“Loving yourself isn’t vanity, it’s sanity.” - Unknown Author

The quote listed above speaks volumes. Often times, people will not understand the love you have for yourself. Their views on you will be different from the views you have on yourself. Some will see you differently than others do, and that is OK, because they simply do not matter.

There is no guide book that gives us pointers to a happier life. Happiness and love come from within. In order to reciprocate love, you have to begin with yourself.

It starts with you.

1. Surround yourself with the right people.

It is important to surround yourself with others who build you up. Even though you have to love yourself before you can fully love anyone else, others can certainly help. Be around those who support you, see your value, and love you.

2. Pick something out about yourself that you like every day.

If there's something about yourself that you like, embrace it. Stop focusing on the things you want to fix about yourself and start focusing on the things you love about yourself and show them to the world.

3. Do more for yourself.

Meditating, shopping, whatever you enjoy - do it. Never be hesitant on spending money on yourself. Being so young, it is obviously important to save money; however, what is life without a little retail therapy?

4. View your flaws as beautiful parts of who you are.

Let go of your insecurities - embrace yourself. You are worth so much more than you believe you are. Something you view as a flaw someone else might view as a perfection. Remember that.

5. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Don't tell yourself you're overweight, unattractive, or anything negative. Belittling yourself is the worst thing you can do for yourself. You are beautiful inside and out, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

6. Smile

Your smile is the prettiest thing about you and you never know who will fall in love with it. Utilize it.

7. Don’t compare yourself to others.

You are different from everyone else; you are your own unique individual and you are not meant to look or be like anyone else - that is what makes you beautiful.

8. Forgive yourself.

There might be things in the past that you have done or said that you wish you hadn't. It happens to everyone. And to move on you must forgive yourself for those things in order to move forward to being the best version of yourself. It is OK to have regrets, just remember to keep them in the past - that isn't you anymore.

9. Put yourself first.

We are so busy trying to please everyone and make others happy that we often forget about ourselves. We have all heard it, you have to be completely content and happy with yourself before you can be those things with others. Work on yourself before anyone else - you come first.

10. Don't let anyone else decide how you feel about you.

For too long, I let what everyone else said define how I felt about myself. We let people who don't know us get in the way of our self-esteem, people we like that don't like us back, and everyone else in between. Nobody knows you like you do. They do not know your struggles, your achievements, the life you live, or anything about you. Why would you let someone who doesn’t truly know you, define you?

Loving yourself comes from within. And when you learn to truly love who you are, give that love to other people around you every day. The most powerful thing you can do in life is to lift others up and make them feel like they are worth something. Be that person that changes the way others view themselves - the person that you wish you once had. You have immense value, and you owe it to yourself to realize that.