an evening or two a week or a whole day, just ensure you're making it a regular thing, as it'll prevent you from losing yourself. 

Continue practising all of your hobbies

Hobbies are incredibly important. We all have passions and things which make our hearts soar and you need to keep doing those for yourself. It'll help develop your mind and fall in love with more things in your life, and give you things of your own. Your partner is a massive part of your life, but it's important to grow as people as well as grow together, and that's where the beauty of hobbies fits in.

Learn about your own love languages

Love languages are something we should be taught in school. We all give love in different ways and we all feel love in different ways. It's important to recognise which love language is yours, whether that's quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch or receiving gifts. Once you know which love language is yours, you can learn to give that love to yourself and also educate your partner on how best you feel loved.

Continue to be your own hype person

A relationship means having your own hype person, however, it doesn't mean you should stop being that hype person to yourself. Compliment yourself, praise yourself for your achievements, talk yourself up on a bad day and treat yourself. You deserve to continue being kind to yourself and being the love of your own life.

Practice healthy habits

It's natural when you get into a relationship to fall into each other's habits rather than maintain your own and why it's important to recognise which habits are significant for you - and can be put in place. This can be going to the gym, doing pilates, making better eating habits or getting outside in the evening rather than watching TV. Whatever they are, practise the habits to ensure they become a regular thing.

Learn to develop emotional boundaries

Boundaries are important for your own emotional needs, and also play a big part in a relationship too. It's important even when in a relationship to be self-sufficient and learn to regulate your own emotions because even though your partner is there to support you, they can't do it all for you - and is where setting boundaries come into play to look after yourself.

Practice gratitude

Gratitude can really change your life and is one of the best ways to help you practice self-love. Practising gratitude daily will help you fall in love with yourself and your life even more - and can help you have a better foundation for your relationship too.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What would you add?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! As many of you know, I'm the biggest advocate for self-love. I believe we all deserve to fall in love with ourselves over and over again. We all deserve to appreciate the uniqueness of who we are and flaunt it off to the world.

Self-love is something I've been working on for the longest time and I have to admit, it's still a work in progress, which I can imagine is the same for most people. Self-love is a journey, not a destination. We're all constantly changing and that means learning to love every new version of ourselves.

I recently turned 26 and in the spirit of self-love, I thought it would be a lovely idea to talk about the 26 things I've learnt to love about myself in 26 years.

 My blue eyes

I thought I would begin it on a physical note and talk about my blue eyes. Growing up, if someone asks what my favourite feature was, I'd always say my eyes and still do. I adore how bright blue they are, how much they stand out and how people can be drawn to them. As I have brown hair, I think it's a lovely distinction too - and also I love how blue eyes run in my family and I received that trait.

Passion for writing

Writing is my thing. I adore everything about words. From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a writer, it was something innately in me as if it was a part of me somehow. I loved how I could create my own story from the wonder of words or change someone's day, purely based on words they've read - it wowed me, and still does. That passion has forever remained and I love how I've used it, and worked on it throughout my whole life, in this blog, in my job and in books I've written.

My anxiety

Anyone who has anxiety can relate to having a love-hate relationship with it. For years, I hated my anxiety, I hated the fact I had it and it was a part of me and it made me feel like a complete burden on everyone around me. However, recently, I've learned to love it because it is a part of me and without it, I wouldn't be who I was today. It has helped me strive for things, work even harder to push myself out of my comfort zone, made me a lot more empathetic towards others and taught me many things.

My creativity

I adore how creative I am. My creativity is something I'm proud to have because it has driven my dreams and goals, and continued to help me fall in love with passions over and over. It's the reason I love the work I do.

My kind heart 

If you can be anything, be kind. This is the mantra I've always lived my life by because in a world with so much hate, it's important to be the good in it and help others see that. I've been through things like many of us have and it has only made me want to be nicer to those around me and strangers too - as really you don't know what someone is going through. My kind heart is something many people compliment me on and I feel so touched when they do.

Passion for adventuring and seeing the world

It's no secret my biggest love in life is travelling and experiencing all the wonderful things the world has to offer us. I adore hopping on a plane and seeing what's out there, planning my next trip and discovering the unknown. There's always more to see and it'll forever fascinate me.

