Being who you are, doing what you enjoy, and picking a career that fits you as a person is a vital component to long-term happiness. Understanding and making use of your hobbies, traits, and skills is something we all do on a day-to-day basis, shaping who we are as a person, but we often make decisions based on those around us or follow a trend so that we’re fashionable and approachable. You might choose to buy a product or clothing item that is popular and new, and for the most part that’s okay.

However, sometimes it’s important to take a step back and reflect, deciding what is healthy for us and what isn’t. 

If social media is negatively impacting your mental health and harming your self image, it’s important to take a break, or limit what you do on social media. If a relationship does nothing but stress you out because of frequent arguments or threats, communicate to make things better or consider going your separate ways.

If you have an under stimulating career that you can’t stand going to, you may want to contemplate and evaluate your other career choices – even if the career pays well, or your family insists that you stay in that career.

Making decisions solely because of someone else can sometimes harm us even if we don’t realize it ourselves, so we should make an attempt to recognize what is and what isn’t healthy. Someone else cannot possibly understand what is best for you, not if they do not have your values, nor if they are not the one living your life.

Making the most of who you are is living your life in a way that’s special to you, discovering you, being you. But there is no better time where it is important to discover yourself and be yourself than now, while you’re in high school, where your decisions matter the most. The decisions you make now will likely define a large part of who you are in the future, so do what means the most to you, and live your best life.