10 ways to love your single self on Valentine's Day

Enjoy a special breakfast - prepare smoked salmon and scrambled eggs instead of the usual Rice Krispies (or, if time's a problem, take a salmon and cream cheese bagel to the office). The first meal sets the tone for the whole day - an exceptional day calls for an exceptional meal. Give your mornings a breakfast makeover Splurge on a session with a personal trainer: exercise is always good for the self-confidence as it releases all that wonderful serotonin into your system and a personal trainer can tailor a programme specific to your individual fitness needs. Find the perfect fitness regime for youReinvent yourself at the hairdressers. Try a new style: a change is as good as a rest, they say, but it's also as good as a large injection of self-assurance, even just a cut and blow-dry will boost your self confidence and leave you feeling great. Looking like a new person will help you feel like a new person. Find your perfect hairstyleIndulge yourself with a treatment at a spa. It doesn't have to be a major, all-day session; just a quick foot massage, or a basic manicure. It's the fact you're being pampered that counts, not the extent of that pampering. You'll feel like a million dollars without having to spend it. Treat yourself at one of the UK's best day spas Go somewhere an ex-boyfriend always refused to go (for example, the ballet, a club, a restaurant or cultural activity ). Relish the fact that your freedom allows you to do it. Plan a day out with the budget London guideBook a table for one in a local restaurant and then watch all the couples sitting with nothing to say to each other. It might go against the grain to sit alone, but achieving it will be a powerful statement (to yourself as much as anyone else). Remind yourself that you're an independent woman who feels confident in herself. A tip for making it easier is to take a book or magazine to read. Also, choose the right sort of restaurant; too formal won't be appropriate; somewhere low-key like Pizza Express is good. Boost your self-esteem with iVillage's confidence specialVolunteer to help a local charity. Doing something worthwhile with your time will make you feel worthwhile about yourself. (Don't feel guilty that this sounds selfish - it's a widely acknowledged fact that charity work often helps the person giving the aid as well as the one receiving it.) Volunteering will soon put into perspective a holiday that emphasises corny greeting cards and overpriced restaurant meals and flowers. Make a difference: get volunteeringSee a film at the cinema in the afternoon. The matinee showing will be quiet, so you'll be able to stretch out and enjoy a whole 'couples' seat to yourself. There's something undeniably cosy about cinemas - the warmth, the darkness? Go on, spoil yourself.

Do something for the first time. Ballroom dancing, parachute jumping or making your own pasta - anything, as long as you've never done it before. Self-worth is like fitness: the more you stretch yourself, the better you feel. Discover the best adventure days out in the UK

Instead of a Valentine's card, post yourself a card listing three ways you must show your love of Yours Truly by this time next year (eg a weekend away somewhere, or a course of evening classes).