My figure

I've had a love-hate relationship with my body for as long as I can remember. However, it's definitely something I've learn to accept and love as I grew into my twenties, with practicing self-care and training my brain to be kind to myself.

My determination

One thing which has always struck me about myself is the level of determination I have. I've always had big goals and big dreams, and once I set my mind to something, I'll go out my way to do it. I don't know where this level of determination came from but it makes me feel proud everyday to know I'm working towards things I love.

My family and friends

This isn't necessarily about me but your vibe does attract your tribe. And I think as I've been evolving through my self love journey, I've learnt to love and appreciate the people around me even more than I did. I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by incredibly supportive family and friends.

My home town

My roots are a part of me and even though when I was a teenager, I didn't think where I came from was 'good enough' as it was a poorer place and judged by many outsiders, as an adult, I've fallen in love with where I'm from. And, it's the reason of who I am today and is a part of me somehow. I adore the many beaches on my doorstep, how I have family and friends nearby and really, the community feel.

Love of books 

This leads to my passion for writing. Without my love of books, I don't think I would have wanted to be a writer. From a young age, my nose was always in a book and I loved how I could immerse myself into a fictional world - and today, that magic is still apparent with every book I read.

My unlimited dreams

I've always been  big dreamer because really, why not? There are many people who have said I dream too big and it's unrealistic, but I love that. I love how I have high hopes and see all these positive things happening now and in my future. It helps motivate me even more and be even prouder of how far I've come.

My desire for helping people

We all deserve to have love all around us. We all deserve to feel good enough. This is my motivation for wanting to help people around me and beyond that. I want people to feel welcomed, loved and good enough.

My love for the planet

I've spoken about sustainability a lot in my blog because it means a lot to me to take care of the wonderful thing that is our planet. I love that I've always had this passion within me and as I've gotten older, it's become more prominent in how I live my everyday life.

My sweet tooth

I'm a massive chocoholic, I always have been. It kind of became the running joke in my family of my love for chocolate and still is. I adore all things sweet and can't really go to any restaurant without wanting to have a dessert.

My love for food

My love for food wasn't always as great as it is now for many reasons, including how fussy I was and my body image. However, now I've learnt to love the power of good food and crave nothing more than trying new dishes and cuisines.

My obsession with Italy

I'm in love with Italy and this love has definitely grown a lot more in my adult life. I'm part Italian but never really learnt or expressed that part of myself until I got into my twenties, and the more I have, the more I've fallen in love with my roots.

The causes which mean the most to me

I'm an advocate for many things and I think for years, I was embarrassed by that. However, as I've gotten more confident and learned the power of self-love, I've embraced standing up for what I believe in and educating people. I'm a massive feminist, huge advocate for mental health and the planet.

My pride in being a woman

Growing up, being a girl was always seen as a negative or 'wimpy' thing but as I've gotten older, I realised how strong my feminist voice was from a young age - and the power that is being a woman. Women are strong, stronger than we realise and I admire them in many ways. I couldn't be more prouder to be a woman.

My love for the beach

I've been a beach baby my whole life but I don't think I really appreciate my love of it until I got older. It's incredible peaceful and the beach way of life is apart of me and I'm so lucky to say that - and call it home.

My organisational skills

There's nothing more joyful than keeping on top of things and staying organised. I used to think it was weird and I seemed like a control freak, but now I adore how organised I am. I love to plan things and have everything ready in advance - it makes me feel a lot more peaceful.

My dry sense of humour

I've always had a dry sense of humour, I get it from my dad's side of the family and it's definitely something I've grown to love a lot more. I wouldn't describe myself as being funny but I am one of those people who are funny unintentionally.

My love for baking

My mum would bake with my siblings and me from a young age so the love of baking really grew from there and led me to starting my own baking business. There's no better feeling than making something from scratch and it tasting epic.

My healing journey

Healing is a hard thing to do and something I've spoken about a lot on this blog. It isn't linear and comes in waves. Even though it's hard, I've learn to love it because it's the reason I'm strong today and it's made me work even harder for the amazing life I have now.

My brown hair

In my teenage years and even into adulthood, I always thought being blonde was prettier but now I've realised the beauty in my brown locks and get a little upset that I put my hair through the ombre way of life so it looked part blonde.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What's one thing you love about yourself?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Self-love is SO important, probably the most important thing when it comes to your mental health and looking after yourself. As it's so important, it's also something that isn't easy to practice or think highly of yourself. It's only human to have self-doubts, compare yourself, or want to change something about you. However, we were all put on this earth as individuals, and it's important to realise you are truly wonderful as you, and only you.

