My Journey

1. Accept that everybody makes mistakes. It’s part of learning, and the main way we grow.

2. Accept your body as it gives you life. Choose to love and to nourish it. Also, every single body is different and unique. So, choose to find and focus on those features you love most.

3. Accept that you can’t change what happened in the past. But that was then – and this is now – so look to the future, and let go of the past.

4. Accept that others can think what they like – and sometimes their opinions will be hurtful and wrong. But they don’t know your story – and their judgments may be false – so ignore what they are saying, and get on with your own life.

5. Accept that your life is your responsibility. Your thoughts, opinions, and what you say and you do. And be aware of the consequences of those, too.

1. Waiting and not knowing is a large part of life.

2. Often, what we fear doesn’t happen in the end.

3. We all have our flaws; everyone is on a journey.

4. Expect to get it wrong and to mess things up at times.

5. A good and trusted friend truly is a gift and treasure.

6. Treat yourself and others with kindness and respect.

7. Be patient in your struggles as they teach important lessons.

1. Change your environment, or leave the room.

2. Switch your thinking, or redirect your thoughts

3. Go outside and get some exercise

4. Listen to the music which usually lifts your mood

5. Look at the old photographs which always make you laugh

6. Text or call a friend who’s really going through tough times

1. Exhibit integrity – A person is said to have integrity if what they say and what they do are rooted in the same set of core values.

2. Don’t speak badly of others – If you speak badly about others to a friend, the chances are you’ll also speak badly about them. Hence, they are likely to be hesitant in what they share with you.

3. Be an optimist – This doesn’t mean burying your head in the sand. It means choosing not to dwell on the negatives, and actively looking for the positives.

4. Make the effort to be helpful – Life is so much better if you’re thoughtful and kind – and we rarely forget someone who’s caring and warm.

5. Set some goals and have some ambition - This is an extremely contagious quality. Not only will you achieve higher goals for yourself, you’ll give hope to others, and inspire them to try.

6. Seek to be compassionate and understanding – All of us face battles and experience hard times. Empathising with others when life is tough helps to ease their burden and renew their inner spark.

7. Believe in, love, and respect yourself - If you don’t accept, respect and love yourself, then you’ll send out vibes that you’re inadequate. However, it you love, believe in, and treat yourself well then it’s likely that others will treat you that way, too.

8. Persist until you succeed – Although ambition is important, it is not enough. You have to persevere if you’re going to succeed. So when you stumble get up and start again. Then keep on going till you finally succeed.

9. Be open minded and willing to learn - If you’re closed in your thinking and set in your ways then you’ll never discover a different, better way .. and you’ll close yourself off to other possibilities.

1. Recognise that other people do not determine your worth and value. It’s your life not there’s. They are responsible to themselves for their life; and you are responsible to yourself for your life. Don’t give up your “self” to please someone else.

2. Also, people change, have different values and outlooks and want different things for, and from, us. It’s simply impossible to please everyone all of the time, or even most of the time.

3. Recognise that spending our lives trying to make others happiness is a recipe for failure and low self-esteem. It’s a pointless way to spend your life. It will stop you being happy and true to yourself.

4. Be kind to yourself. Understand that we all have weaknesses, and things that we regret saying and doing.

5. Also, we’re all on our journey – and the journey is harder and more challenging for some than others. Perhaps you are dealing with obstacles that other people have not had to face.

6. Develop your self esteem from within. Decide on the type of person YOU want to be, and work on being true to that.

7. Think about what really matters to you, and the different goals you’d like to achieve – then set these as a priority. That is, decide what YOU want to do instead of worrying about what others would like you to do.

8. Develop a plan for the direction of your life. Focus your thinking, energy, choices and decisions around living a life that is meaningful to you. At the end of each day, check to ensure you’ve done something that is taking you in that direction.

9. Work on developing your self-reliance – so that although it is nice to have help and support from others, you’re not dependent upon it (or them). Also, being able to think, act and choose for yourself will greatly increase your self-confidence.

10. Work on accepting, valuing and loving yourself. Appreciate the good things about YOU. Notice your successes, and any moves towards living out your goals, and becoming the real you.

11. Choose to live in the moment. Decide not to keep going over the past, or worrying too much about what lies ahead. Notice and relish what is good about “right now”.