10 ways to love yourself.

Well, not THAT kinda love, cheeky!

Mixed media art print “Love yourself” – art print available HERE

Why would I tell you to love yourself you ask?
Well, because you are important! Because YOU are the most important person in your life. Think about it – you are the one that is always there for you, right? You are the one you can always count on. You have to have your back!
Yes, of course you have other friends as well. I am not saying they are not important. But many women simply overlook that they are important, too. Very.
So what if your relationship with you is not the best it could be? Well, here are some ideas how you can start to improve it:

1. Treat yourself the way you treat others that you love and care about.

Be gentle and kind to yourself. Why would you treat others nicely, but not yourself? Surely you deserve to be treated kindly!

2. Check your own beliefs about yourself.

Do you truly believe you are beautiful? You are lovable and loved? You are worthy? If you do not believe those things, why not? (And just for the record, yes, of course you should believe those things.)

3. Start using affirmations to tell you how wonderful you are.

For example you could have one that says „You are loved“ in your purse. Or let your phone tell you that “You are worthy”. Or hang an art print on your wall that reminds you “Love yourself”. ;-)

4. Take good care of yourself.

If you are stressed, sick or tired, try to think about what you would tell your kids or best friend in the same situation. Would you pressure them to just pull themselves together? Or would you tell them lovingly to take a break and rest?

5. Write yourself a loveletter.

Sounds weird, doesn’t it. But it is a nice way to truly think about what you think about yourself and give yourself some tender attention and love.

6. Have a me-date.

At least once a month. Once a week would be even better, but I know how crazy it can be with kids, family, work. When you have a me-date you only do what YOU love. Treat yourself to something nice. Be extra kind. No running errands. No „I am supposed to do that so I might as well…“. Just NO. Do something that YOU LOVE.

7. Dress yourself FOR yourself.

I realized some time ago that when I get dressed I mostly think about how others will see me. How crazy! Especially since I am the person I spend most time with.
So now I try to dress myself so I am happy with it. Sometimes I love to stay in my yoga pants and a comfy shirt all day. Yes, most people would not call that properly dressed. I am fine with that. :-) Sometimes I will get dressed up even though I am going nowhere in particular. Just because.

8. Hone in on what YOU need.

It is so easy, especially for women and mothers, to completely loose track on what their own needs are. We focus so much on what others need and get so used to being there for others, that we kinda loose touch with ourselves. Have you ever had this feeling that you simply do not know what you want, what you would enjoy right now, whether you rather wanna stay in or go out – read or paint – just sit still or watch a movie? Try to get more in touch with yourself. Try to get a feel for what you need. Sometimes this might be an evening at home alone with a movie. Sometimes it might be a coffee with a friend or a long walk. Practise to get better at knowing your own needs.

9. Be forgiving toward yourself.

If your child or a good friend does something wrong, you forgive. So do the same for yourself. Who says you have to be perfect. Noone is! So if you expect yourself to never make mistakes, that is totally unrealistic and kinda crazy. Right? Stop it.
(Noone said loving yourself would be easy.)

10. Listen to your intuition.

This has taken me a long time. And I am still working on it. But by now I deeply believe that we all have an inner knowing. Find it. Trust it. Honour it by listening to it.

I hope this list gives you some ideas. Have something to add? Please do so in the comments.

I would love to hear from you!