The journey to self-love is a long and complicated road. It takes a lot of self-discovery and practice to get to a place where you feel comfortable accepting who you are. Maybe you don’t even know who you are yet, and that makes things 10x more difficult. There are tons of places to start when it comes to being good to yourself. If you want, you can even start here.
Importance Of Self-Love
If you’re new to this concept, you might be wondering, “Why does self-love matter anyway?” Well, it matters for a lot of reasons. For starters, trying to achieve happiness without self-love is nearly impossible. You’ll spend every day trying to get to something that is just out of reach. If you spend your whole life hating yourself and pining after other people’s love, you’ll only end up with a huge void in your heart.
Ways To Be Good To Yourself
There are a lot of mantras and habits for self-care that you can start with on the path to being truly happy. Some of them are easier said than done, but with these tips, you’ll have an excellent head start.
Stop The Comparison
It’s incredibly easy to look around and see all the people who have it better than you. We’re conditioned to be competitive from a young age, so seeing influencers on Instagram every day isn’t beneficial to our mental health. The first step you can take in loving yourself is to stop comparing your life to other people’s.
There will always be people who have it better than you. They’ll be richer, prettier, and have more followers than you. But that doesn’t mean you have to be miserable all the time. Focus on the things that you do have and be grateful for them. Shifting your energy off of other people will give you more time to focus on yourself. It will free up your mind and give you the bandwidth you need to improve your own life.
Making Mistakes Is Okay
There is a lot of pressure in this world to be perfect. Whether it’s your performance at a job, your relationship, or how well you do in school, there’s always something. Cutting yourself some slack will allow you to learn and grow from your mistakes. If you never fail, you won’t understand the full gratification of success. Every day you’re learning and changing from your past self to become a better you. If you mess up once in a while, give yourself some grace.
Humans are designed to be imperfect. That means that no matter how hard you try, you’re bound to fall short sometimes. Learning to accept that will make you a happier person in the long run.
Look In Mirror And Feel Beautiful
One of the most common things that keep people from loving themselves is that they’re unhappy with the way they look. Society is constantly telling us that we need to be slimmer and more toned. It can be hard to look at yourself every day and feel confident in the way you look.
Remember that your value doesn’t lie solely in your looks. It’s totally fine to feel good about yourself when you’re wearing a cute outfit. But basing your self-worth off a number on a scale is really unhealthy. Wear what makes you feel sexy and happy. Don’t worry about what other people say about it.
Cut Out Toxic Energy
Absorbing toxic energy isn’t just something that crystals are capable of. People soak up the energy of those around them and put it out in the rest of the world. Thinking that you need to invest in everyone around you can be exhausting.
If you feel like certain people in your life are only bringing you down, don’t be afraid to cut them out of your life. This doesn’t have to involve a middle-school style falling out filled with lots of angry texts; it can be more mature than that. Cutting ties with people doesn’t have to be malicious, but it is important to do what is best for you.
Trust Your Gut
Learning not to doubt yourself and your ability to know what to do is a key part of self-love. Trusting your judgment and instincts is essential for building confidence and validating your feelings. A lot of the time when presented with a difficult situation, we know what the right answer is deep down.
Sometimes you are your best advocate. Never underestimate the power of your gut feeling. One day, it might mean the difference between life and death.
Create New Opportunities For Yourself
Seizing the moment is something that appears in a lot of songs but is rarely taken as advice in real life. It can be scary to make a huge life change when the timing isn’t right. But the secret is that the timing will never be perfect. Holding yourself back from your dreams because of external factors will lead to disappointment. You’ll constantly wonder what could have been and beat yourself up for not being brave enough to do it.
Be Bold
This piece of advice goes hand in hand with the previous one. Speaking your mind in front of others makes you vulnerable, which can be terrifying, especially for someone who has built walls to protect themselves from vulnerability.
Every time you exercise boldness, it will become more natural. So don’t be afraid to join the conversation at work or turn your words into action. Recognizing that your opinion matters as much as other people’s will help you build your self-worth.
Positive Affirmations For Yourself
Visualization and intentions for your life should happen daily. Making time to meditate on the things you want and how you’re going to achieve them makes them a reality. One of the ways you can do this is with crystals. Here are a few stones to use for confidence and positive energy to start and end your day.
- Rose Quartz is one of the best stones for self-love. It’s the crystal of unconditional love, and it opens your Heart chakra.
- Citrine is known to bring happiness and good fortune to those who use it. It connects you with the highest version of yourself through the Crown chakra. It also lets you release feelings of negativity that you have about yourself and others.
- Amethyst helps with spiritual exploration and your path to enlightenment. Through this, you’ll find self-love while you grow in your spirit.
- Moonstone is a gentle stone of female energy that brings new beginnings to your life. It lets you feel more compassion towards yourself so that you are kinder to your mind.
- Carnelian is closely connected to the Sacral chakra. This is where past trauma is stored, and the fiery energy of this stone helps release this emotional baggage and free you.
Any of these stones can be used during meditation by holding them in your hands as you repeat your affirmations. Or, if you’d like, you can wear these crystals as jewelry for an extra boost of self-love during the day.
The Bottom Line
There really isn’t a right or wrong way to practice self-love. Whatever method or combination of methods you choose should cater to your needs and personality. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to do that same thing, find happiness for ourselves.
