How to Cultivate Self-Love in 7 Simple Steps
In today's blog post, I will be sharing 7 ways we can cultivate self-love. I'm also including myself because I recently started my self-love journey.
Love is a beautiful thing, especially God's love.
February is commonly associated with love, relationships, and connection due to the celebration of Valentine's Day on February 14th.
The majority of the reminders I found were from brand Valentine's campaigns, aside from the number of people who were planning to surprise and gift their loved ones.
Self-love, according to psyschCentral, entails fully accepting oneself, being kind to oneself, treating oneself with respect, and fostering one's own development and well-being.
Here are 7 ways I’m learning to cultivate self-love:
- Practice self-acceptance
- Give yourself grace.
- Invest in yourself.
- Avoid self-comparison.
- Create time for yourself.
- Practice gratitude
- Social media detox
1)Practice self-acceptance: I think many of us struggle with embracing every part of ourselves.
There are flaws we dislike about ourselves. We discover these flaws as a result of personal observation or other people's opinions.
Instead, we should learn to love and acknowledge that we are not perfect. All of these things make us unique.
Focus on the positive aspects of yourself, especially your strengths, and gradually work on things you can change.
Letting go of the things you cannot change is beneficial to your emotional and mental well-being.
Turn every negative thought of self-criticism into a positive thought.
There was a time I disliked speaking because people said I talked a lot. I was always moody and sad, but I decided not to let people's opinions get to me.
Instead, I acknowledge that I do like speaking and use it to my advantage.
I currently volunteer as a radio co-host for Teenexpressions, a non-profit organisation, and I have learned to be careful with what I say.
2) Give yourself grace: Some of us tend to say negative things to ourselves when we fail at something or make a mistake.
It is not a sin to make a mistake or fail at something. Instead, you should learn from it and forgive yourself. Nobody is perfect; always remember that.
3) Invest in yourself: I'm sure you must have heard of this a thousand times, but it never gets old since personal development is key to growth.
Investments can be in the form of time or money.
You can never go wrong by investing in yourself, as you will definitely reap bountifully.
Learn a skill, read a book, invest in skincare, journal, exercise, and eat healthy. Just do things that take you closer to your goal. It is always worth it.
I decided to stop going with the flow, and I took self-improvement seriously. I made the decision in 2021, and I haven't looked back since.
4) Avoid comparison: directly or indirectly, we have all compared ourselves to certain people because of their achievements or lifestyles.
Social media and our society are factors that influence this, but we shouldn't forget that you are not in competition with anybody but yourself.
Instead, you should reflect on your growth and work towards improving yourself.
I remembered how I couldn't go past reading a chapter of a book without abandoning the book a few years ago, but now I enjoy reading like never before.
Instead, you should reflect on your growth and work towards your goals. Keep in mind that everyone has a purpose for which they were created by God.
5) Create time for yourself: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Most of us have time for work, family, friends, romantic relationships, and other activities, but we hardly have time for ourselves.
You are not being selfish by trying to create time for yourself. You can only do so much if you learn to say no to time wasters.
It's now up to you to identify the time wasters in your life.
You can set aside a day every week when you spend time alone. It doesn't mean you are lonely; you are just doing the things you love.
As for me, I prefer watching k-drama series on YouTube and eating shawarma; it makes me happy.
When you spend time alone, you will discover new dimensions of yourself.
6) Practice gratitude: There are so many things to be grateful for. Thinking about it now, I could write an entire list of things I'm grateful for.
In the past, I was someone who complained about everything, especially when things were not going the way I wanted. I have learned to be grateful for the littlest things.
Keeping a gratitude journal to remind yourself of the gifts, grace, and good things you would enjoy is a way to practice gratitude.
Saying thank you to people who have helped you also goes a long way; no one likes an ungrateful heart.
This can also be seen in our relationship with God as a form of thanksgiving.
7) Social media detox: Have you ever checked the amount of time we spend on social media?
I advise you to go on a social media break once in a while. Travelling from Instagram to Twitter to Tiktok, then a quick stop at Snapchat before wrapping up the day with YouTube.
There are a billion and one things to do outside of social media, like spending time with your family and friends, trying out a new hobby, visiting tourist attractions and museums, visiting the beach, listening to music, and dancing.
I want you to know that people only show you what they want you to see on social media.
Not everyone is vulnerable enough to show you the good, bad, and ugly sides of their life or career.
This year I decided to spend 2 hours on social media daily, and I set an alarm to remind me so I could do other things on my to-do list.
It is not an easy habit to break, as I snooze my alarm sometimes to continue surfing social media.
You can decide to go on a social media detox one day a week or for an entire week, as you wish.
It takes time to cultivate a habit, so don't be hard on yourself. Utilise this step little by little, and I assure you that you will see results in your life.
I write about university life, self-development, and careers.
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