For some reason, our generation has fallen into a trap of constantly looking at ourselves as damaged goods. Many people that I know and love are their own worst critics. This can cause self-hate and self-harm, whether it is physical or mental, and turns into a quick spiral downhill that is hard to turn around. It is important to hold yourself accountable, but it is also important to be easy with yourself and soft with yourself. It is time to stop the self-hatred that has become so routine to our generation, and it is time to start falling in love with taking care and loving yourself.

With that being said, I have come up with a few ways to start your path to self-love once again.

1. Realize that everyone makes mistakes.

We are all human. We all have our good days and our not so good days. Every one of us has made a decision that we wish we could take back. None of us are perfect, which means that you get a few breaks along the way. Life is a huge learning process, and whether you realize it or not you learn something new every day. Know that your mistakes don’t define you, they are just part of your learning process.

2. Eat three healthy meals a day.

Do not over eat and do not under eat. Having a healthy diet is essential to feeling physically and mentally healthy. I have met people that over eat to try to make themselves feel better, and I have met people who under eat to try to make themselves feel better. In the end, neither of these processes will make you feel better. Your body deserves a chance to be healthy, and focusing on eating a solid and healthy three meals per day is one of the first steps.

3. Exercise.

Exercising has been proven to improve not only physical health, but mental health as well. You are able to push yourself farther than you could ever have originally imagined, and this helps so much with so many things. Even if it is just a couple days a week, getting your body moving is crucial.

4. Set aside time to do something you enjoy every day.

Whether it is reading a chapter of a book or cooking a nice healthy meal, do something you enjoy with gratitude and bliss every single day. I have found that this simple task is can be so important to happiness and self-love. Instead of spending every waking moment focusing on tasks that seem time consuming and unenjoyable, taking just a few minutes a day to do something you love. This can remind you of what you are great at and some simple things you enjoy about life.

5. Don’t strive for perfection, strive for happiness.

None of us are perfect. You will never reach perfection, but you can and you will reach happiness. Happiness is a much deeper concept than what most of us realize. Happiness comes from being your true self and never looking back. Once you realize this and truly grasp it, happiness will begin to consume your life like never before.

Now of course there are plenty of other ways to build a path to self-love, but these are a few ways that I have started to build myself from the ground up. Taking care of yourself both physically and mentally is all part of self-love and care. It is important for all of us to realize that we are NOT just damaged goods. We are so loved and cared for by others, the next step is simply loving and caring for yourself.