It’s not easy to like ourselves. Really it’s not. For some of us, it’s a lifelong self healing and self discovery journey through our past, well into our past, to heal our present to make sure our future is happy. Yes, it’s exhausting to say the least. Many of us still hang on to blame and failure from so many years ago. How on earth can we expect to like ourselves when we did some horrible things in the past?

Though the title says simple ways to learn to like yourself, this may be hard or easy depending on perspective and how badly you want to like yourself. It is hard for us to like anyone if we can’t even like ourselves. Here’s some simple ways to learn how to like yourself today.

1. Start with the person in the mirror.

When we look at ourselves in the mirror, many of us are quick to point out all our flaws first before we start appreciating our beauty. It’s time to reverse that. Find all the good and the beauty first, then see if you can even find flaws after that. Do this daily. Do this often.

2. Date night anyone?

Take yourself out. Where would you like to go? What’s your favourite park, restaurant, theatre, whatever?  Go out somewhere, just you, and let loose, be yourself, fall in love with yourself again and embrace life and the beauty of you.

3. Laugh at your mess ups.

We all have them and make up. It’s ok. It’s not the end of the world. Don’t beat yourself up too hard. Take the lesson that presented itself to you, see where you went wrong, shake it off and get back up again. You’re ok.

4. Congratulate everything you did right.

And I mean everything. for so me of us, just getting out of bed and getting dressed each day is hard to do. Pat yourself on the back f or doing that. That’s half the battle right there.

5. Let your hair down for once.

For one whole day, don’t worry about your hair or makeup or nails or what colour shoes or tie or anything you are going to wear. Just be yourself, do and wear whatever brings you joy and makes you laugh or giggle. Be free to be your self for just one day.

6. Write yourself a love letter.

Take one night, light some candles, put on some nice soft music and enjoy your company. Make some nice herbal tea or have a beverage. Get all cozy and romantic, with yourself and write yourself a nice love letter. Remind yourself of all the awesome things you are.

7. The past is done.

Time to say good bye to yesterday and hello to the new you. Who you were yesterday isn’t  the same person you are today. Remember that. You have grown, learned a lot and evolved into a much better person today then you were yesterday. Let yesterday go. It’s done now.

8. Love notes.

Leave them everywhere. Stick them on the bathroom mirror, on your nightstand, on the coffee maker and wherever else you will see them clearly. Write different fun and positive affirmations about yourself on each and every one of them and read them out loud.

9. Treat yourself to something nice.

A new journal, a bouquet of flowers, a new pair of shoes, anything, something. Do something nice for you. You deserve nice things and if you don’t have anyone special in your life to do them for you, do them for yourself. You are awesome.

10. Remind yourself of all the stuff you do really really well.

All the things that you might be known for in your family or with your coworkers. Maybe you have a great sense of humor or you make people feel good about themselves. Be proud of the awesomeness inside you.

In this competitive busy world, it’s so easy to want to compare ourselves to others and be jealous because we think everyone else is doing better than we are. Never mind them. It’s not about them, it’s about you. Life isn’t a competition and you are doing a brilliant job. Congratulate yourself.

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Don’t talk to strangers. Stay away from her/him. Don’t get too close to them. They could be mean or dangerous. Murderers or rapists even. We’ve heard this a million times growing up. We know, strangers are simply bad. Period. There was no room for giving anyone the benefit of the doubt back in the days. You just didn’t talk to strangers. The end.

Oh have times changed. We still enforce to our children not to talk to strangers, as we should be doing. The strangers today are even more dangerous than the strangers some 10 or even 25 years ago. As adults however, we know the dangers, we can almost sense them, and don’t feel the need to be so cautious in talking to strangers. As a matter of fact, it is strangers we find ourselves reaching out to more and more often as we get older. Here’s why you should be too.

1. You can be someone s smile for the day.

Some people we find ourselves talking to are actually alone and rarely have any conversation with anyone. They may be shy or introverts or people just stay away from them. You reaching out and talking to them may be the only conversation they have all day and it just might be darn good too!

2. Make a new friend.

Who doesn’t need or want one more friend? And this person could end up turning into your best friend in the world, or even your soul mate. You won’t know until you strike up a conversation.

