Ashley Graham uses "affirmations" to help her feel strong.
Ashley Graham
The 31-year-old model has praised her mother Linda Graham, 53, for instilling the importance of "words" into her from a young age, and knowing that they have the "power" to help when struggling with "different issues".
Speaking to Vogue Australia, she said: "The biggest thing is how you use your words. I think a lot of people look in the mirror and they say 'Oh, I'm sad' or 'I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I'm not worthy, or XYZ'. You have to really understand that your words have power and something I had to learn at a young age was affirmation.
"When I was 17 my mum helped me make these affirmations 'I am bold, I am brilliant, I am beautiful, I am worthy of all, and I love you'.
"Those are my affirmations and everybody's affirmations are different, because everybody's struggling with different issues."
The brunette beauty believes it is important to be surrounded by "positive" people.
She added: "I also think that your community is huge, whether you've got one friend or 20 friends, if those 20 friends are taking you down, it's going to go quick, and the same with that one friend, so just make sure you've got positive people around you."
Ashley loves hearing her fans share their own self-love journey, and will make sure to answer any private messages she receives.
She said: "I love hearing from fans, I love hearing just all the incredible different types of stories, I answer my DMs, it's important to have a dialogue about, not just body diversity, but loving who you are, it's not just about size, it's about anybody, it's about any race, gender, size, and religious background. It doesn't matter, it's just about loving who you are!"
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