Brianna Gomez

a successful, thriving, happy relationship on the outside.

You might be able to achieve one temporarily, but it will not be built on a strong foundation.

So I need you to know that the self-worth, the standards that you hold yourself to, the self-love that you have for yourself, that is the foundation that any and every relationship will be built off of.

So

Don't feel like it's selfish if you take time to work on yourself before you're getting into a relationship, before you start casually dating, before you start showing any kind of romantic interest in somebody.

Obviously, if you have a little crush or something, we might not be able to control that, but...

If you are going to get into something serious that involves two people becoming devoted to each other or trusting each other and just getting into something serious, make sure that you have built a strong foundation before adding on top of that.

And it's so easy when you see other people dating or liking other people, you might feel behind.

Let me reassure you.

You are not behind.

You could never be behind if you are spending time single, alone, focusing on yourself.

Yes, it might feel like everyone else is getting ahead, but in the long run, if they don't have that strong foundation that they're building their relationships on top of, it will all crumble.

And then who's going to make it first to the finish line?

The person who spent the time to cultivate a strong foundation for themselves and to really focus on strengthening their self-love.

It's also so crucial to know, and I wish I could have saved myself so much time with this one, but it is that you should never, ever have to change who you are, how you dress, how you act for someone else's approval or to get someone else to notice you.

That is just not sustainable, first of all.

If you're pretending to be someone you're not and you do end up winning them over and getting in a relationship with them,

How is that sustainable long term?

You will not be happy.

Eventually, they're going to find out.