My journey for self-love is certainly a long one and falls into my self-confidence and body confidence journey also. It took me years to accept my flaws and really, fall in love with myself, and have the confidence that actually I'm a great person. 

Whether you're having a bad day or finding it difficult to learn to love yourself (even though you are so fab), here are some tips which helped me.

Stop comparing yourself to everyone else

Comparison is the killer of all joy in every sense, and this screams volumes when it comes to self love. When I sit and scroll on my Instagram feed, it's hard not to sit and say 'she looks so perfect, her life is so perfect.' But, what I always then try to remind myself is that social media in general is a highlight reel of everyone's life and a place where people share the good things. With that in mind, instead of saying those things, write a compliment to that person and hype them up. I can assure you, it'll make their day and make you smile too. Boosting other people up will fall back on you, and naturally, you'll learn to boost yourself up the same way.

To stop comparing yourself, flip your view on its head and start complimenting yourself the way you did to the person you compare yourself to. Write those things down and read them to yourself every day, and add to the list over and over, until you have a long list of things to read and recite. These affirmations will really help change your mindset on how you view yourself and others.

Focus on your achievements

Leading on from comparing yourself to others, this goes on focusing your achievements. We can often get so distracted with how well other people are doing that we tend to forget how great we are and everything we've achieved. Praise your achievements and congratulate yourself for what you've achieved, the way you do for others. This can be a career move, saving for a house deposit, or simply making a banging dinner. It doesn't matter what it is, you deserve to be celebrated.

Be your own hype girl

I love this point especially as it's so important. The number of times I like to say, 'I'm a 10/10' or 'I'm great' a week has to be quite a few. And, it's not to say I'm big-headed, it's just a way of reminding myself that I've spent years working to this level of confidence that I'll remind myself I am great. If you can't be your own hype girl, then who will? 

Don't rely on other people's love

You can't love someone else until you love yourself, and that's why so many toxic relationships exist, as one or both of the couple are insecure in themselves. You need to be at some level of self-assurance and self-love before you fall for someone else, as you can't rely on them for your happiness. Your happiness comes from within and together you should add to each other's happiness, not solely rely on it.

Practice being by yourself and not relying on others to make you happy in terms of how you view yourself. Have film nights alone, go for a coffee, and generally, spend a lot of time with yourself to figure out who you really are, accept and love that person.

Do things that make you happy

When you're doing things you love, you're happy and by being happy, you'll learn to love you. That may sound a bit strange, but the sensation of being happy goes hand in hand to how you view yourself and your life. So, by acting on hobbies or working at a job you love, your day will be filled with more positivity and you'll view yourself in a positive light - and learn to love who you are.

Surround yourself with good people

Even though learning to love yourself has to come from within, your environment can have an effect on that. For example, by surrounding yourself with positive and happy people, you'll aspire to be more like them and work on yourself, and in turn, love who you are. And, by making the choices of hanging out with good people, it shows how highly you value yourself as a person.

Remember, it's okay to have bad days

Learning to love yourself is a journey in a lot of ways because even though, you will get to a point where you love who you are, there will be days where you will doubt and second guess yourself. And this is okay, more than okay. You can't be on top of the world all the time, it's not human. So on the days, you're not feeling great, just remember it's a blip and it's okay to feel that way - and pick yourself back up when you're feeling more like you.

Failure doesn't make you any less of a person

In life, we're all going to fail at something and it's those failures and mistakes which make us stronger and achieve everything we want to. When you have a hit in life and things aren't going your way, just remember, it doesn't make you any less of a human, really, it makes you human. Failure is a part of life and you will be successful - you can be anything you want to be.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What other tips do you have for loving yourself?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm a massive advocate for self-love; I talk about it a lot on my blog, on my social channels but also in real life, and to myself. 

My self-love journey

As I grew into my twenties, all I wanted to be able to do was say 'I love myself' and 'I am enough' because growing up, as I was bullied and went through a series of mental health problems, I didn't have that ability. I constantly didn't feel enough for anyone, I wasn't happy with who I was or my appearance, and looking back on that now is so sad, it actually breaks my heart.

