We have thousands of thoughts a day, and quite a few of them are negative. Many of those negative thoughts are about ourselves, which you can probably guess isn’t great for our overall well-being and happiness. Self-love is a great first step to turn those negative thoughts into positive ones.
Why is finding ways to love yourself important?
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn how to combat those negative thoughts about yourself. Finding ways to love yourself is a huge step in getting rid of all the negative self-talk. But this takes practice. Sometimes lots of it. It probably won’t come naturally at first, so keeping a list called “Ways To Love Yourself” for when you feel yourself slipping into a puddle of negativity (or even when you’re not, self-love is important no matter how you feel) might be a good idea. Keep the list somewhere you can see it, so you’re more likely to remember to do things for yourself.
Here are some of the items from my list. Feel free to share any that you come up with in the comments!
- Take a walk around the block
- Journal all the reasons you’re proud of yourself
- Put on an outfit that makes you feel amazing
- Eat food that makes you feel good
- Take the day off of work and turn off your emails
- Meditate on self-love and acceptance
- Say no to something that doesn’t make you happy
- Write a list of all your recent accomplishments
- Treat yourself to something you’ve really been wanting
- Play outside in nature
- Plan a self-care day and follow through with it
- Cuddle with your pets
- Clean and organize your living space and work space
- Come up with some self-love affirmations and practice them often
- Write in your gratitude journal – if you don’t have one, now is the perfect time to start one
- Spend time with people who make you happy
- Wash your sheets, snuggle up, and take a cozy nap
- Read a book for fun
- Write some goals your future self will be grateful for
- Fight for something you believe in
- Put down the electronics for a few hours or the whole day
- Write a thank you letter to yourself for all the great things you’ve done for yourself
- Face one of your fears head-on
- Plan your perfect day and write the steps you need to take to make that day happen
- Take a long bath or shower
- Make a list of negative things you promise to eliminate from your life
- Make another list of positive things you’ll add to your life
- Allow yourself to dream big
- Try something completely new
- Spend a whole day concentrating on only yourself and your happiness
- Don’t be hard on yourself for any reason
It might be really hard at first to find ways to love yourself and to follow through, but it’s worth it. If it feels overwhelming, start small. Start with doing one thing for yourself each and every day, then build from there. Remember, loving yourself isn’t selfish; it’s necessary for your overall happiness and well-being.
