Today we’re going to learn about how to love yourself: 7 habits for self-love now let’s begin
- Respect Your Boundaries
Do you know your limits when you’re tired, overworked and unmotivated? Do you have the self-discipline to say no? To step away from your work. Boundaries are difficult to preserve with friends, with work, and with your bad habits
You try to set boundaries but it’s easy to let yourself slip. Imagine you’ve been working on a big project. You’ve poured hours and hours into your work but no matter what you do the final product just never feels good enough. You keep tweaking and analysing and overthinking your work. You doubt and criticize yourself but at some point you just have to stop; at some point you have to step back and say, “you know what I’ve done enough, I did the best I could do but I can’t work anymore.” This is a boundary that you set for yourself.
It’s your responsibility to recognize when you’re pushing yourself too hard and thinking too much. When you reach your limit it’s also your responsibility to give yourself a break. That’s what it means to love and care for yourself. You respect your productivity but you also respect your boundaries. You are your own person with your own work ethic and your own limits.
You may not be able to do as much as someone else. They may have larger loftier limits than you do but that doesn’t make your boundaries any less important. By observing your boundaries, you learn to respect and understand what you’re capable of and that creates a sense of pride in what you’ve accomplished.
Set boundaries in every aspect of your life. Give yourself minimums and maximums and listen to what your mind and your body are telling you and when you feel like enough is enough then forgive yourself and step away
- Trust Your Instincts
Your inner self is a powerful force that you ignore far too often. Some people call the inner self the gut or the voice in your head. Whatever you call it your inner self is a combination of your instincts your experiences and your core values. It’s a raw representation of who you are and what you want.
So, most of the time your inner self knows exactly what you need to do but there’s a catch your inner self doesn’t work unless you put faith in your instincts. Many people struggle with indecision. They procrastinate their choices because they just don’t trust themselves to know what’s right. You may rely on others to make decisions for you all because you don’t trust yourself. This deep distrust may stem from a deficit of self-confidence and trust which psychologists call ‘self-efficacy’.
If you lack self-efficacy, you don’t believe in your ability to decide, perform, or succeed. You can do all those things and you can do them well but only if you have faith in yourself. Like everything on this list, self-efficacy doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a long time to trust yourself just like it takes time to trust another person so get in the habit of using your instincts.
Wear the clothes that jump out at you make small snap decisions. Empower your inner self and believe in your ability to lead your life
- Self-Care Routines
Do you have a self-care routine? When you hear the phrase ‘self-care’ you might think of cleaning, grooming and morning rituals but a self-care routine is any combination of habits that help you feel calm, comfortable, and happy.
In other words, it’s a ritual that reminds you to enjoy the life you’re living. These important rituals look different for each and every person. For creative types, you might feel happiest when you’re inspired and free. To create, you may populate your self-care routine with artistic outlets and introspective silence. For people struggling with stress you might rely on your self-care routine to unravel the tension in your everyday life. You may fall back on meditative or relaxing activities to keep your mind at ease.
There’s a self-care routine for everyone. Each routine is unique to your lifestyle, your preferences, and your goals. It may take a bit of trial and error but over time you’ll find a self-care routine that’s personal to you.
- Find Your Intention
What is your intention? An intention is different from a goal or a dream. Your intention gives your actions words and decisions a greater purpose or meaning. It’s a guiding light that you’ll use throughout your entire life because people who live with intention, with purpose and meaning are proud of the life they lead. But what does a purpose or intention look like?
Your purpose may be to make the world a better place. You might find meaning by helping other people or creating something from nothing. Whatever your intention is, use that intention to understand the direction your life is headed.
Are you choosing to fulfil your intention? Did you make the world a better place today? Did you help someone in need or create something new? As long as you fulfil your intention you know that every day is valuable and well lived.
So, take a few minutes to set your intention. What drives you? Where do you find meaning? It’s okay if you don’t know. For most people, their intentions are vague at first. It takes time, practice and careful reflection to discover what gives your life meaning. So, don’t worry if your intention isn’t set in stone. Your purpose may change dozens of times in your life but as long as you’re following your intention you can love the person and the life you’ve created.
- Need-Based Decisions
Can you control your impulses? Most people are governed by rash emotional thinking. They make their decisions on the spot and they look back on those decisions with frustration and regret. But what does your decision-making have to do with self-love?
Often times we struggle to love ourselves because our identities are clouded by wants wishes and uncontrollable impulses. You may feel like you don’t know who you are because your decisions aren’t really yours to practice. Self-love prioritize your needs over your wants. You may want to buy a bigger tv you may crave an expensive vacation but do you need either of those things? By framing your decisions in terms of need you empower yourself to make good choices. Choices that you can be proud of in the future.
Not only is this good for your bank account, it’s an important source of personal growth. When you make need-based decisions, your sense of self becomes stronger. You get a better understanding of who you are by carefully analysing what you need in your life. As your sense of self grows, your confidence and self-esteem will follow. You’ll learn to stay true to yourself in difficult moments
When others might crumble and give in, it all starts with a few good choices. Suppress your wants vices and negative patterns then look deeper at the things that you need because you may discover a strength you never knew you had
- Shrink Your World
Your world is larger than ever before. Social media exposes your life to millions of friends, fans, and critics. Your devices overwhelm you with alerts, stories, and updates unrelated to you or your environment. Wherever you go you’re bogged down by the weight of the world. A burden too heavy for any one person to carry. That burden creates stress, insecurity, and fear.
You may compare yourself to people living entirely different lives. You may try to impress people that you’ll never ever meet. Your life may be engulfed by this demanding social network. You may spend so much time worrying about the outside world you may neglect the life you’re living. When you start neglecting yourself, you forget how to love and appreciate the person that you’ve become.
So, before you can love yourself you have to pay attention to yourself. You have to prioritize yourself and listen to yourself. To do that, you have to shrink your world you have to make room for yourself in your own life. Right now, the outside world is attacking you from every angle so there isn’t much space for yourself to practice self-love take a break from social media
Spend less time worrying about solving the world’s problems and worry about solving your own. Don’t change yourself in fear of what people might say. Change yourself because you want to grow, learn and improve. In other words, remove the weight of the entire world from your shoulders. Take a break from the lives of others and focus on the life you’re living right now.
- Risky Opportunities
The grass will always be greener. If you spend your life waiting for the perfect opportunity, you’ll find yourself just standing still because every opportunity has challenges. Every chance requires risk and every dream demands a leap of faith.
So, if you want to love yourself you must believe in your ability to overcome obstacles. You must capitalize on opportunities not because you’re certain you’ll find success but because you think you can rise to the occasion in your life. One person will hold you back more than any other and that person is you. Most of the time you’re the reason you run away. You’re the reason you make excuses and you grow angry with yourself because you know you could be doing better before you can love yourself.
You have to become yourself. Don’t be afraid to become the person you want to be. Empower yourself to do better. Practice taking risks. Seize the next opportunity that comes your way even if it isn’t perfect because many opportunities only come once. If you don’t take advantage of them now you may never have another chance.
credit: TopThink
