How many times a day do you find yourself thinking, “I’m not good enough?” How many times a day do you hear one of your friends declaring the same thing about themselves? How many times a day do you hear someone decide not to pursue something that makes them happy because they’ve been told they’re "not good enough" by someone whose opinion is of no consequence?

How many times do we fail to acknowledge our own brilliance because we do not feel that we stack up to our peers, or not comprehend the quality of our own accomplishments because we are so busy comparing them to someone else’s?

Too many times, that’s for sure, and enough is enough. It’s time we start asking this question in response to any self-deprecating commentary; who are you not good enough for?

Think about it. Whose opinion of you matters so much that you think less of yourself because of it? If you don’t get your own stamp of approval because you know you can do better if you tried just a little harder, that’s one thing. But if you don’t feel good enough because someone who is trivial thinks you aren’t “enough,” or because of this delusional idea in your head that you aren’t as the result of something someone else once said to you, that is another issue.

Whose approval are you vying for so much that you are willing to degrade yourself and belittle the importance of everything that constitutes you just because they told you to? As my best friend always says, you are “good enough” for anyone that actually deserves a place in your life. Furthermore, your opinion of yourself is the only one that matters.

There will always be fans and critics of you, but the most important thing is that you approve of who you are, not the people who won’t matter five years from now.

It is a difficult cycle to break, but it must be done. So stop telling yourself you aren’t good, talented, pretty or funny or smart enough. Because to the people whose opinions are actually worth caring about (and hopefully, to yourself), you are.