My self-love journey wasn't something that happened overnight, it took years of breakdowns, crying episodes, doubt, hating myself, and lots of different life lessons to get to the point I am now. When I look back at my 16-year-old self, I don't even recognise who I am and I just want to give her the biggest hug ever and reassure her, that she's amazing, beautiful, and unique - and that she shouldn't have to change anything to make everyone else like her.

Learning to love me isn't exactly something I was taught to do growing up. The media representation telling women to be skinny, blonde, and beautiful was toxic and if you weren't that, then you weren't 'perfect', and it had a detrimental effect on my mental health. And let's not forget the obsession with having a 'thigh gap' - that was so awful, plastered all over Tumblr. It goes beyond the media and even people around me enforcing the idea 'skinny is beautiful', 'wearing makeup makes you pretty', 'you're not womanly without big boobs' or 'curves' - and after a while, these comments and thoughts were internalised to a point that I believed them. And, believed I wasn't good enough.

When I was sixteen, I was incredibly skinny, but I thought I was fat, plain and simple as I was short and didn't have super long legs. I also didn't have big boobs or a big bum which again is something plastered all across television, social media, and having the look of a 'perfect body.' I became fixated on this fact and because I didn't look that way, I didn't think anyone would be interested in me, I didn't feel pretty enough. And with the pressing thoughts of my anxiety and depression, made me feel even more worthless, and I hated who I was - looks and personality.

I can't really remember what the changing point of this was for me as it was now eight years ago that I felt at my lowest of who I was. Over the years I went through bouts of this same low but it wasn't as intense, and I didn't have the pressure of school on my shoulders, weighing me down too.

But in those lows, there were also great moments of highs, and the confidence in myself and learning to love who I was, slowly grew. I began enjoying dressing up and taking photos, I felt comfortable walking outside with no makeup on, I surrounded myself with confident and fun friends who boosted me up. And, by surrounding myself with positive people in a happy environment, slowly but surely, good things about myself began to stick. I finally, was on the way to loving myself and thinking I am good enough - and could do anything I put my mind to.

My biggest level of growth in self-love happened in the past year. Before then, in my early twenties, I grew to a point that I liked myself and began feeling confident in lots of different ways with who I was but I was nowhere near where I am now. At the end of 2019, I experienced a breakup and at first, it was awful and nothing I'd experienced before. However, when I looked back and realised how toxic that relationship was and I began to heal, that's when I really focused on self-love even more. 2020 gave me the free time to educate and focus on my healing, overcome traumas I had experienced and focused on the bigger and better things, and aim towards my goals. I re-fell in love with who I was, got into fitness, and fell in love with the idea of nourishing my body, I re-fell in love with my core friendships and spent time on me, working on what I wanted.

This healthier environment helped make everything a lot clearer and I was finally me; being happy, healthy, and free in my own body. I still have down days and hard moments, but overall, I've fully accepted who I am and I'm happy with that - and I've realised I'm the love of my own life. I can do things on my own, I don't need anybody else and I'm okay with that. And, it's important for you to know that too.

How to be the love of your own life 

You may be wondering but how did you get to that point? The healing process wasn't easy, let me tell you.  I had to take a hard look at every single reason I was feeling that way, come to terms with it and then heal, and that involved a lot of breakdowns as you can imagine. However, here are my best tips on being the love of your own life and things that really helped me:

