The latest catchphrase is "live your best life." Anytime you treat yourself or do something exciting, it's supposed to be considered living your best life.

Living your best life is now synonymous with indulging oneself. It's about enjoying life's pleasures and going the extra miles for yourself. While these endeavors do contribute to overall joy, we're neglecting to mention that becoming your best self also involves living a life for others and making the more difficult decision.

Right now, living your best life involves self-love, but we're forgetting the self-awareness part.

Imagine telling yourself that you're becoming who you want to be when you end that toxic relationship for the last time or you decide to start donating to a cause you believe in.

Imagine telling a friend that they're becoming their best selves when they start a new hobby or discuss a difficult topic with you.

I'm all for self-love in a million different little ways throughout the day, but without us critically analyzing who we are and what we want to improve about ourselves, living our best lives becomes about only indulging our wants.

We should define a good life as contributing to the world around us instead of only contributing to the wants inside of us. These little whims are good to inspire you and fix a bad day, but we should define our best selves as something more.

I've done a lot of check-ups on myself and who I want to be, and I've found nothing more fulfilling than going out of my comfort zone and finding new areas to grow in.

I've started trying to live my life through a model of asking myself if what I am currently doing is contributing to the woman I want to be long-term. Sure, iced coffee is great, but didn't I want to live a healthier lifestyle this year? Of course, I can stay in and take a relaxing bubble bath, but didn't I make a resolution to spend more time with friends and family?

I encourage you to really analyze how you feel and who you are and love that person with all your heart, while also realizing that there are always new things to discover and learn about yourself. It's entirely possible to be living your best life without always being your best self. Don't let the distance from those two scare you, instead find fulfillment in the journey.

So buy those new shoes and get that extra dessert, but don't forget that every day can also be a day to find new ways to grow more into the person you want to be. And sometimes that means sacrificing an easy day to do something for a greater cause or for someone else.