Say one neutral thing to your reflection on hard days. You don’t have to love it; just stop fighting it.

On a bad day, affection toward your own face is not available, and demanding it only adds a second failure to the first. Neutral is reachable, though. A plain, factual, non-hostile sentence ends the argument without requiring you to win it, and ending the argument is most of the benefit.

Try one unremarkable observation tomorrow morning. Your hair is doing its thing, that shirt works, you look tired and there is a reason for it. The aim is a ceasefire rather than a compliment, and a ceasefire is enough to get you out of the door.