So, there’s an infinite amount of articles on life advice that are floating out there on the internet…some bad, some good, some just plain ridiculous, but most are whatever. I’ve looked through quite a bit of them because I like to learn at every opportunity. I have three that I’d like to share with you and you tell me what you think.

1. Thank the People that Care

Sometimes this is obvious, but it needs to be said. We often live our lives without thanking those that truly helped us — and sometimes it’s too late. I mean, it means the world to someone when you get that simple “thank you” for just being your friend. It’s a big deal.

You can’t really expect people to care because frankly, some of them just don’t. But those that do, you need to stick around and you need to tell them “thanks!” It goes a long way.

2. Stop Apologizing

I used to get into this habit of constantly apologizing for the pettiest of things. “Sorry” was almost like a kneejerk reaction to any social scrutiny. I had to stop apologizing all the time.

Boy, what a load of good it did. It was like a bad habit, a verbal tick, but being conscious of it for the first time forced me to confront it head-on. What exactly was I apologizing for anyway? It was one of the reasons I always felt bad.

3. Be Comfortable with Yourself

Take a hard look at yourself in the mirror. This is all you have. You won’t get another shot, so you might as well just work with what you have. You have to learn to love yourself and that takes work. We all have things we dislike about ourselves. However, this is not a reason to beat ourselves incessantly over it. That’s just unhealthy.

You just have to be blunt with yourself. You can’t hide yourself from the world. Doing that is just a waste because you’re worth so much more than that. Being comfortable with yourself takes time — for some longer than others, but still, it’s crucial to living your life to the fullest.

So my three pieces of advice for you would be: thank those that care, stop apologizing, and learn to love yourself. These three maxims have helped me tremendously in my own life.