•  Cutting out toxic energy - Who you surround yourself with can have a big impact on how you view yourself, whether it's friends or family. And, if they're not bringing love and positivity to the table and adding value to your life, cut them out or distance yourself from them.
• Focusing on what you want out of life and your goals - Self-love and putting yourself first isn't selfish. It's important to help others and be there for them, but don't let that sway you away from your goals. Always have a focus of what you want and an action plan of how you're going to get there. You only have one of you, use your time wisely.
• Spend time on your own/date yourself - I never used to do this as I was scared of what people would think but once I began, I enjoyed it, and it felt so liberating to be on my own, and do things on my own accord. Take yourself on a walk, to dinner, to the cinema, or to the beach; date yourself and live every moment for you.
• Knowing your worth - We act differently when we truly know and love ourselves. I always say once you know your worth you can take on the world, and it's so true. Knowing your worth means not caring what others think, taking yourself out of toxic situations, and doing what's best for you.
• Anything that doesn't bring you joy, throw away - Similar to how Marie Kondo does this with decluttering, you need to apply the same principle to your life. Whether it's friendships, a job, your routine, or your car, if it doesn't spark joy, remove it from your life. It'll make you a lot happier and you'll learn to find the things in your life that you love - including yourself.
• Affirmations every day - Affirmations are a beautiful thing and a way to reassure yourself of all the wonderful things about yourself. Buy yourself some crystals and have a list of affirmations to say - and repeat them every morning to yourself.
• Realising you don't have to be happy all the time - Being the love of your life, doesn't mean you're going to be on cloud nine all the time, that isn't realistic. Like when you're in a relationship, you will have arguments and bad days and it's the same when you're single, and how you view your own life. It's okay to feel down and have a pity party every now and then, that's normal and healthy - as long as you're able to pick yourself up again.
• Compliment and treat yourself - The same way you compliment or treat your friends/partner, you need to do that with yourself. It could be buying a new outfit, complimenting your work, or simply buying a whole cake for yourself. You deserve to reap the rewards of your own life.
• Express gratitude - Gratitude is key to living a more positive life but also links in the learning to be the love of your own life. When you learn to appreciate what's around you and everything about you, it can help reinforce the idea of how brilliant you really are, and fast forward your journey in self-love.
• Be kind to yourself, always - Kindness is free and something that should be spread wherever you go. It's so important to be kind to people as you never know what they're going through, but it's also really important to apply that mindset to yourself - and treat yourself with the utmost kindness. Be your own biggest cheerleader, take care of yourself when you're having a bad day, and most importantly, reward yourself when you grow further in your life journey. Past you will be so proud of yourself.

Why this is so important 

You're the only person out of your entire life that'll be there for you from the moment you're born to the moment you die. As a society, we're always told we need a partner or a companion, but when it comes down to it, even if you have the best partner in the entire world or the best of friends, they can't always be there to pick you up and help you. The only person that will be there every minute of every day is you - and that's why it's so important to learn to be alone, to look after yourself, to be independent, and be your own hype girl.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What tips do you have in learning to love yourself?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Being in a relationship is a wonderful experience; it's amazing having someone as your partner and your teammate.  

Whether you're new to a relationship or thinking of putting yourself out there, here are 5 things to do before getting into a relationship.

Set expectations from what you want in a relationship

We all want different things out of life, whether that's where we want to live, family goals, career goals or different perspectives on values. Getting into a relationship, you're then on a path with that new partner of yours and because of that, you'll want to have similar expectations. This is why it's good to have a rough idea of what you'd expect out of a relationship, For example, the journey you're looking to in your life and how that partner fits in with that.

Figure out what your love languages are

We all show love in different ways and we all experience love in different ways. Knowing what your love languages are can help you communicate the best ways you feel loved by your future partner. There are five love languages including quality time, words of affirmations, acts of service, physical touch and receiving gifts. I would suggest ranking yours and using your top two as the ones you communicate to your partner. Then likewise, you can do the same for your partner too.

Learn to love your own time

Alone time is crucial for our growth and development because it helps us gain self-dependence and learn to love ourselves. Alone time is an opportunity to explore the things you love to do, discover new hobbies, be with your thoughts and stand strong on your own two feet. That independence is important to bring to a relationship because your partner is there to support and grow with you, but not be the entirety of your support and growth. You should be able to grow together and grow separately at the same time.

Become self-aware

Self-awareness is something I think we should all work on to live better lives and experience healthier friendships and relationships. By being self-aware, you'll be in sync with your emotions, and understand how you're feeling and the effect it has on you and those around you. This is why it's important to check in every day mentally and assess how you're feeling and the cause of it. Self-aware people can be a lot more emotionally mature which helps build the foundations of a strong relationship with strong communication.

Fall in love with yourself and learn to express your true self

I talk about self-love all the time over on my blog as I truly believe it's the crux of living our best lives. We all deserve to truly accept who we are and love that we're unique individuals. Entering a new relationship can be a worrying territory as we're unsure if that person will love who we are, but that's the whole point of a relationship, to be unapologetically you and see if you're the right fit. I don't think you need to be fully in love with yourself before a relationship, but I do think it plays a huge part in feeling confident in yourself and the relationship when there is a degree of self-love.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What else would you add to the list?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Being single is important, a fact which I think many of us need to know or come to terms with. I've written a post on what I learnt about being single and why you should celebrate being single, but today, I want to talk about why living your single life is great for your confidence.