3. Learn something new.

Maybe you have been planning a trip somewhere and you happen to run into a stranger in a coffee shop and start talking about your trip. Surprise! They spent two years there and have loads of information for you. How wonderful. They just saved you a ton of boring research and gave you cool tips and tricks you won’t find in books.

4. Save their life.

Did you know that quite a few suicides are actually prevented because a stranger reached out and talked someone off the ledge or talked them out of their sadness? Great stories of hope, love and heroism come from two strangers meeting. Be that hero for someone today.

5. Divine intervention.

Whether you believe it or not, sometimes when two strangers meet and talk, it clearly was supposed to happen. One has questions to something perplexing, the other has all the answers. Trust.

6. The missing link.

It could be you’ve been looking for a job and they need a helper or vice versa. They might need help studying and you are a tutor. It could be they’ve been looking for someone and you happen to know that person. Oh the possibilities are endless .

7. Cheer you up.

Often when we are cranky, sad or lonely, talking to strangers is a quick and easy way to get cheered up. They may have a funny story for us to make us laugh. On the other hand, they may have a very sad and tragic story for us that will simply remind us of how great our life is.

8. This could be it.

You may very well be standing in front of, and talking to, your life partner. You probably weren’t even looking, and neither were they but remember, it s when you least expect it and you aren’t looking is when it happens.

9. Wait, are you … ?

Do you have a long lost cousin, half brother, uncle or any other family member who you’ve been searching for? Or maybe a friend of yours does and this person fits the bill. That s how we find people. By talking to them and hearing their story.

10. Because love makes the world go round.

Reach out and talk to a homeless person today. They have the best stories and they are the ones who need company the most. They are lonely, mostly harmless, and just want to have company. Be that smile and hope for that person today.

Embrace people, spread love and be kind. That s how strangers become friends and the world becomes a more loving place.

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It’s strange isn’t it? You don’t know why everything goes wrong. Why you can’t live a happy life and build a successful business?

You saw people doing little and achieving great success and chances are you’re sick and tired of reading success stories. You’ve been dreaming about the day you’ll write your own.

But for you things aren’t working and you can’t determine what goes wrong. Perhaps the goddess of good luck has turned her back on you. You know things can’t keep going this way, one way or another something has to change. But how?

The following hacks will light fire under your ass and help you succeed.

1. Accept The Fact That Nobody Cares

Most time we wonder how could we prepare for life, questioning ourselves about what the outcome would be?

Will there be a place for rest? Will everything go as planned?

Famous Football Coach Bill Parcells was telling his story in an interview of how he experienced a similar dilemma. When he began his head coaching career, in his first season, Parcells’ team, the New York Giants, was hit by a wave of injuries. He worried incessantly about the impact of the injuries on his team’s success,  as it’s difficult enough to win with your best players, let alone with a bunch of substitutes. When his friend and mentor, Raiders owner, Al Davis called Parcells to check in, Parcells talked about his injuries issues.

Parcells: “Al, I am not sure how we can win without many of our best players, what should I do?”

Davis: “Bill, nobody cares, just coach your team.”

That might be the best advice ever. Because you see, nobody cares. When things are going wrong in your life or business, nobody cares; the media doesn’t care, even your mama doesn’t care. Nobody cares.

And they’re right not to care, because their sympathy for you won’t change the way things are.

Instead of using all mental energy to complain about your misery, it would be better to find that one seemingly impossible escape of your current mess. Spend zero time on what you could have done, and devote all your time on what you must do.

2. One Question You Should Ask Yourself

I’ve heard the same story hundreds of times. People are telling me they don’t understand why things are not going right the way they should. They don’t understand why everything they spend time and effort building is fading away.

Could there be anything they aren’t doing?

If you ever felt this way, you’re not alone. After all, it couldn’t go wrong for nothing, right? You might spend a lot of time viewing, evaluating, and improving all of things that you do. But, here’s the deal. The things you’re not doing are the things you should  focus on.

Note to self: it’s a good idea to ask “ What Am I Not Doing?”

3. Eliminate The Positivity Delusion

There are lots of people teaching that being positive is all you need. They tell you not to worry, things will be alright, it’s just a matter of time.

Now, I don’t mean that being positive is not a good idea or that you should spend the whole day feeling sad and full of regrets.

But the truth is: it’s dangerous to focus only on the positive and ignore the negative, to stay on high spirits and handle all the bad news alone. We know that the world isn’t as rosy as some of us are thinking it is, that reality has many nuances.

