Above everything else, believe in yourself. Love who you are.

You have to love yourself.  We're not perfect.  Everyone has flaws.  The only difference between us and Hollywood, is that they have make-up artists and airbrush artists to hide their flaws.  I can't count the times I used to say that if I lost weight, how many more opportunities would open up.  If I spent more money on better makeup maybe I'd have better luck in relationships.  Or better clothes and people would like me more.  None of it was true.  Self-confidence was the only thing I was missing.

The truth is that being consumed with self-doubt and self-loathing is cancer.  No really, they are toxic.  They eat away at you.  They hold you back from being happy.  Hate is a horrible word.  But it's exponentially devastating when it's yourself you hate.  Don't get me wrong, it's good to have goals.  I'll talk about that later.  But your goal should never be to completely change what makes you you.  It's what makes you interesting.  Embrace positive things about yourself what makes you different. 

Who cares if I'm heavier than I want to be.  Sure, I'm still working on it... But it doesn't mean I'm any less of a person.  Who cares if I dye my hair every 4 weeks to hide the disco ball I'm rocking under it.  Well, my husband cares, he's not fond of the bill.  But he certainly loves the results.

What makes me unique, is my intelligence.  I'm really good at recognizing patterns and really good with languages.  I'm a natural problem solver.  That makes me a very strong programmer.  And I know a lot.  More than people want me to sometimes, but it means I'm great at Trivial Pursuit.  But it also doesn't mean I'm better than you.  I'm sure there's something you're amazingly good at, that I can't touch.  Probably art.  I'm not very good at drawing.  But that's okay.  It means I appreciate your skills and admire them.

Sure, there's lots of things I wouldn't mind improving.  And I'm working on them.  I'm not perfect.  No one is.  I'm just not losing sleep over it.  Neither should you.  Love who you are.  Own it.