Now more than ever, self-love is extremely important. Social media, peers, society, and so on tell us “how” we are supposed to act. They tell us what we are supposed to look like and what we are supposed to do. When we try to fit into a box that is not meant for us, it’s easy to look down on ourselves and fail to appreciate who we truly are. We must be proactive in practicing self-love. The following daily self-love habits will help you love and appreciate who you are.
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1. Take a Little “Me Time”
Spend some time each day doing something small for yourself. You should have at least one bigger self-care item scheduled each week, but do something for yourself each day. This can be as small as going for a walk alone to clear your mind after lunch. It can be spending a few extra moments in the bathroom, soaking your feet, or listening to your favorite song. Practicing some sort of self-care should be a daily self-love habit. For more awesome self-care ideas, click here.
2. Make Affirming Your Worth A Daily Self-Love Habit
Take a moment or two every day to affirm your worth. Affirmations work by rewiring your mind to believe what you say. I love the quote by Louise Hay that says, “Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked, try approving of yourself and see what happens.” Affirmations are a great way to start approving of yourself. Say affirmations that mean something to you every morning and throughout the day and especially when you need a little more self-love. Here are five self-love affirmations that I love that you can use to get started.
- “I am unique and feel great about being me.”
- “I deserve all the good things that happen for me.”
- “The greatest gift I can receive is my own unconditional love.”
- “I am beautiful inside and out.”
- “I recognize my imperfections and accept them fully.
Make saying affirmations a habit to increase your self-love and self-worth. Click here for more self-love affirmations.
3. Remember Your Successes
How sad is it that most of us can remember our failures in great detail no matter how long ago, yet have the hardest time listing just a few of our successes from the past year? We give too much attention to our setbacks and failures. It is time to let our successes take the spotlight. A powerful self-love habit to adopt is to make a conscious effort to remember your successes. An easy way to get started is to journal each night. In your journal, make a note of all the things that went right for you that day, no matter how small. As you journal, you’ll see that you do have successes and can easily look back to past entries to reflect on all the amazing things you have done.
4. Make Journaling a Daily Self-Love Habit
You can do more than write in your journal about your successes. Journaling, in general, will help you in many ways. It can reduce stress and anxiety, help with depression, improve your overall happiness, and much more. You can also get more specialized journals such as a Self-Love Journal. These types of journals help you stay focused on self-love and self-appreciation. Pick one up today and start writing.
5. Squash Your Inner Critic
Our inner critic says things like, “You are not good enough,” “You aren’t capable of doing that,” or, “Who would love you?” Many people have a negative voice playing on repeat throughout the day. If you do as well, it’s time to adopt the self-love habit of squashing your inner critic. The next time you recognize that you are beating yourself up, take a moment to affirm your worth. Use one of the affirmations we covered earlier or use a specific affirmation for the occasion. For example, if your inner critic says, “No one cares what I think,” you could say, “My voice is valuable, and my opinion matters.” Drown out your inner critic by repeating affirmations over and over.
You can also squash your inner critic by challenging it. If it says, “I’ll never catch a break,” challenge it and think of an occasion where this wasn’t true. I’m sure you’ve had a break in the past. When you challenge your negative voice, it starts to lose its power over you.
6. Say “No” More Often
“No” is one of the most powerful words in your vocabulary. It can ease stress, give you more time for things that are important, help you feel more fulfilled, and so much more. Many people fail to use it, however, and instead say “Yes” to everything. They say “Yes” to favors they really do not want to do. They say “Yes” to going places they really don’t want to go. Get out of the habit of saying “Yes” and get into the habit of saying “No.” Turn down people and events that drain you. Get some of your precious time and energy back and use it to focus on self-care and self-love.
7. Make Practicing Self-Kindness a Daily Self-Love Habit
Make it a daily self-love habit to be kind to yourself. We tend to beat ourselves up when things do not go our way. When you mess up, or things do not go according to plan, show yourself some grace. A great way to practice self-kindness is to treat yourself like a good friend. What would you say to a good friend if they were beating themselves up? You’d probably tell them that things will get better. You would tell a good friend that they are great just the way they are and they should get back on their feet and keep moving. You should talk to yourself the same way. Show yourself kindness and treat yourself like a close personal friend.
8. Take Care of Your Mind and Body
Make it a daily self-love habit to do something beneficial for your mind and body. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day exercising your body. Get up early and work out if you are struggling to find the time. You should also focus on your mental health. Meditation is a great way to take care of your mind. It has many benefits such as reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and improving mood.
9. Unplug Each day
One of the best habits to adopt for your self-love is to unplug from it all. Turn off your TV, put down your phone, and check out from today’s technology. We are inundated with messages and images of how we should act, or how we should look. This can cause us to judge who we are and where we are in life. Give yourself a break and take at least 30 minutes detached from technology. Use that time to practice one of the other self-love habits on this list or reflect.
Conclusion
Self-love is essential, and you should adopt daily habits to develop self-appreciation. Take a little “me time,” affirm your worth, remember your successes, journal, and squash your inner critic. You can also say “no” more often, practice self-kindness, take care of your mind and body, and unplug each day.
Which one of these self-love habits do you feel would benefit you most? Let us know in the comments.
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