If you're newly single or have been single for a while, here are a few reasons why being single is good for your confidence.

You learn to be alone

Being alone is one of the most underrated things we all should learn to do but also value. Over the past two years, it's a skill I've really worked on but also learnt to love a lot. I love being on my own and spending that quality time with myself, whether that's going on a walk, taking part in my hobbies, or simply watching TV, it has helped me really value my independence. Being single gives you the privilege more to explore this because you're not dependant on someone else filling your time and your space. You have the opportunity for alone time and being with just yourself a lot more. By learning to be alone, you can grow many skills but ultimately your confidence. This is because you will find things about yourself that you love, you'll discover the things that bring you joy and ultimately, you'll discover that you don't need to hang out with someone to have fun - and those things aid confidence.

You don't rely on others for validation

Validation is something we all seek, especially with the cycle of comparing ourselves to others and wanting to feel good enough. When you're single, you don't have a partner to tell you you're beautiful, you're good enough, you're intelligent, funny and all the other compliments, you have to do that for yourself. You have to be your own hype girl and compliment yourself. This constant reel of compliments and affirmations will help you feel more self-confident in who you are and in what you're aiming to do. You don't have anyone to rely on for that kind of validation, but also the validation in terms of your emotions to help you understand how you're feeling. This is why being single will pave the way in helping you be more emotionally intelligent and self-aware which again, are the stepping stones to confidence.

It helps you find your passions

The single life is a chance to focus on you and only you. In a sense, it's freedom because there isn't any need to share your time and space with anyone else. Whatever free time you have is yours, and that means, you'll have a lot more time on your hands to pursue your passions and the things that bring you joy. Finding your passions helps with your journey of self-discovery and being your authentic self, which is a confidence booster in many ways. Being aligned with who you are can help you understand yourself and what you enjoy, and really grows your confidence. Your passions are just the beginning.

You learn to fall in love with yourself

Self-love is my number one priority in life and something I preach about all the time. The thing about self-love is you should never stop practicing it, whether you're single or in a relationship. It's the core of all things because how you feel about yourself is radiated about how you feel about others and your stance on the world. Being single helps you fall in love with yourself because you're not solely putting that huge amount of love on the other person, and can, therefore, aim it towards yourself, your needs, and your passions in life. It really helps you fall in love with yourself in every way and accept the things you're not the biggest fans of about you. Self-love isn't only the key to how you feel about yourself, but it's the key to confidence and being your best self.

You're able to figure out what's good for you and what isn't

Having alone time and being single is a great opportunity to figure out who you are and trial different things in life. It's an opportunity to allow you to figure out the hobbies you love to do, a job that makes you happy, or clothes you like to wear. And, it's also a time to realise the things that don't bring you joy, whether that's people, passions, or things. It's a reflective time and whether you're single for 6 months or years, the more you spend time reflecting and thinking, the easier it'll be to join the self-discovery journey and feel confident in your life.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What other reasons do you have?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Growing up, being single was always viewed as a bad thing. I can always remember the sneers like 'why don't have a boyfriend?', 'don't worry your time will come' or 'we'll find you someone' and it used to really grind at me. If you didn't have a significant other, you were almost deemed as less, and that view has continued as I've gone into my twenties.

I've been single, I've been in a relationship, I've been in talking phases, that's life. But right now, I'm single and the happiest I've ever been, and to be honest, I wish I was told growing up how freeing and empowering being single is - and that you don't need someone to complete you. You're fully complete on your own and there is nothing wrong with you, whether you're choosing to be single or are unable to find someone. Being single deserves to be celebrated the same way being in a relationship does.

The stigma around being single is always viewed as 'lonely' or 'sad' when really, it should be the complete opposite. Nobody tells someone in a relationship that it's sad they have a partner so why do they say it when someone is single with pity eyes?

Whether you've been single your whole life or recently single, here are the reasons to celebrate being single. 

