To do anything successfully, you have to be confident in who you are. It starts from a basis of discovering ways to love yourself even when you’ve been through so much.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the constant pressure from social media to look perfect or live a dream life?
Or perhaps you’ve been tough on yourself for not meeting some sky-high standards? If this rings a bell, then it’s time to talk about something super important: self-love.
Let’s break down seven simple ways you can start practicing self-love every day!
Table of Contents
What is Self-Love
At its core, self-love is a radical act of acknowledging and embracing your worth, flaws, and inherent value. It goes beyond surface-level indulgences and dives deep into the realm of self-acceptance and intentional self-care.
Self-love is about building a foundation of compassion and understanding for oneself, recognizing that you are deserving of love and kindness simply because you exist.
True happiness starts at self-love.
To be happy, you should go back to first loving yourself. Genuine and progressive happiness can’t start unless it stems from love. Besides, to be happy, we have to love others as social creatures; all our relationships have to be based on love, and that can’t happen except if we first love ourselves.
Here are the 7 ways to love yourself
I realize that the idea of self-love can feel as ambiguous so how about I share some approaches to start. your bold self-love venture.
1. Applying Daily Affirmations
The first thing you should start with is speaking positive things over your life until it manifests itself eventually.
Affirmations are compliments that you give yourself. It’s quite normal for people to give you compliments, but because someone has said something about us does mean we believe it or they may not even be genuine.
However, to build true self-love, you need to understand yourself and acknowledge and appreciate yourself.
Positive Affirmations help you to recognize your very unique gifts and appreciate every aspect of it without needing anyone approvals.
Affirmations can be done in several ways anytime, however, you want.
Speaking to yourself in the mirror, having notes written on your computer, notebook or even on stickers placed all over the house. The most important thing you should know is that positive affirmation is a powerful resource.
Regardless of your technique, with time, repetition of those positive words will work to improve your familiarity with individual attributes and help you accomplish objectives.
Observing and accepting your innate abilities is simply the core of true and bold self-esteem.
To encourage daring self-love, find those strengths and abilities of yours and mold them Also, every piece of who you are.
Yes, love how you look, your face, your body; every ligament that makes you up because you are unique, no one else is like you.
God made you special.
True self-love is embodied in internal and external attributes. In this way, be daring enough to affirm yourself internally and externally.
You have a beautiful soul. You MUST BELIEVE THAT.
2. Self-Awareness – Getting to Know the Real You
Journaling: Think of a journal as your personal space to spill the beans about anything and everything. Say you had a rough day at school or you’re excited about a new hobby. Write it down! It helps you understand what makes you tick.
Identifying Your Values: What matters most to you? Maybe you value honesty, or perhaps creativity lights you up. Knowing your values helps guide the decisions you make and the dreams you chase.
3. End all negative Self Talk
Talk Kindly to Yourself: Imagine your friend made a mistake. You wouldn’t call them names, right? So, why do it to yourself? Next time you mess up, instead of being harsh, try saying something like, “It’s okay. I’ll try again.”
The Art of Forgiveness: Holding grudges against yourself? Not helpful. Learn to let go of mistakes. Remember, everyone messes up—it’s part of being human. Learn from it and move on.
Self-love cancels all unhealthy, negative thoughts.
No one on the face of this earth can love you the way you can love yourself. It is about time you start valuing yourself.
Encourage yourself, my friend.
You can overcome the negative self-talk you have by substituting it with a positive. If you find yourself criticizing how you look, replace it with positive.
Say “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. Start saying “I was born with a purpose”. If you have failed at something think of it as a learning experience.
Don’t look down on yourself. In every bad, try to speak positively over your life.
Once you can replace these thoughts, you can apply across every area of your life.
4. Groom Your Strengths
Never let society dictate to you what you should focus on. The moment you do that, you will become miserable because you will not be living in your true self. You will only love to please others.
You need to honor your gifts. Groom your strength. What areas are you strong in?
You should find ways to build and hone them. Too often, we let society sends us messages about the perfect life that we should have.
You should align your gifts, desire with your strengths. Not everyone is going to achieve the exact kind of success in the exact way. Everyone’s path is different. People have different values of what makes them happy.
Listen to me; you are one of a kind. Your talents make you unique and you can turn that into the highest realm of success. You just have to use your strength favorably.
People can have unique career paths based on their strengths for example, if you are good at organizing things, you can start your own corporate planning business.
If you are good at speaking, you could be a YouTube or have a podcast, a motivational speaker. If you like drawing, go into the arts.
If you are good at dancing, you can be a choreographer. If you can do poetry you can be a poet. If you are good at writing, you can be a blogger or author.
The possibilities are endless. All you have to do is identify your gifts, take courses and classes to become better at it. And then launch out in it.
Don’t let anyone tell you any rubbish that your talent can’t take you places. It can as long as you’re willing to work it.
In figuring out ways to love yourself, make room for you to self-assess, take a personal analysis of your life and discover your talents and your wants.
Don’t do anything to fit in the crowd or to get the hype. Simply do what you love.
There is no harm in working to build your talents. Please make sure to spend time nurturing those strengths that God has blessed you with.
Loving yourselves means nurturing your individuality and seeing how those talent can increase your self-worth, bless other’s life and honor God.
Loving your true self means loving your true talents. If we don’t engage those talents our true self will diminish.
5. Exercise Self-Compassion
Self-compassion enables growth in self-love. Let’s face it, we all have moments that we’ve experienced failure and disappointments.
We’ve all had moments where we’ve intentionally and unintentionally hurt people sometimes even the ones closest to us. However, we can’t love yourselves really if you don’t forgive. We are vulnerable at times and in those moments, we falter.
