"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." --Golda Meir

All our lives, we are told to share, think about others, put yourself in the background. That's all fine and dandy, but what about ourselves? Oftentimes, if a woman does something for herself purely because it makes her happy or will add to her success, she is deemed "selfish." She is shunned for exercising independence and reaching toward her goals. Well, I'm here to say, "Stop the madness!" Being selfish is not a flaw. It is crucial to making the most of your potential in life. You should be selfish.

Truth be told, we're all tiny components in an enormous picture that can and will exist without our presence. Alter one minuscule piece in an individual, and the landscape shifts almost imperceptibly. Modify, adjust, tweak multiple pieces, sculpt minds to equate self-concern with selfishness within a society, and you send a wave crashing over the picture, shrouding self-concern with negativity, and changing the way a person views his or her character in life.

We need to reexamine the way we think about selfishness.

You should be concerned for yourself. You should go after the things in life that make you happy. You should base some of your decisions on how positively they will affect you. Frankly, you should be selfish.

I am a firm believer in personal responsibility: You can and should take charge of your life because if you don't, others will.

You could be a puppet, mimicking others' hurtful allegations and crushing spirits in the process. Or you could bolster those who are taking charge of their destiny and encouraging positivity instead of shutting it down.

You should be concerned for yourself. When you turn your attention inward, you can unearth qualities and talents that would have otherwise remained hidden. This is crucial to your personal happiness, as well as to your interactions with everyone else. If you don't recognize these qualities in yourself, what makes you think anyone else will?

Now, this is not to say you should squash others' dreams in the pursuit of your own or ignore the plights of society. This is not to say you should become self-obsessed. I don't want this to be misinterpreted; I am advocating for inner reflection, something which is so often denied to individuals our age. Once you turn your attention inward to create the best version of yourself, then you can turn that positivity outward to start effecting change.

You can, in fact, be both selfish and concerned for others -- these are not mutually exclusive terms. Recognizing one's inner skills allows a person to use them to inspire and change the outside world. Being selfish makes you self-aware and a better member of society.

By focusing on trying to be the best you can be, you'll spark change. You'll encourage others to see their own self worth. You'll encourage others to believe in themselves. You'll encourage confidence.

Block out those negative voices telling you not to follow your dreams, saying, "You're not good enough," or, "You only care about yourself."

You, as a person, are important.

Shake off the ones who try to drag you down.

Tune into a new station: Positivity and inner reflection are key to your happiness.

You need to reach for your goals. You need to try to be the best version of yourself at all times. You need to examine yourself critically to determine how you can make the most of your life.

You need to be selfish.