Recognise that everything starts with you. If you want to change any part of yourself you first need to work on your mind for ultimate success. For example, if you need to lose weight, cancel the thought of going on crazy diets. Instead incorporate lifestyle changes that will allow you to gain understanding on why you carry excess weight. Mindset practices such as mindfulness, meditation, reflection and journaling will allow you to gain enhanced self-awareness. 

Recognise that everything originates from your interior landscape. In order to renew yourself you have to understand your thought patterns and what feeds these thoughts. Exterior change starts from within. Knowing yourself does not pertain to glibly stating; “I'm a red wine, rare steak and dark chocolate kinda girl” No! Knowing yourself demands self-awareness of your innermost being. Let your heart and soul guide you on your inner journey as it will strengthen your intuition. 

Listening to your intuition is important as your heartsoul use it as a conduit to let you know what is for you and what is not. This is true for everything: whether people, partner, clothes, house or food. Your heartsoul knows what it wants and what it does not. We all have experienced that moment when we just innately knew that something was not right for us, whether it was an impossible to walk in pair of shoes, bad food or a partner that sucked the joy right out of our lives. We choose to override our inner wisdom and judgement stubbornly doing what we know doesn’t serve us and shed many bitter tears afterwards.  

So, ignore your inner voice at your peril. Knowing yourself will allow you to enjoy sovereignty as you will only allow people, situations and so forth into your inner space that resonates with you. You will not be offering apologies to anyone for knowing what you want and don’t want, as you will be unapologetically loving and accepting yourself 100 percent. With that self-awareness you will also gain self-respect, self-love, self-control, hence no need for fad diets. Another benefit about knowing and accepting yourself will be that you take control and accept responsibility for yourself and your life. You will be decisive as knowing yourself brings clarity and faith in your own judgement. You will not be kowtowing to anyone as you will allow your intuition to guide you. You will find that you no longer care or are bothered about what other people think or say which is liberating in itself. 

Stop doubting yourself, have faith in your ability to accomplish all you set your mind to and trust your capability of implementing the changes you desire. 

I trust that the following quotes will inspire you to make a firm commitment to treat yourself as the love of your life and not as an option. You are all you have, so stop compromising yourself. 

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world - Lucille Ball 

Only when you truly love and accept yourself in your entirety will you be able to make manifest your desires and accomplish great things in life. Love is the force that empowers you to be bold enough to get the good out of life and to create and make manifest your wildest desires. 

No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, and become a better version of yourself - Madonna 

Life demands continued progress, that is why we are given life lessons and obstacles to grow and better ourselves at every age. Recognise that there is no cut of age for self-improvement, only death. Change is a constant and should be embraced as it allows us to reinvent ourselves day by day as we progress on our lifepath, mastering ourselves and life in the process of overcoming obstacles. 

Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one - Eleanor Roosevelt 

You are born free, do not allow anyone to force you to become what they imagine you should be, but heed your intuition and stay authentic to your true nature.  

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself - Harvey Fierstein 

Recognise that you alone are charged with the responsibility of living your life according to your will. Remember, your will is there to imbue you with the necessary courage and impetus to live your truth. So, use it to make your way in the world in accordance with your innate blueprint of your destiny. 

No one is in control of your happiness, but you … therefore you have the power … to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change - Barbara De Angelis 

You are the orchestrator of your life, nobody but you have the power to decide how you are going to live your life. It is your decisions that ultimately shapes your life. Know this and make wise decisions and choices to affect beneficial changes into your life.