Though 2022 didn’t seem like a particularly eventful year, I know the lessons I learned will only serve to make my 2023 even better and full of even more growth. I hope you can take some or all of these pieces of advice and integrate them into your life to improve your year as well.

I recently spent a weekend surrounded by nothing but thin, conventionally beautiful women as a plus-sized, more unconventionally attractive woman. As you might be able to imagine, it took its toll on my self-esteem.

I’ve tackled many struggles and obstacles throughout my relatively short life. Along the way, I’ve learned and developed a few mantras, outlooks, philosophies, what-have-you to make my life the best it can be. Most of these pieces of advice were given to me by people much wiser and more experienced than me, and they’ve all helped me immensely. Perhaps they’ll help you too.

Setting and maintaining your standards is one of those skills that people simply don’t talk about enough. However, it’s one of those skills that has the power to affect every single aspect of our lives, for the entirety of our lives, and we’re just left to fend for ourselves.

My Knowing has been giving me clues about what I wanted and needed for as long as I can remember. The clues I’d been largely ignoring lie in the way my heart picks up when I’m surrounded by books. My Knowing practically screams at me when I eat a delicious, wholesome, homemade meal or curl up with a good book and tea and rest for a while. It gives me clues when my heart swells while I’m on a call with my best friends or sharing a laugh with my family. My Knowing is inside me telling me this, this, this, more of this, please or alternatively, this isn’t meant for us.

Sometimes it feels impossible to keep moving forward, especially when I lose sight of my goals. This is where these affirmations come in! Every day, I try to focus on one affirmation. I read it, say it, and live it, as much as I possibly can that day.