Accept yourself, independent of overt approval from other people in your life. Having a preference for being liked, appreciated and approved of by others – but not believing that you need approval – means that your self-opinion can be stable and you can weather disapproval. You may still behave in ways that are more likely to generate approval than disapproval, but you can also assert yourself without fear. You can consider praise and compliments a bonus rather than something you must cling to and work over-hard to maintain.
