When asked to describe herself as a little girl, Lizzo used the word “ambitious.”

“Teachers would call my mom and be like, ‘Melissa is trying to teach my class,’” Lizzo recalled to Sam Smith in a new interview with V Magazine. “So I was nerdy, but also chubby and sweaty. I liked anime and comics,” she added.

Throughout her career, Lizzo has channelled that ambition and that intelligence through her work and through her online presence. With her third and most successful album to date, Cuz I Love You, reaching number one on the charts and receiving almost universally rave reviews (including one from Stylist), Lizzo is on top of the world. But that doesn’t mean that her boundless ambition and success makes it any easier to love herself.

Lizzo just shared a vital lesson on the three steps to self-love