10 Hacks To Being Happier When Life Feels Sucky!

Being a teenager/ tween can be rough at times! Honestly, just being human can be rough. It’s not always easy juggling school, friends, family and extracurricular. Not to mention, all of the changes you have to deal with in your body. Even though there’s no perfect way to navigate life and all the changes that come your way, there are things you can do that will surely lift your spirits and improve the quality of your life! Here’s Marlene’s top 10 ways to give your self-esteem some steam!

1. Talk to someone new: It’s always a good thing to reach out and make new friends. This way you’ll never be caught at lunch without someone to eat with, and it’s refreshing to meet new people.
2. Give someone a compliment everyday: Maybe even someone you don’t know that well. It’s amazing how good that can make you feel (and it doesn’t cost anything).
3. Try something new: Whether it’s a club, a sport, try out for the school play, or the band and or the orchestra. It’s the new year and time to start new beginnings. Go for it.
4. Make sure to eat a new food (and make it healthy). Eating the same old thing can get boring. Try a new healthy food – at least try it. You might just love it.
5. Let lots of people into your life: Family, friends, teachers, neighbors, and camp counselors, are all important parts of your support system. Keep in touch with old friends who have moved away by writing and video chatting! Make sure to keep all of these people in the loop by telling them all of the exciting things that happen to you, or any downfalls you’re dealing with. Their opinions, love, and guidance will come in handy on those cloudy days.
6. Be helpful to others:  Helping out should be part of your everyday routine. Whether it’s carrying an elderly person’s groceries across the street, helping your parents at home, or showing a new student around the school, helping out feels great. Making a difference in someone else’s life will definitely make one in your own.
7. Try new experiences: At first it might be intimidating to experiment with a new activity, but it is definitely worth it!  Are you a jock? Then audition for the school play! If you’re an artist, try picking up an instrument. Trying new activities is a great way to develop new skills and make a ton of new friends!
8. Don’t try to be perfect: Everyone makes mistakes – it’s part of growing up. Think of these mistakes as lessons in disguise. When you learn how to ride a bike, every time you fall off you are teaching your body how to balance. If you keep getting back on the bike, eventually you will ride like the wind…or at least to your friend’s house!
9. Ask for help: There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new from everybody in your life, not just your teachers. Nervous about trying out for the soccer team? Befriend some girls on the team and get together and practice before tryouts! Your friends and family are a rich resource, so use them.
10. Believe in yourself: Have faith that you can accomplish any goal you set for yourself. Make a plan for what you want to achieve and stick to it. This will give you something exciting to put your energy into, this way you won’t have as much time to focus on the negatives. You might not always end up where you thought you would, but you’ll be better because of the journey!

Check out the My Life or My Self books for more great tips.

Miss Wallach has written the Tween Lifestyle Collection of four books published by Simon & Schuster that was released summer 2009 – MY SELF, MY LIFE, MY LOOK and MY BEAUTY. In conjunction with Marlene’s book collection, she developed JustAskMarlene.com. At the core of these books and the site are messages of empowering girls to find their unique beauty and have it shine from the inside out!