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One of my favourite songs of all time is “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber. I am really not a fan of his in real life, but his song is SO good. The chorus goes, “You should go and love yourself.”
This is exactly the topic of this post. I am going to talk about ways to include more self-love into your life!
Self-love is exactly what it sounds like – loving yourself.
What do you do when you love someone? Well, a mother shows her love for her babies by nurturing them, protecting them, feeding them, and doing anything to ensure their health and well-being. Loving someone is a process of give-and-take and includes making sacrifices.
Why is self-love not the same? Too often, we forget to put ourselves first. We submit to the demands of society, family, and peers. All too often, we forget to do things to make ourselves happy because we are too busy making others happy.
Why should you practice self-love? Some benefits of self-love include happiness, greater creativity, acceptance, increased productivity, and reduced stress.
Here are 10 ways to practice self-love to make sure that you get just as much love and attention from yourself as do your friends and family!
1. Practice saying no
The first step to practicing self-love is learning how to say no to others. I know that I feel guilty every time I say no to someone. I am so afraid that I’ll upset someone and lose their friendship!
You don’t need to carry these negative emotions with you! All you are doing is looking out for yourself! If you really do not want to do something, you have every right to say no!
Here are my strategies for learning how to say no without feeling guilt:
- Ask yourself, will this make me happy? If the answer is no, then don’t do it! There is no reason to do something if it makes you unhappy, period.
- Ask yourself, how will this benefit me? If you can’t think of a good reason why this activity benefits you, say no! That’s reason enough!
- Come up with a reason why it is okay to say no. For example, “It is okay for me to say no to going out with my friends tonight because I am tired and need to rest.”
2. Schedule time for yourself
Our lives have gotten busier and busier. We are constantly juggling multiple tasks at once. It’s hard to find time to just sit down, relax, and make some time for yourself. That’s why you have to make a conscious effort to schedule it in!
If you use a daily planner, block off “daily me time.” I like to block off at least 1 hour per day to doing things I love. Things like meditation, yoga, playing piano, reading, etc.
3. Create a self-love routine!
This is one of my favourite things to do! I have a daily morning routine that I follow to stay productive and motivated. I also have a self-love routine!
This routine includes a series of activities I do before bed that leave me feeling AWESOME! Here’s an example of mine:
- Take a warm shower. If I’m in the mood, sing in the shower 🙂
- Read a book
- Drink my favourite cup of tea or eat a yummy dessert
- Write down 3 things I’m grateful for
- Do some light stretches to relax before bed
4. Take care of your health
Self-love is all about taking care of your mind and body. Good health is something that money cannot buy, so make sure to maintain the health you have and constantly work on improving it!
For starters, make sure you’re getting the daily recommended amount of exercise and following a healthy diet. If you’re stressed out, find activities to destress such as meditation, yoga, drawing, hiking, and more.
Don’t forget to see a doctor for an annual checkup and don’t let pains go untreated! If you feel your stressed or depressed, it’s totally okay to see a therapist or psychologist about it too!
5. Practice gratitude
Practicing gratitude and being thankful for the good things that come your way has been proven to increase happiness levels!
I would recommend writing down three things that you’re thankful for EVERY SINGLE DAY! I’ve been doing this exercise for years and it’s greatly improved my mindset.
6. Forgive and forget
Holding onto grudges actually makes you an unhappy person. Don’t let whatever event or person who got on your nerves to continually ruin your day and mood!
The best feeling is to forgive and forget. That way, you let go of these negative emotions associated with the event or person. They are no longer part of you and you are able to fully move on and focus on yourself.
7. Declutter and detoxify
Living in a cluttered environment is actually a lot more damaging than you might be aware of. Clutter causes stress and can leave you feeling drained and unhappy.
If you truly want to start loving yourself, you will have to take time to clean up your environment! Clean your room and throw away any unnecessary objects (follow Marie Kondo for cleaning tips). Any object that doesn’t “spark joy” in your life will have to go!
Same thing applies to relationships. Is there a toxic friend or colleague that always leaves you feeling horrible about yourself? Distance yourself from them. I have said goodbye to a few friends in my life and I don’t regret it one bit!
8. Say no to negative thoughts
Negative thoughts and self-limiting beliefs are huge blocks to our growth and development. It’s hard to even realize how strong the effect of saying something as seemingly harmless as “I am so dumb” or “I can’t do this” has on your mindset and motivation.
Here’s an exercise you can try. Every time you notice a negative thought, write it down! Trust me on this one. Write down ALL the negative thoughts you have in a given day on a piece of paper. And at the end of the day, rip that piece of paper up and throw it away! As you rip the paper up, you should feel that these negative thoughts are vanishing away just like the paper is!
I’ve done this exercise and it is really an emotional experience! It was such a release of negative emotions, I definitely urge you to try this one!
9. Indulge in yourself
When money is tight, it’s very normal to ignore your needs in an effort to save money. I have done that many times before and it’s one of my financial regrets.
Every once in a while, it’s okay to indulge in something to make yourself happy! Just as long as you’re not doing it on a daily basis and putting yourself into debt!
Here are some ways I love to treat myself after a hard day’s work:
Buy some chocolate or a yummy dessert
- Go to the spa
- Go get a massage
- Buy something that I’ve been wanting for a long time (i.e. jewellery always makes me happy)
- Go to therapy
- Go on a vacation
10. Wear a rose quartz bracelet or necklace
Rose quartz is my favourite crystal. All crystals carry healing properties and rose quartz is used to remind yourself of self-love.
A few years ago, I bought myself a rose quartz bracelet and I wear it whenever I feel I need an extra reminder to love myself and put myself first.
I also sent some rose quartz crystals to my friend when she was recovering from her accident and she loved it so much. She told me it helped make her healing process a lot easier!
Key take-aways
We don’t talk about practicing self-love and self-care enough! That’s why I felt the need to write this article and give you some concrete steps to practice putting yourself first. I hope you feel better after trying out a few of these strategies!
You may also like:
- How and Why You Need To Practice Gratitude Every Single Day
- List of Positive Affirmations To Say Everyday
- How To Cure The Winter Blues Naturally (Depression)
- My Morning Routine: How To Start Your Day Off Right
- My Top 8 Biggest Financial Regrets (That I’m Still Regretting Today!)
- 7 Smart Ways To Set And Achieve Your Goals In 2019
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