Self-care is any necessary human regulatory function which is under individual control, deliberate and self-initiated. It’s one of the most important things to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, it involves hard-work and dedication, and requires knowing how to get through hard things and keeping a positive mindset through life. In order to achieve self-care, you must proceed to following different steps:

1. Know your worth.

When in a tough situation, you must always stay calm and remember that your life is worth living. If someone is telling you something that brings you down, or you hear something about you, or you’re just bringing yourself down, stop. Take a breath and remember why you’re on this Earth, and what your purpose is. You’re here for a reason and you need to know that your life is precious and rare. You have to always remem

ber your worth in order to continue maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and in order to do that, instead of focusing on what others have to say about you, or instead of listening to yourself about the negative things you’re telling yourself, focus on the positives, and know that there will be a time when you’re okay and at peace with yourself and your life. Trust in who you are and the person you know to be you, no one knows you better than you do, and their, or your, negative words shouldn’t ever change how you view yourself.

2. Manage stress.

When overwhelmed, people often make impulsive choices and end up in an even worse situation. Although a little bit of stress is actually healthy, too much stress can unbalance your well-being. Many of us like to keep our emotions and feelings to ourselves, because we feel it could be selfish if we discuss it with someone else, or think that our problems don’t matter because others have it worse. But when we do this, it builds up and becomes too much to handle, and we act on impulse and end up doing something we regret. When dealing with emotions or situations, it’s important you recognize it, and go from there. Take your time with situations or school, start a project earlier, or put in a little more effort than usual. It’s okay to talk to someone you trust well and to take a moment to yourself to refl

ect, or to do a few minutes of meditation to relax. If you can prevent an outburst by doing these things, then do them, but don’t let yourself convince you that you can’t speak up about what you’re struggling with.

3. Move outside your comfort zone.

Stop existing and start living! When you keep to yourself and stay isolated in your own world, you’re emotions can build up, and when you don’t talk about it or do anything with that, most likely a negative outcome with happen and you’ll lose your self-control. We need to understand that there’s more to life than doing the daily things we always do, and that it’s important to socialize and find a positive group of friends. There’s an entire world out there for you to experience and explore, and you can start right now! You can discover things you never knew before, meet new people, or find something you enjoy. Expand yourself to a higher level than you’ve ever reached before, start by doing something that could change yours or someone else’s life positively. It’s a great way to expand your opinions and knowledge, and just to have fun and make great memories. Make a difference in someone’s life, make a difference in yours.

4. Emotional Regulation

It’s not just about being happy all the time, it’s about being at peace with all other emotions that follow. This is the most important aspect to self-care. So many people believe that you have to be happy at all times in order to maintain a successful lifestyle. This is far from the truth. Not only is it unrealistic, but being happy all the time is almost as bad as depression, it’s called hyperthymia. While being happy constantly sounds great to most, it’s really not. For example, if something tragic were to happen, you would will still feel happy; that’s not normal. It’s important that you feel all emotions, no matter what they are, but making sure you don’t exaggerate them. You must learn that it’s not just about being happy, it’s about recognizing the other emotions, and dealing with it in that situation and getting through it. It takes time, but it improves your mental health and feeling of peace. Peace is what you should be aiming for in life, not happiness.

This Ted Talk explains the importance of self-care and emotional regulation and how most of us believe that physical care is more important than self-care, when in reality we receive the most damage mentally than physically. It’s important to understand the depths of yourself and how it’s not all about being physically healthy, but also mentally.

While self-care is a beautiful thing, it’s not easy to obtain. You have to stay dedicated into making your wellness excel, and it makes it easier if you follow the listed suggestions. They’re all such important aspects, especially the last one. Remember, people can’t tell you who you are. This is one step into making the world a better place, by making you a better person. Be someone you want to be, someone who you’d be inspired by, and when you show the world your courage and leadership, the rest will follow.