The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
If you've got a talent, protect it.
What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.
It's always too early to quit.
Well done is better than well said.
Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
Know or listen to those who know.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
After a storm comes a calm.
To know oneself, one should assert oneself.
Perhaps, all writers walk such a line. In general - as we all do in our dreams - I believe I put something of myself into all the characters in my novels, male as well as female.