How do you actually love yourself more? This is an intriguing question to answer in the age of social media. We all have our own platforms that we use as our ego center. You constantly chase the rush of dopamine when likes flood our notifications. You wake up every morning and check our phone for new likes and messages every day. You base our self-worth on external validation from others. However, this is not good for our bodies and mind.
Loving yourself is unconstrained from external validations. Don't compare yourself against your peers. Only compare against your best effort. Start taking care of yourself and accepting yourself for who you are. Learning to love yourself is a life-long journey that will transform your life. Throw away your feelings of unworthiness and embrace self-love.
What is Self-Love?
First off, self-love isn't narcissistic or having a huge ego. It's having regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love begins with taking care of yourself. It means that you stand up for yourself when people do things detrimental to your well-being. It means that you have a positive relationship with yourself. It means not settling for less than what you deserve.
Loving yourself doesn't mean you're the best or the most talented. But it means you accept yourself for your strengths and weaknesses. Learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes. You practice self-love when you learn to have compassion for yourself. Take care of yourself like you'd take care of a friend. Be kind to yourself. Self-love is a practice that takes time and skill to get better at.
11 Ways to Love Yourself More Deeply
1. Exercise
Spend time every day to move your body and exercise. This is the easiest thing you can do to change your mood and feel better about yourself.
If you are spending your entire day in front of the television or computer, schedule time to take care of your body. When your body is stagnant, this energy gets turned into anxiety.
Your physical health and mental health are intertwined together. When you take care of both, your life satisfaction automatically goes up.
2. Take Care of Your Nutrition
Your physical health is really important for your relationship with yourself. Stop treating yourself to junk food. Start paying attention to what you put into your body.
Find the balance for yourself. If you need high-sugar foods, your body will feel horrible. On the other end of the spectrum, you might feel like you are deprived of tasty foods.
Find the foods that make you perform at your best. Drink plenty of water, eat lots of vegetables, and limit your processed food intake.
3. Stop Watching the News
The news in the United States is highly divisive and counts on your eyeballs to supercharge their ad earnings. Stop watching fear-based news.
Start reading inspirational books that supercharge your personal growth. Consume content that makes you a better person. Learn to nourish your mind with helpful and healthy intake.
4. Don't Be Around Negative People
Negative people will drain your energy every single day. They will make you feel bad about yourself. Start practicing social distancing around adversarial and difficult people.
You are the product of the people you spend your time around. When you are surrounded by inspiring and successful people, you will become one yourself. When you are surrounded by negative people, you will become negative as a result.
5. Sleep Well
Sleeping well is a big part of your overall health and well-being. Studies have found that the lack of sleep is linked to higher cholesterol and blood pressure. Sleep deprivation also leads to chronic health problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart failure.
Take care of your sleep habit. Make sure you get enough sleep every night so you have plenty of time to truly rest. When you make sleep a priority, you will begin to feel better when you wake up. Sleep is a big part of the human experience. Allow yourself time to sleep and recover well every night.
6. Keep a Gratitude Journal
Gratitude allows you to be thankful for all your blessings. When you are in a state of gratitude, you realize that there is good outside of yourself.
Start practicing gratitude journaling. The writing of the things you are grateful for. Keep a daily journal and write down at least 3 things every single day. You can be grateful for big things, like a job promotion or getting a new car. Or even for small things, like the breath in your lungs or the hair on your head.
Use your gratitude in overcoming fear. When you are in a state of gratitude, there is no room for fear or anxiety. This will help you increase your level of self-love.
7. Forgive Yourself
Forgiving yourself is one of the hardest things to do. Sometimes, you have done things in our past that are hard to forgive. Sometimes, you think that you are beyond redemption. From time to time, you are haunted by the worst moments in your life.
At times like these, you have to learn how to love yourself more. Find your inner child again. Talk to yourself like you would if you were that kid again. Empathize with yourself, and understand that you are not defined by your worst moments. You are a person whose worth is beyond your net worth, your skillsets, or your wrongdoings.
8. Challenge Yourself
Your personal growth is determined by the challenges you take on. Without growth, life becomes meaningless and dry. Learn to take on challenges that make you a better person. Learn to push yourself a little bit every day.
Growth is important to self-love. You are competing to be the best version of yourself. Stop comparing yourself to others. Find challenges that energize you. Be in a state of energy that makes yourself and the people around you better.
9. Spend Time Alone
Alone time is important. It gives you time to get work done. It gives you time to digest your day. It also allows you to find peace for yourself outside of the demands of others.
An easy way to do this is to wake up early in the morning. If you wake up before everyone else, you will be able to use that time to take care of yourself first. If you are a night owl, spend some time at night to take care of yourself at the end of the day.
10. Invest in Community
Community is a major component of happiness. When we find ourselves in a loving community, we are able to feel a part of something bigger.
A community is a body of people who take care of each other. It's a group that shares common ideals, goals, and purpose. Some examples of positive communities are churches, support groups, or networking groups.
When you have positive relationships in your life, you are happier for it. You are better able to love yourself when you acknowledge that there is good outside of yourself.
11. Meditate
Daily meditation is a habit that helps you reduce stress, increase focus, and decrease anxiety. When you meditate, you are able to experience these powerful benefits.
Meditation is a great technique to improve sleep quality and decrease insomnia. It is also good to reduce fear and self-doubt.
Use meditation as a way to increase your self-love. Incorporate this as a habit into your day to grow in gratitude and enhance your life experience.
Final Words
Self-love is not always easy. But it is always worth it. When we learn to put self-love first, we are better able to love others. It's like the airplane experience: if the plane is falling, put your mask on first before helping others. You cannot help people if you are not in a good headspace. Learn to take care of yourself. Learn to love yourself deeply and without condition. Your life quality will be exponentially better for it.