2015 is over. All the ups, all the downs, and all the things in between are now in the past. Even if you had a rough New Years Eve, even if there was family drama during your Christmas, even if a guy or girl broke your heart, we made it. 2016, here we come.

If you are anything like me, you did some serious growth in 2015. 2015 was the year where my high school life ended and my new college life in a new place began. One major regret I have from that year in general is that I was fairly hard on myself. I accomplished a lot but struggled a lot as well, and I wish I had done more things to make myselfhappy.

This year, my motto is going to be ‘treat yo self’. Life is hard sometimes, and I work very hard in college. I deserve to do the things that make me happy.

Giving myself a break is going to be one of my main priorities this year, and this is why it should be one of yours too… because we deserve it, because this is going to be our year, and because we hardly ever spend enough time loving ourselves.

Here are some ways you can show yourself a little extra love in 2016.

Buy yourself something nice

We go back to college, and you score an A on your first exam of your second semester. If this happens, treat yo self. Go out and buy yourself a new top, or maybe new shoes. I am not saying that you should do this every single time something good happens, but rewarding yourself after hard work makes the hard work feel so much better.

Take a break

It is so easy to get caught up into the craziness of life, and sometimes we get lost in the motions of it all. My recommendation to you and to myself is to take a breather every once in a while and do something out of your routine. For me, I want this to manifest through leaving campus and exploring my city. I didn’t spend enough time in nature in 2015, and I am going to do a better job of that this year.

Nurture your passions

I may be sounding like a broken record at this point, but I know for myself, college wears me out. It can become very monotonous and sometimes it can feel like we are only using some of our intellect, while other parts hit the back burner. Personally, I love to paint. I am not an art major and I haven’t taken an art course yet in college, but it is still something I really enjoy. This year, I encourage you to not let your passions hit the back burner. Make sure you sing, read, paint, run, or whatever it is that makes your heart happy every once in a while.

Work out

In the past 2 months, I have lost a lot of weight. This is not a weight loss themed article, but during this New Year, becoming the healthiest version of myself is definitely on my radar. Working out has made me so much happier as a person, and there is a ton of science backing that observation. (Read this article if you don’t believe me.) I want to empower you, whoever is reading this, to find a style of exercise that you don’t actually hate, and then make it a habit. Your body and your mind will thank you.

Ultimately, we worked hard in 2015, and we are going to work hard in 2016. Since that fact is true, we need to make sure we are giving ourselves the pats on the back we deserve. After all, our lives should be exceptional, not just ordinary and we get there by doing things that make ourselves happy sometimes.

I hope 2016 is your best year ever.