Solution: Stand up to the pressure, face your fears, tell it as it is, share it with your coach and mentors.

4. Get Your Head Right

First, you must fight the tendency to concentrate on the past. This attitude will hold you back without a doubt. It’s difficult to focus on the future when the past overwhelms you, but that’s what you must do.

You have that voice in your head that tells you not to be silly, this won’t work , you’ve done it before and there’s no way to do it better. Well, I want you to stop encouraging that voice. You can create your way to an amazing future.

5. Be Visible And Present

Because it doesn’t work right now, you don’t feel like hanging out, or talking to anyone, you probably feel like going to a bar and taking a fifth of tequila. Don’t do this! Be present, be visible!

To find this unwavering belief in yourself, you have to adopt the mindset of the most influential people I know. Say this to yourself: I’ll have it now or I’ll die trying to acquire it, no matter how long it takes.

That’s the secret to believe in yourself, to be present, and it’s the mindset of the most powerful people on earth. Once you adopt this mindset, and you believe in it, you’ll become nearly unstoppable.

Success breeds success. Once you start experiencing the little wins everyday, you’ll be hooked. You’ll want more.

Start small. Pick a change that’s easy to implement, you’ll be making progress everyday and one day you’ll be finally living your dreams.

Start today and make things right.

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You’ve heard it all your life. Sally you are so antisocial. You’ve heard it so many times you almost started believing it. When you tell someone something repeatedly, they eventually do believe it and it becomes their reality. But you know better. You know you are not antisocial and have some clear reasons that explain you aren’t.

Anti social is defined as such: not sociable; not wanting the company of others; unsociable, unfriendly, withdrawn, reclusive. Well you already know that clearly isn’t you. Here are some reasons that prove you are definitely not antisocial.

1. You like getting out and visiting people.

You absolutely do love people and like to go visit friends and family and others. Just not all the time and preferably on your terms. When you are in the mood. It just might be rare is all.

2. You prefer the term outgoing introvert.

First of all, it sounds way better and secondly it describes you to a tee. You do like people and you like to go out but you get tired quickly by people and the environment. Your energy is short lived, the excitement wears o ff soon and before you know it, you are ready to go back home. You had fun, really you did.

3. How exciting.

The idea of going to a gala delights you. Getting all dressed up and going out on the town for one night is thrilling and exciting. The problem is, once you get there, you get a bit shy if you don’t know anyone. It’s best when you go with others.

4. You have your favourites.

There are just some people you simply can’t be bothered to be around. It could be their energy isn’t a good match with yours or you simply don’t like them. It doesn’t make you antisocial, it makes you selective about the company yo u choose to hang with.

5. You don’t fit in.

Sometimes there are people and places that you plain and simply do not fit in or belong with. Trying to blend in is a struggle and you find yourself pretending to be someone you’re not. You have no interest in being a phoney so you just stay home. It’s better that way, really.

6. When the time is right.

It does take quite a bit out of you to go out or visit people so you like to do it when you feel totally recharged and full of enthusiasm with regards to the visit. If you even think about going when you are tired, you will not be social and it will be a total waste of time and energy.

7. Let’s not go there.

Environment plays a huge role in whether or not you will go and be social or not. If the gatherings often are held at a place that drains your energy, chances are, you want to go there much. Many of us are affected by the energy of a space. It’s not being antisocial it’s being environmentally sensitive.

8. Facebook is cool.

When you aren’t going to parties or events pretending to be someone you’re not, you don’t mind hanging with your online friends from around the world that actually get you, understand you and have fun with you. That’s being social too.

9. Neighbours are nice to talk to.

You don’t run and hide when you see them in driveway. You like to talk to them and find out how little Johnny is doing in school and if Sally made the cheerleading team. You really do like talking to the people in your neighbourhood. They’re nice.

10. Your company is just as good.

You really do like hanging out wit h yourself, by yourself. You enjoy your company. It actually brings you great peace and joy. It’s not so much you don’t like going out as it is you love being at home alone with a tea and a good book or movie.

Just because we don’t want to go out and party and socialize all the time doesn’t mean we are antisocial. Some of us really are just good with hanging out at home alone and that’s perfectly fine too. We like people, we just maybe like ourselves more.

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