We manage to love many people throughout our lives.
Our families, friends, significant others, etc… But how often do we turn this affection towards ourselves?
While some may not see the importance of self-love, science suggests that it comes with a wealth of mental and physical benefits.
However, this bond happens gradually and can’t be forged overnight.
So, in this post, we’ll explore 7 life-changing ideas for how to love yourself a little more than you did yesterday.
What is Self-Love?
Self-love is often portrayed as a narcissistic or selfish practice that involves some level of pampering or material gain. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Self-love simply means loving yourself as unconditionally as you do others.
It demands full acceptance of who you are (warts and all) while treating yourself with kindness and respect.
You take an interest in nurturing your personal growth and well-being.
This can include paying more attention to your emotions, changing how you talk to yourself, and reducing self-judgment.
Self-love in a nutshell allows you to cultivate an overall positive perception of yourself although this doesn’t necessarily mean you will never experience negative emotions.
On the contrary, you’re human, after all, and may still feel emotions along the lines of anger, sadness, and disappointment.
That’s fine and normal.
The important thing is to never let these emotions overshadow the love and compassion you have for yourself.
You can feel disappointed in something you’ve done or haven’t done but it shouldn’t get to the point of thinking you’re a failure or feeling ashamed of who you are.
Why is it Hard to Love Yourself?
If you can love everyone else around you so easily, then why is it so freaking hard to love yourself?
Well, it may not be your fault but rather something known as a negativity bias.
Evolution has trained our brains to become hyper-aware of environmental dangers and to take action on them.
This has helped our species avoid injury and escape death. Fortunately, we now live in a period where we can do more than just survive. We thrive!
The first step toward self-love is realizing that we have a right to be happy, then we can begin laying the groundwork for our fulfillment.
Life-Changing Ideas for How to Love Yourself
As you go down this list of ideas, remember the path to loving yourself might be a long one.
You must form a relationship in much the same way as a new friendship, which is essentially the goal, to become your own best friend.
It’s also been described as ‘dating yourself’ but…let’s not get weird.
Here are 7 life-changing ideas you can try today to love yourself a little more than you did yesterday!
Take Care of Your Body
Taking care of your body, not just aesthetically, but in terms of exercise and proper nutrition is linked to higher self-esteem.
When you love yourself you do so as a whole and your body is a part of that.
Just like when you buy a car. If you appreciate having it, you’ll take good care of the car and it’ll take care of you in return.
As the saying goes.
The same holds for the body. When you do things like exercise and eat nutritious foods, you’re making it stronger, and more resilient, ensuring that it functions optimally.
Practice a Hobby…Alone
Many of us have hobbies already. We go fishing (maybe with the kids), we bake, garden…what have you. But our goal here is to spend quality time alone.
So, ideally, we want to find a hobby we can perform by ourselves.
During a hobby, we are usually developing some kind of skill set that puts us in a position to boost our self-esteem. This is particularly so if we’re getting good at something.
Our bodies release chemical hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins that make us happy.
This reduces our stress levels while giving us a sense of pride and purpose in our activity.
Lastly, doing the hobby alone allows us to learn about ourselves—including what we’re good at, what we struggle with, and what we enjoy or don’t enjoy.
You may even joke with or make yourself laugh. Why not? No one else is watching.
Sit in Silence
You may have heard that humans are social creatures, and we are, but did you know that our bodies can also crave silence?
When we feel burnt out, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally, this exacerbates our stress response leading to real health issues.
However, we can use quiet, tranquil moments to help access the relaxation center in the brain and calm our bodies’ response to stress.
This can provide huge benefits such as lowering blood pressure, minimizing tension, and increasing concentration and cognition.
Sitting in silence also offers an opportunity to spend time with ourselves without distraction.
This may lead to introspection and heightened awareness, helping you craft a sense of mindfulness and a stronger connection to self.
Read a Book
Who doesn’t love getting lost in a good book?
There’s just nothing like it. Not even watching scenes take place on the big screen can beat the interactive nature of a book.
And as it turns out, reading may even help foster self-love.
According to a study performed in 2008, researchers found that when young participants read fictional texts they tended to feel and experience thoughts similar to those of the storybook’s characters.
The readers were also able to learn communication and societal information by being vicariously exposed to their characters’ social interactions and challenges.
Lastly, researchers noted how reading aided in developing and improving the participants’ empathy.
Empathy allows you to express compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance toward yourself.
With empathy, you are far less likely to judge your actions and those of others harshly. Reacting instead with kindness and understanding.
Thus, reading contributed to social, emotional, and mental maturity, important qualities for self-love.
Learn a New Skill
One reason why we might be down on ourselves is because we lack self-esteem or confidence in a particular skill set.
Low self-esteem can lead to extreme negativity and reinforce the limiting beliefs we hold deep.
However, taking a proactive step can help combat this problem. For instance, if you feel inadequate because you’re not very good at math, why not take a course?
The mind is never too old to learn a new skill.
Plus, when you boost your self-esteem, you instantly feel more confident in your abilities and more secure in who you are.
Practice Self-Appreciation
Practicing self-appreciation can do wonders for your self-esteem.
Usually when we are filled with negative sentiments, we don’t take the time to compliment ourselves.
Yet, regardless of how little you like yourself, there’s always something to appreciate. Perhaps you did a good job on a school or work project.
Or reached a personal best in your sport. Congratulate yourself.
Even if you haven’t done anything, why not wake up in the morning and compliment your eye color or any other feature on your body as you look in the mirror?
Just the act of doing it continuously can improve your self-esteem and inspire self-love since you may eventually start to believe it.
Practice Gratitude
Similar to appreciating yourself, practicing gratitude can also bolster self-love.
Gratitude is showing appreciation for the things in life that you find meaningful or valuable.
Taking the time to recognize people, opportunities, events, and moments that you can be thankful for can brighten your entire outlook on life.
This may boost your mood, reducing your negativity bias while elevating positivity levels even when you’re going through difficult periods.
You can show gratitude in a multitude of ways.
Say it out loud, jot it down in a journal, or even think it to yourself. Activities like this can help you feel thankful for your life and for the person living it.
Spend Time With Friends
Just as we need time to ourselves, we also need to socialize.
Spending time with friends can have an enormous impact on your physical and emotional health.
Too much social isolation may make us feel lonely or bored, both of which may lead to extreme unhappiness and ill health.
However, having a social network can help you in a variety of ways.
Friends can encourage confidence, provide emotional support, diminish stress, and help you become the best version of yourself.
But the really interesting thing about having a support system is that you can learn how to treat yourself from how others treat you.
Having social interactions may improve your empathy, building on self-compassion and love.
All You Need Is Love!
As you can see, there are plenty of ways you can cultivate self-love that don’t involve getting a pedicure…although we’re not ruling that out!
But the most important to remember is that loving yourself really is the key to long-term health and happiness.
It may not always be easy but you deserve the kind of unconditional affection only you can provide.
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