It’s a fact of life; throughout your life, you’ll feel differently about yourself. There are many different factors that go into your self-esteem, but most teens find that it is affected by puberty, school, family, friends and cultural influences.

If you have healthy self-esteem, you like yourself just the way you are. You don’t feel that you have to change yourself to be happy. When you make mistakes, you can pick up, try again and move on.

Recognize that you are human and that all humans have flaws and make mistakes. If you keep comparing yourself to certain ideals, you will have a much harder time accepting yourself and being happy with who you are. Make sure that you praise yourself consistently. Find a time every day to give yourself five, real compliments.

Remember that the pictures you see in the media are not realistic representations of what real bodies look like. They are airbrushed and have all of the imperfections removed to make them look that way. You are not an airbrushed copy of a person — you’re human. All humans have flaws, but that’s what makes us each beautiful and unique!

Focus on the parts of your body that you like. Maybe you feel great in the color red or like your freckles. Then, find things about your body that you don’t appreciate and look at the good in them. For instance, you might think that your thighs are too big, but you can love the fact that they are strong and help you be a competitive runner.