You deserve love just as much as anyone else. If you can’t love yourself, who can you love? While it’s noble to sacrifice yourself for others, you’re important too. When you make an effort to be kind to yourself, you’re in a better position to be kind to everyone else in your life. Let go of the idea that indulging yourself occasionally is selfish.
Everyone in your life deserves your best. Put yourself in the position to provide exactly that!
Give yourself the love you deserve with these strategies:
- Eat more healthily. Few things can have more impact on your health, mood, and general state of well-being than your diet. What are you feeding yourself regularly? You probably know what a healthy diet looks like. How are well are you following it?
- Drop two unhealthy foods that you eat regularly and add two healthy foods. After that change feels permanent, repeat the process.
- Let go of your past and consider the possibilities of the future. Were you unpopular in high school? Were your parents unkind to you as a child? Did your first attempt at starting a business fail? All of that is over now. The past can only create unhappiness if you give it your attention.
- The past doesn’t have to influence the future. Think about what the future might hold for you if you make a few wise decisions and concentrate your effort!
- Call a high school or college friend and reconnect. Just because you don’t live in the same town doesn’t mean you can’t still talk in a meaningful way. Track down a few friends from the past and reconnect. If you call at least three old friends, at least one of them will be excited to hear from you. It only takes one.
- Buy yourself something nice. Is there something you’ve always wanted but have avoided purchasing? Why not indulge yourself a little? As long as you can afford it, buy yourself something for a change.
- Decide that you’ll no longer compare yourself to others. Comparing always leads to misery. You’re either too hard or too easy on yourself, depending on the topic and the other person.
- Resolve to focus on your progress. A little progress is easy to accomplish and leads to significant progress.
- Learn a new skill. Have you always wanted to learn how to fly a plane, play the trumpet, build a deck, or design a website? Give yourself the gift of indulging that desire. Take the first step to learning that new skill. Today is just as good a day to get started as any other.
- Make a list of your best qualities. You can probably list your shortcomings without a lot of thought, but you’re less aware of your best qualities. Give yourself five minutes to write down your best qualities. Ask your friends and family for help, too.
- With your unique talents and skills, you have a lot to offer the world and yourself.
- Keep the promises you make to yourself. Everyone in the world is a liar. Sure, you might be honest with others, but you lie incessantly to yourself. You tell yourself that you’re going to stick with your diet “this time.” Or you tell yourself that you’re never going to be late to work again. Lies! All lies!
- After consistently lying to yourself for years, you don’t even believe yourself anymore. You know when you’re lying to yourself.
- Choose to be honest with yourself from now on. Promise yourself only what you know you can deliver, and you’ll be so much happier with your results and yourself.
Ensure that you satisfy your own needs as you tend to the needs of others. Everyone is essential, and that includes you, too. Give yourself the same priority you give to others in your life. Take the time to love yourself more.
