How often do you look around at all the other successful, happy women and ask yourself, how do they manage to feel so good all the time?
Well, the answer is simpler than you think. Self-love is the key to being happy and it can help you set and achieve most of your goals because self-love is in the same time a reflection of your self-esteem and self-worth. Women with a healthy self-esteem have faith in their own abilities, take pride in their accomplishments without sabotaging their own efforts.
So if you have troubles seeing the good part of life or sustaining healthy habits that broaden your perspective and resources, you might need to learn how to develop self-love through positivity and a healthy self-esteem. Here are some simple to follow recipes that can help you feel better about yourself while strengthening your self-love.
- Stop comparing yourself to others
Comparison is one of the main reasons we struggle with insecurity. So if you know you’re always comparing yourself to the next person trying to measure your beauty, your success or to validate your abilities, stop doing that. Not only it will set you back but it will also make you feel jealous and that will prevent you from reaching your full potential. Instead focus on your own abilities and on your own journey. When you’ll shift that energy towards yourself, you will feel free and grateful for all that you have.
- Don’t worry about others’ opinions
Leaving aside the fact that people are entitled to think however they want in the same way you are entitles to think whatever you want; you need to understand that you will never be able to make everyone around you happy. Trying this is a waste of time and will slow you down from your own journey. You have only one life to live so you don’t need no one to approve your choices or to tell you what’s best for you. Make your own decisions, learn from your own choices and stop worrying about what others think or expect from you. You’re the only one that knows what’s best for you.
- Allow yourself to make mistakes
The pressure of failing is more and more intense as we are getting older but guess what? Nobody is perfect and each of us makes mistakes. As long as we learn how to embrace the past and grow from these lessons we received in life, everything should be all right. Mistakes are a part of our evolution and shape us in who we will be in the future. So make mistakes and cut yourself some slack, cause these are priceless lessons about yourself.
- Remember your value doesn’t lie in how your body looks
Unfortunately, we live in a society that encourages the idea of a perfect body shape, making us internalize sexism and develop thoughts of inadequacy. It is fundamental to know and accept that you are valuable for who you are not because of your body, so don’t let anyone and anything distract you from this powerful truth. Feel happy and comfortable with yourself and confident and remember that our beauty lies in our differences.
- Don’t be afraid to let go of toxic people
Even if it may be painful, it is healthy, important and liberating to let go of all those who are bringing toxicity into your life, especially if they don’t take responsibility for it and don’t do a thing to change their behaviors. Don’t be afraid to step away from toxic people, even if they are close to you because they will drain your energy and finally, your life. It’s not wrong nor rude to let them go or to remove yourself from their company or certain situations.
- Process your fears
Being afraid is a natural feeling and a human reaction so before rejecting your fears, stay with them and try to understand them. You can only gain clarity and solve some of the issues in your life when you have the courage to evaluate these fears. If you ignore them, they will only grow and lead to anxiety and depression. So unmask all of your fears in life and learn how to cope with them.
- Trust yourself to make good decisions for yourself
If it often happens to you to doubt your capacity to do what’s right, I want to remind you that most of the time we all know deep in our hearts what’s best for us. All of your feelings are valid so you should know better than anyone else what’s best for you in a certain circumstance. Just try to keep in touch with your own reality and stop second guessing yourself.
- Take every opportunity life presents or create your own
Life presents us a lot of good opportunities but like most people we sometimes take some and miss others. Unfortunately, not all opportunities last forever so if you don’t want to miss out something that can be life-changing start saying yes to the opportunities that come around, even if the timing is not perfect or the set up is not ideal. Sometimes these chances can really make the difference between a great life and a mediocre one. So don’t hold back from fulfilling your dreams and seize every moment in life.
- Put yourself first
There are a lot of women that learned that they should feel bad if they put themselves firs. They were taught that this is being selfish so instead they drop everything to make other people happy, on the expense of their own mental and emotional well-being. So, learn to put yourself first, find time to recharge and decompress, start prioritizing your own goals and learn to say no when someone wants to take all of your time. This means to love yourself not to be selfish.
- Feel pain and joy as fully as you can
Allow yourself to feel all the emotions that you experience, fully. Once you’ll understand them, you will realize that they don’t define you. They are temporary visitors that should be acknowledged in order to understand yourself better.
- Exercise boldness in public
If you are a shy person, you should know that boldness works just like a muscle. You need to exercise it if you want to jumpstart your courage regimen. Face your fears, embrace uncertainty and start doing what scares you. This is the only way to set your compass to courage. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and join that conversation. Take action, make your voice heard, don’t wait for permission to join, contribute your thoughts and speak your mind.
- See beauty in the simple things
Learn to focus on the good part of life, notice the beauty in small things and you will find joy with everything you’re grateful for.
- Be kind to yourself
The world is already harsh, don’t add more critique and judgment to yourself. Instead learn to celebrate every part of you and be grateful for how much you’ve grown instead of thinking of all those things that you still need to work on. Speak nice to yourself, pamper yourself, be kind to yourself, all day, every day.
You might not achieve self-love over night but if you are being patient and learn how to be your own friend instead of your biggest critique, you might step the first stones on this journey to a healthier, happier you.