Don’t worry.
You’re not the only one struggling so don’t think you are the worst person alone with struggles. Yet, in spite of those struggles, it is important that you make room for self-compassion; don’t be too hard on yourself.
It takes courage to love yourselves. It takes courage to admit that you’ve made a mistake, but it takes greater courage to take corrective actions.
It takes further hard work to offer yourself compassion after years of self-criticisms, self-hate, years of thinking you’re not good enough, years of thinking you’re a failure, but it can be done. Nothing is impossible.
No matter how extreme your mistake is, you can love yourself again. You are worthy of love.
Anyone says that you’re not, tell them that I said ” Who gave them the right to determine that? Love was instituted by God, it was out of love he made mankind. So again, tell that person that I am asking him or her when did they become God?
So my friend, today just by virtue of you being on Earth for such a time as this, you’re loved.
Let’s take a fresh start.
It’s never too late to forgive yourself. As a matter of fact, let’s start now by ADMITTING, FORGIVING, and LEARNING – so forgive yourself.
While you may always have what you’ve done in the past in your memory, reflecting on your mistakes will help you to forgive yourself by forgiving yourself. You’re making peace with the past so when it comes up in your mind, it has no power over you because you have overcome that phase of your life.
You can now start to move on and make peace with the past. Loving yourself despite any mistakes you made in the past is admirable and a great step towards developing bold self-love.
Remember that.
6. Set Boundaries
When you fail to set boundaries it tends to create an avenue for you being disrespected. I mean that regardless of what stage you are in life, people will handle you or treat you in the way that we allow them to.
If you don’t set limits then there will nothing for others to have in mind to use as a reference when interacting with you. Consequently, whatever they think is appropriate, they are going to treats based on that. Bearing in mind that what they consider appropriate may be disrespectful to you.
Do you see where I’m getting?
Boundaries have a way of letting the right kind of people in your circle. If you value yourself, you will invite people who will add substance to your lives and they will treat us based on that value that we express. If we lack value then we will attract people with.
I’d love to see everyone in this world with a positive mindset, with high goals and dreams and a good work ethic but the reality is, not everyone thinks positively, not everyone is ambitious. Some people are actually resentful to other people’s success. Is that the kind of people you want around you?
Surround yourself with love.
I’d like to think not.
Setting boundaries is necessary for a healthy relationship with others and with self. Boundaries protect you from us toxic and unhealthy for your being.
Whoever violates your boundaries consistently doesn’t respect you nor have your best interest at heart. If you love yourself and want to see yourself soar, this kind of person shouldn’t be a part of your life. That’s the power of setting boundaries to boldly loving yourself.
6. Physical Self-Care – Body and Mind Connection
Movement that Feels Good: Exercise shouldn’t be a punishment. Find a physical activity you enjoy. Maybe it’s skateboarding, yoga, or just walking your dog. It’s all about moving and having fun at the same time.
Nourishing Fuel: Eat foods that make you feel good. And no, this isn’t about dieting—it’s about filling your plate with stuff that tastes good and gives you energy.
Sleep Sanctuary: Getting enough sleep is crucial. Try to make your bedroom a cozy retreat and stick to a bedtime routine. It might sound simple, but it’s a game-changer!
Pampering for YOU: Ever tried a bubble bath or a face mask? These little acts of kindness can make you feel pampered and cared for. It’s like telling yourself, “I deserve to relax and enjoy.”
7. Limit the junk the brain consumes
The content that you consume does affect your mood, If all you feed your mind with is garbage then that garbage is what is going to come out.
– News? The news can be very depressing. It can even drive fear in you. If it’s making you feel that way, you need to stop watching it then. Consume content that edifies you and inspires you to grow emotionally, intellectually and financially.
Consume brain-energy pumping content with nourishing information. Not sure where to start, try this book, this website, and this page.
– Unfriend/ unfollow people that spreads negativity.
My friends on Facebook are people with a positive mindset. How do I know? That is because of the content shown on my feed.
It’s your account; you have the power to do what you want.
It’s the worst feeling to be having a good day and while scrolling through your feed, you see a bunch of negative posts and sometimes derogatory posts.
I had to slash my account. Your social media presence says a lot about you.
How to Love Yourself When You Don’t Know How
Embarking on the journey of self-love can be daunting, especially when you’re unsure where to start. Begin by acknowledging that it’s okay not to have all the answers.
Self-love is a gradual process, and every small step counts.
Reflect on your values, interests, and aspirations. What brings you joy? What are your strengths?
Use these reflections as a guide to prioritize activities and habits that align with your authentic self.
Seek support from friends, family, or professionals if needed. Sometimes, an outside perspective can provide valuable insights and encouragement as you navigate the path of self-love.
How Do You Emotionally Love Yourself?
Feeling good about yourself emotionally is like a gentle dance where you understand, accept, and care for your feelings. Start by saying, “It’s okay to feel this way,” even if it’s hard.
Remember, feelings are a natural part of being human.
Build a strong team of friends, family, or someone you trust, like a therapist. They can be there to listen when you need to talk and provide a safe space for you to share your feelings.
It’s important to be open and let yourself be real because sharing and being honest about your feelings is a big part of taking care of yourself.
On A Final Note
Don’t let anyone tell that you’re not capable of self-love. You are worthy of self.
You don’t need anyone’s approval to figure who you are and when you figure out ways to love yourself, you don’t have to justify or explain yourself to anyone.
As you embark this journey be aggressive in is self. Believe in yourself.
Start by working on these.
Both mind and body food matters. Be mindful of this.
How do you plan to start boldly loving yourself today?
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