You can live your life completely for you

This is no shade on relationships in any sense, however, when you're single, your life is fully yours. You don't need to think about talking to someone about what you're doing that evening or if you want to make a wild lifestyle change, you can just do it. You're your own unit and every decision you make can be down to you. You can experience everything you wanna do, you can revel in your passions and above all, you can take complete ownership of your life. Every choice is yours and there's less of a reason to compromise on what you truly want.

It's the perfect time to grow on your self-love journey

Self-love is the most important thing as you deserve to be loved by yourself. You deserve to see how truly incredible you are as a human and how you deserve great things in life. I preach about self-love all the time because I believe it's the secret to living your best life and not caring about other's opinions of you. When you're single, it's the perfect time to practice self-love and really fall in love with who you are. When you're with someone, I feel like sometimes self-love can sway as you already have the validity of their love that you forget to love yourself as much as you should. 

Express your love for yourself, talk to yourself like your best friend, accept you're not always going to be okay, and live your best life for you.

You can figure out what you truly want in life

When you don't have a life partner, your focus in life can be mainly on you and your goals. You'll have more time to be with your thoughts and be alone, that what you want to do in life can become a lot clearer sooner.

You're fully independent

Independence is gold and I'm not saying in a relationship you can't be independent, but when you're with someone, you do rely on them for certain things. However, when you're single, you're fully independent. All the decisions you make are down to you. Whether you want to quit your job and move abroad or simply go on a late-night ice cream run, you have the freedom to make whatever choice you would like.

It teaches you how to be alone

Being alone is an important skill we all need to learn. You're not always going to have someone by your side to boost you up, support you or offer advice and that's completely normal. But, because of this, you need to learn to be alone and be okay with that. When you're single, you have the opportunity to be alone, more so than when you're in a relationship. By being on your own, you can figure out the things you like to do alone, how to make yourself happy or cheer yourself up and what to do when you're feeling sad. It'll give you time to be with your thoughts and figure out who you are even more.

You may never get this time again

Being single is a wonderful thing and something to embrace rather than worry about when you'll find someone. Don't get me wrong, being in a relationship is just as wonderful as there is no better feeling than being in love, but, you will never get the same single freedoms again. Learn to love all that alone time, embrace the free time you have to work on yourself and your career, and take advantage of every opportunity that is thrown your way. You may never get the chance to be single again.

You can build more connections

When you're single, it means you're more likely to meet more single people, and that means building more connections and friendships. Not everyone but many people are more social when they're single and this gives you the opportunity to meet like-minded people.

You're wild and free

This way sounds a bit over the top as relationships don't take away your freedom but it's a different kind of freedom when you're single. You can be as wild as you like, you can be as free as you're like and nobody can question it. I believe you should live with this free-thinking way of life no matter your circumstance, but especially when you're single.

You're amazing on your own

Being single teaches you how strong and powerful you are just by being who you are. You don't need a significant other to make you happy or fulfill your life, you can do that all by yourself. You are brave, you are smart and you are important. You shouldn't be made to feel inadequate because of your relationship status and you don't need to prove who are you are to anyone. Being single is important to find yourself, love yourself, and ensure you know your self-worth. I believe everyone needs to be single at some point in their life to figure out and learn that they deserve the very best.

Because being single isn't the worst thing in the world

For my last point, I had to talk about this. The stigma around being single is so negative that it's important for us who are single to realise how it's not the worst thing in the world, in fact, it deserves to be celebrated. Being single is wonderful just like being in a relationship. If you're single and worried about the pressure to find someone, remember this:

• You're incredible and fully complete on your own
• You don't need someone to make you happy - you can do that yourself
• You deserve the world and more
• The grass isn't always greener on the other side
• You are worthy and good enough just as you are
• If you want a relationship, your time will come when it's right. Enjoy what you have now
• Being single is a positive and celebrated thing
• You're more than your relationship status

 Well hello to you my reader chums! Many of us go through life without expressing who we really are. This could be down to fear of not fitting in, being alone, or the judgment of what others may think of us, and honestly, it makes me sad. All of us deserve to live our life as our authentic selves and express who we really are - it's human nature. 

Self-discovery is a process and every day, we learn more about ourselves, it's all part of the journey that is life - and it means, with every step, you'll grow and shape into the person you're meant to be.

If you're struggling with your identity or scared to express how you truly are, here are my best tips on learning to be your authentic self.

