“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
The truth about life for every single one of us is that in the beginning, the middle and end, the only person we’ll ever have consistently by our side is ourselves. That’s why we have to be good to ourselves and have our own backs.
We have to work on loving ourselves, even when we don’t exactly like ourselves!
Ever find the words, “You’re not good enough,” “You’re not smart enough,” “You’re not pretty enough,” drift through your head?
Even if you’re a genuinely positive person, you may struggle with thoughts like these from time to time. You’re human after all! To an outsider, you might seem perfectly happy, but on the inside, you’re battling self-doubt, self-criticism, and yes, sometimes even self-hatred.
Those tear-down moments happen to all of us — but it doesn’t mean we should just accept them. In fact, you’ll want to overcome them by going out of your way to practice self-love and self-care.
Here are Five Ways to Boost Self-Love in Your Life, Starting Today:
1. Begin your day with a loving affirmation, such as “I am beautiful, I am smart, I am kind, I am wonderful, I am enough,” or “I am confident and wise” or “I love and approve of myself.”
2. Practice gratitude and use your breakfast time to write down five things about yourself and your life you’re happy with and grateful for. It’s a much better use of that time than checking work emails, getting lost on social media or reading the bad news of the day.
Even if it’s just five minutes while you eat your oatmeal or yogurt, it will set your day off on the right foot!
3. Pay attention to your thoughts and squash any negative criticisms or insecure thoughts that may pop up. When you hear one in your pretty head remind yourself, “This thought isn’t good for me” and simply let it go.
4. Treat yourself each and every day. We’re not talking expensive luxuries all the time — though a massage every now and then is quite nice ;-). It could be reading a chapter in an uplifting book, indulging in a piece of your favorite chocolate or doing a 10-minute yoga routine on YouTube.
You know what makes your mind, body and spirit feel good, so make time to treat yourself to those things every single day!
5. Surround yourself with good people and talk to your friends about self-love. When you’re open and honest with people that you’re working on loving yourself more, it makes your journey more real and holds you accountable. Chances are, your friends will realize they need more self-love in their lives too. (We all do!)
Remember, taking time to love yourself and appreciate what you bring to this world is never a selfish act. In fact, you’re doing a favor to all those around you.
Go on and start showing yourself a little more love today and notice how amazing you feel.
You only get one y-o-u, Savvy. Be sure to love her!
Quote du jour
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise Hay
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