Recognizing and embracing your successes – rather than focusing on the bits you’re unhappy with – gives you a fuller picture of your life.

Write down the answers to these questions: •What is something you were once told about yourself that you still believe? •Think of something you think you’re bad at. Ask yourself who told you that? Where did that idea come from? Is it true anymore? •What do you believe is true about yourself now? •Try doing the thing you think you are bad at more

You are allowed to reinvent yourself as an adult and unpick some of those labels that were stuck onto you. It’s about gradually outgrowing these moments of being teased, even just in your own mind, so that you can grow into your current, ever-changing skin. You are not who you once were.

‘Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.’

‘You don’t really have to believe what you write in a blog for more than the moment when you’re writing it. You don’t bring the same solemnity that you would bring to an actual essay. You don’t think, “Is this what I really want to say?” You think, “This is what I feel like saying at this moment.” ’

Blogging should be freeing.

Perfectionism isn’t always wanting other people to think you’re perfect, it’s more of a never-ending competition you have with yourself – endlessly believing you could be better. It can be paralysing.

Self-sabotage comes from a place of fear. In this case, my fear of rejection. I simply did not want to take the chance of getting severely hurt. I was not operating from a place of love or openness. I was closing all my true feelings down.

We really do make things complicated for ourselves, don’t we? Self-sabotage can often happen when we feel as if something is ‘too good to be true’, another shape-shifting version of fear. We have to let the fear in, because it is impossible to just get rid of it.