Earlier this year, I asked myself what my New Year’s Resolution should be. Although I’m your stereotypical resolution maker – keep it for a week, then slowly watch it die off – I still thought I should have one. Would this be the year I went to the gym everyday, or the year I got plenty of sleep? Probably not. Let’s face it. New Year’s Resolutions like those are overdone and difficult to keep, especially when everyone is doing the same thing. What about not texting first? That could help me eliminate toxic people, but there’s too many “what if’s” in a resolution like that.

After much time and consideration, I finally came up with my resolution for 2016: This year would be the year I grew to love myself. I’ve spent the past eighteen years beating myself up over everything and hating all of my flaws. When I’m asked to share the positive attributes to my personality, I’m stuck in my tracks. Society has conditioned me to think of myself in a negative way. I’m too fat because I don’t wear the same size dress as my favorite celebrity and I’m not smart enough because my SAT scores are lower than those of my classmates. When it all comes down to it, do those things really matter?

My journey to self-love began by changing my Twitter header to say “Love Yourself” and by tweeting “self-love” tweets to remind myself that I am worthy. Although I quickly stopped doing those little things, my self-love didn’t end. Each day I look at myself and think “Your eye makeup is on point today” or “You’re very smart and you should always remember that.” It’s those thoughts that have helped me get through 2016 so far.

Why is loving yourself such a good idea? Here’s a cliché idea for you: Before someone else can love you, you first must love yourself. Although an idea like this is slightly over-said and overrated, it’s true. When you’re talking to a guy and he mentions “You look really nice today” and you quickly shut him down and say, “No I don’t. I look like trash!” This guy is quickly going to loose his interest. Also, the confidence you gain from loving yourself will help you gain the attention of others. But self-love has nothing to do with wanting to win over someone else. Self-love is a journey one should take on their own, whenever they think best. Whenever you begin to realize how important loving yourself is, you should take the step. I promise the benefits of doing so will make you wish you started earlier.

I know we’re a month in to 2016 and it may seem too late to begin a “resolution”, but does something like loving yourself really have to be marked by a calendar year? No matter what day it is when you read this, I challenge you to begin the journey to self-love. Small things such as complimenting yourself over a job well done on a paper or doing really well during an audition will make huge progress in the long run. You’re going to look back and realize how thankful you are that you made this decision.