Think of this article as the little voice in the back of your mind telling you to appreciate yourself, reminding you to take care of yourself, and demanding you be kind to yourself.

1. Stop Punishing Yourself for Old Mistakes

If there is one thing I could ask of you today, it’s to please forgive yourself for old mistakes. It is a poisonous habit to continually punish yourself for past errors. All that does is mire you in negativity and prevent yourself from moving on and learning from the mistake.

There is no need to keep punishing yourself for old mistakes. I know I still do this sometimes, but it’s not fair to put yourself through the self degradation for something that happened in the past. Forgive yourself and move on from the things you don’t have control over. You can forgive yourself and please take this as a personal request from me to you.

2. Treat Yourself

You work hard. In whatever you do, your career, your hobbies, or your passions—you kick ass. So it’s about time you start rewarding yourself for the things you do well and learn from the things you didn’t do so well. Whether it’s a chocolate bar, a glass (or bottle) of wine, or another episode of that show you’re binge watching on Netflix, treat yourself! Because you deserve it.

This doesn’t always have to be at the end of a long day, but even at work or studying, treat yourself to a minute's rest and then go back when you are feeling more refreshed. This will work wonders on your state of mind and replenish your motivation!

3. Don’t Make Today a Competition

Please don’t make today a competition with anything or anyone. I’ve had mornings where I competed with my scale, the ideas of what my body should look like, and so much more—and I had to convince myself that isn’t important and it’s also not fair to myself. I had to learn to stop competing with things that don’t matter.

How could I spend those 10 minutes in the morning being upset with the number on the scale differently? How about eat breakfast and concern myself with more positive things? And that time I waste in the evening feeling terrible about the way my body looks? I could be cooking dinner, relaxing, or spending more time with the people who love me.

Removing the competition in your life will free up so much time in your day for things that you care about.

4. Take a Break

If you’re doing something really mentally taxing, take a break! Restore some of your sanity and grab a coffee/tea/etc. and let your mind wander to wherever it needs to that isn’t work. I promise it will do wonders for your mental health and happiness.

Taking a break isn’t procrastination or being lazy, it’s taking the time to restore what that task has taken from you. Your mental and physical health will thank you for every break you take because your body needs time to replenish itself.

5. Find the Victories

This is my personal favorite in being kind to yourself. Find the victories as they come. On a really hard day and I’m feeling completely worn out, I remember to celebrate the day’s victories like: I remembered to take a break for lunch, I finished that really tough project, and I still managed to hold onto my sanity today. Finding and celebrating those victories is super important to being kind to yourself. Not everybody can be a superhuman everyday, so celebrate the little things as they come.

Part of finding the victories is understanding the importance of realistic expectations. When a day has been great and you’re on a roll from what you’ve done, those victories are going to feel like gold medals. But when a day comes around that you could barely manage or you had to give up on, remember there are still victories in those days too.

Please don’t just find the time in the day to be kind to yourself, make it a part of your everyday routine to appreciate just how amazing you are.