Self-acceptance

The first step to coming to terms with your authentic self is to accept who you are. These are your flaws, your favourite features, what you love, what you hate, and really what makes you, you. We're all individuals and it's important for us to express that part of ourselves as there is no point in being a clone of one another.

With self-acceptance, you'll be able to come to terms with who you are, learn to be okay with it, and love yourself more. And then, you'll be comfortable enough in yourself to express your authentic self to the world and those around you. Life is a journey of self-discovery and it's important to also note, you don't have to figure out and accept yourself overnight, it's a process.

Think about the people you surround yourself with

Who we surround ourselves with can have a big impact on the way we view ourselves and our life, and that's why it's important to surround yourself with people who support you, rather than bring you down. If you're surrounded by positive people and those who will love you for being who you truly are then you'll be able to learn to be your authentic self and live freely with your identity.

The right type of people will never judge you for being your authentic self and will want you to embrace all that is you. 'You're never too much for the right person' - this quote goes along these lines as someone who loves you whether platonically or romantically, will never think you're too much for being who you truly are.

Growing your self-confidence

With self-acceptance, comes confidence as you can start to live your life fully as you. Because you're aligning with your true self, confidence and happiness will naturally pull through, but it also means it's a great starting point on building your self-confidence more and learning to love yourself. Self-confidence doesn't happen overnight but expressing who you are, will give you the opportunity to follow up that confident path easier - trust me. It's easier to feel comfortable in your skin when you're being your authentic self, rather than conforming to what other people want you to be.

Expressing yourself in how you dress and look

Fashion is a funny old thing. Growing up, I always wanted to wear what was trendy or in style to fit in with everyone around me and look 'cool', but really it made me more unhappy as I wasn't being truly me. As I've gotten older, I've started to wear the clothes that were more me and look more like myself if that makes sense.

By expressing yourself through your image, you will also learn to be more confident in who you are and love your true self also. If you're nervous about this type of expression, start it off gradually making small changes to your clothes/appearance until you can fully embrace your true self in an exterior manner.

Pursuing your true passions

I always say to do what makes you happy in every aspect of life and that includes your hobbies and career. Not all of us are born with an 'I want to be this' attitude, but we all have those hobbies or activities which make our hearts soar - and that's what you should be focusing on. By pursuing your true passions, whether they're in work or play, you'll learn more about your authentic self and start to enjoy life a whole lot more.

Doing it anyway

We all have doubts about ourselves and question what we do, it's only natural and a part of human nature. However, part of being your authentic self and not caring what people think is having that no caring attitude and doing it anyway. This could mean quitting a job that isn't bringing you happiness, wearing a risky outfit, or cutting yourself out of a friendship group. The thing that is preventing you from being the real you, do it anyway.

Live for your beliefs and values

Not everybody has the same beliefs and values in life and that's okay, but it doesn't mean you need to change yours to fit in. The right sort of people will surround you for your beliefs and values and it's important to stick by them as they feed into who you are and what your authentic self is about.

We all have different backgrounds and upbringing and these are factors that shape who we are and we shouldn't have to change or be embarrassed by it. Learn to embrace it and accept your beliefs and values are a part of you to be able to live your true self.

Creating a safe space for others to be their true self

I'm one of those people to try and assure everyone that I can be a safe space for them as I would never want anyone to feel like they can't be themselves around be or express who they really are. We're all unique and deserve to live our lives that way, and that's why it's important to create a safe zone for your family and friends so they don't feel like they have to be someone else around you. They should be able to come to you being who they are and expressing their feelings with no judgment. 

Obviously, we can't all get on with everyone and that's okay, but for the important people in your life, ensure that when they're with you, they know you'll support and reassure them in every possible way.

Why is it so important?

Being your authentic self is important for many reasons. It's important firstly because as humans we deserve to learn to be all that is us and love exactly who we are. But also, once you're on the level of loving your true self, you'll find you live more authentically in everything you do and only do things that align with the values of what you really want.

Being your authentic self can help you have a more positive mindset for your life and goals and will help you radiate towards everything that is right for you. Life is way too short to not live your full potential as you. You are unique, you are amazing and you are beautiful just by being you. There's no point trying to be someone else, that spot is already taken.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Do you have any other tips?

Thank you for reading <3