10 ways to love yourself

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

To love and accept yourself is probably one of the most difficult tasks in life. When was the last time you looked into the mirror and smiled at yourself instead of focusing on the zit or the new greys showing? When you choose ways to love yourself, you will realise that it will be a monumental factor that will affect all the other areas of life as well.

As a woman, we have so many roles we play and its crazy that we can actually manage to get some time for ourselves. The first thing you need to focus on if you wish to love yourself, is a feeling of self-awareness and a whole lot of acceptance. It’s important for you to accept yourself the way you are and connect with yourself. Self acceptance and love comes from within you. Keep in mind that loving yourself is not a one-off event, it has to be an ongoing process.

10 ways to love yourself

If you are ready to start, look up these 10 ways to love yourself. Chances are you’ll love this! A bit of self love, gratitude, happiness and you are set to tread the right path.

1. Start your day with some love and not technology.

Sometimes I still resort to switching on the wi-fi if I am having a particularly hectic week so that I can mentally get my to-do list ready and gear up for the day. Needless to say that it is one of my worse ways to start my day and yet I succumb to it!
I have been making these small changes by trying to get a morning routine described in the book Miracle Mornings by Hal Elrod. You can download the Kindle version here. It is a very good book that tells you to focus on the now before you start the day.

2. Be willing to let go

Sometimes all that old memories can bring up is a lot of pain and hurt. Letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose can be healing. You get to release toxic memories and make space for the new ones. Just breathe in, relax, and let go.

3. Use affirmations

Affirmations are short sentences that you use to train your mind to become more positive. Maintain a small notebook in which you write all your affirmations. Repeat till you believe in it!

4. Maintain a gratitude journal

Maintaining a gratitude journal is one of the most powerful things you can do. When you focus on the positives in your life, you just see more of it. Start with writing as less than 3 things that you are grateful for in your life and you will notice that there are so many things to be happy about!

5. Keep a happiness jar!

This is something that I love to do. A fancy glass jar on my desk that holds little folded papers of happy things written on it. Whenever something makes you happy, write it down and store it in the jar. On a particularly lousy day, open some of the chits and read them. You’ll be ready to welcome more love in your life.

6. Expand your interests.

When was the last time you tried something new? A new language? A new hobby? Solo travel or just take that plunge to do things that you haven’t done before? Discover organic living. Eat healthy for a month! There is so much that you can do. You should love and live your life to the fullest.

7. Believe in yourself

When you choose to believe in yourself and your abilities, you will find that there are limitless opportunities available to you. yourself enough to believe in the limitless opportunities available to you. Let go of urgency and look at more ways of leading a life less from struggles. Be kind and patient to yourself.

8. Be real!

if you have to speak up to be heard, then so do it. You need to let yourself be seen and known. Let people love you for who you are. Accept what you cannot change and appreciate everything about yourself – your talents, your appearance and your beauty.

9. Do what you love

Ever felt your gut say no to something that you didn’t want to do? In all probabilities, your intuition was right. Don;t be a part of activities that don’t make you happy and don’t let the toxic people in your life. Listen to your intuition and do what YOU love. Let the others have their opinion, but you know what is the best. All answers come from within.

10. Discover loads of fun! 

When you look for ways to love yourself, you also allow moments of fun to enter your life. If you have lived in a  world of self-ejection and neglect, do not hesitate to seek help from a professional who can put you back on track. Self-love needs you to relax and accept yourself.  You deserve to be happy and feel loved and accepted.

Those are 10 tips on ways to love yourself. Even if you are imperfect, love your imperfect self.  Love has amazing healing power. When you choose you love yourself, you are choosing to let go, accept yourself and heal. Let love begin with and within each of us. Loving yourself is the best investment you can make on yourself! What are some of your ways to love yourself?