We are our biggest critics, it’s part of human nature. At least for me, this is one of the hardest things for me to deal with. It all starts like this; I wake up about six am every day besides weekends. The first thing I do is turn on my phone and look at my Instagram feed, just like every other teenager in the twenty-first century. I am flashed by pictures of Instagram models such as the Kardashians, Jenners, Victoria Secret ads, Cara DeLevigne, Bella Hadid, and so many more. By seeing this every day these models have become many of our idols. We look up to them because of their perfect body image. We all want to be like them, but the truth is humans weren’t made that way. We were made to all look different. For some reason though as humans we don’t like that simple fact. This takes a toll on people physically and mentally, and I only know this because it happens to me.

Lately, though I’ve been trying to be more positive. I’ve done multiple things to improve my mindset not just on my body, but my mind as well. So instead of thinking of being a little chubby and super short as a negative thing, I’ve tried to make it a positive thing. This has been a mental and physical process for me. Nothing major, but I think it’s very important for me and could also be useful for you if you do these same kinds of things but in your own creative, and innovative way.

First, I started my day by doing ten push-ups instead of turning my phone on when I woke up. Maybe that seems very little to you, but for me, it was a challenge. It woke me up though in the mornings because it got my blood pumping. I instantly felt great every day after the ten pushups And not only that it also made me able to do ten push-ups by the end of the month without a sweat. I continue to do it, and I’ve changed my goal to fifteen pushups.

Another thing I did to help me, but more in a mental matter was create a list of everything that I love and makes me happy on a daily basis. I look at that list I created of eighty-one bullet points (still adding to it slowly) and it instantly makes me feel better. A few things I put on there was my pets, family, coffee, bubble baths, and writing. You can too create something like this to give you a little something to make your day a little better.

There are lots of things you can do to make yourself feel better about your body, mentally and physically. Feeling good about your body isn’t just about looking the part, and working out three times a day, and being on strict diets. It’s also about how you view yourself, which is most important. There are tons of things you can do to improve your physical and mental state to help yourself feel more confident with your body. You can try things as I did, or simply try something you created alone.