10 Life-Transforming Habits for Practicing Self-Love

Do you struggle with insecurities or find it tough to enjoy your own company? Maybe you’ve recently gone through a divorce or something similar. Whatever it is, practicing self love is the solution to all of these situations. We often put so much work into our relationships with partners, parents, and friends but often overlook the most crucial – the relationship we have with ourselves. Practicing self love doesn’t only benefit you but those around you too. In this article, we will be discussing some self-love practices and tips that can help you build a healthy relationship with yourself right now.

Table of Contents

What Self-Love Is — And What It’s Not

Self love is the actions we take to serve our higher good and help us become the person we aspire to be. These actions can include repeating affirmations, forgiving oneself, staying active, and much more. Nowadays, there’s this common misconception that practicing self love is all about treating ourselves with a cozy bath, binge-watching a Netflix show, or having a spa day. While those activities would greatly help lift our moods, their impacts are only temporary. Practicing self-love goes way beyond that and gives us lasting results.

Why Self-Love Is Important

The love you have for yourself is directly related to your confidence, which greatly impacts your actions. It’s a powerful cycle: self-love boosts confidence, which leads to positive actions, and these actions drive positive changes in your life. Furthermore, practicing self-love eliminates the fear of being alone and the worry of people leaving you. When you genuinely enjoy your own company and have a strong foundation of self-love, you’re less likely to stay in toxic relationships out of fear of loneliness or uncertainty about life without your partner. So practicing self love can help you let go of what doesn’t serve you and lead to a much happier life.

Another thing I’ve learned through life experiences is that you’re the only constant person in your life. People come and go, whether it’s moving out of your parents’ house, changing career paths and starting over, or friends relocating due to marriage. In all these scenarios, the one person who remains by your side, through thick and thin, is you. So it’s crucial to develop self-love for the person who will be your lifelong companion, literally till the end.

10 Ways To Practice Self-Love

Discipline is key to self love and that means doing what you NEED to do instead of what you WANT to do. That includes choosing the gym over Netflix, meditation over anxiety, and short-term pain over long-term regret. So without further ado, here are the ways in which we can practice self love every day:

Journaling

If you know me you would know that practicing self love through journaling is something I swear by and recommend to everyone. I journal every day and it single-handedly changed my life. I always say that it’s like having your very own therapist on call, ready to listen to whatever you want to share. This allows you to build a relationship based on trust and vulnerability with yourself. You don’t have to wait for someone else to be available; your journal is there for you whenever you need it.

There’s great pleasure in knowing you have an outlet to express yourself whenever you need it. Overthinking? I’ll journal and figure it out. Going through a difficult time? Journaling will help ease this for me. This is how it is for me. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t vent to others, it just means that you can be your friend too. Through journaling, you get to explore yourself and gain clarity into your desires and values in life. This, in turn, helps you recognize what you’re willing to accept and what you can’t tolerate from others. It’s a powerful tool for self-discovery and self-awareness.

Exercise: Reflect on the qualities you love about yourself (your strengths). It might be hard to find some at first because we often focus on our flaws, but keep going, and soon you’ll end up with a 100-point list.

Let Go Of What Doesn’t Serve You

I know, it’s easier said than done. However, staying in something more than you should makes you way more miserable in the long-term and maybe even lead to self-resentment – which won’t do you any good. This might involve the decision to distance yourself from your toxic friend who constantly belittles you, even though you may justify it due to a “childhood friendship.” It could also mean confronting a spouse who disrespects you when things don’t go their way, even if you hold onto the hope that they’ll change.

For those situations where you can’t just cut ties, like dealing with a family member or a co-worker you see every day, you can try setting some boundaries instead. Giving people chances after chances tells them you’re sticking around no matter what, giving them a green light to do whatever they want at your own expense. If someone is bringing more bad than good into your life, it’s time to let them go. It might sting and feel tough at first, but down the road, you’ll be glad you did. And have faith that if they really cared for you, they will make the necessary changes to win you back and regain your trust.

Meditation

I define meditation as the practice of observing our thoughts without judgment, allowing them to pass like clouds, while maintaining attention on the breath. Studies show that meditation helps in managing anxiety. So it’s a crucial aspect of practicing self-love. This is done by focusing our attention on the present moment, rather than dwelling on the future. This presence inspires self-acceptance and appreciation for who we are, as opposed to fixating on a future self.

I view meditation as devoted time for practicing self love and just being in my own body away from the distractions of the world. My meditation routine starts with a simple affirmation: ” I am doing this because I love myself and want to ease the stress and anxiety inside my body” and it definitely does the trick. I use the Insight Timer app, which offers a lot of free guided meditation courses that anyone can enroll in.

Be Your Own Best Friend

We grew up with this idea that if someone was eating alone at school, they were labeled as “losers,” or if they didn’t have a large circle of friends, they were considered a “loner.” We often measure our self-worth by the number of people around us rather than focusing on the quality of those connections, which is what truly matters in life. What’s interesting is that now, I find myself looking up to those individuals who are comfortable doing things on their own; they inspire me. They’re unapologetically comfortable being on their own.

So, my advice is to start doing things solo — attend concerts, treat yourself to that sushi you’ve been craving for months, even if no one else wants to join. Become your own best friend and be unapologetic about it. It doesn’t make you a “loser” in any way.

Positive Self-Talk

This might sound very simple and ineffective but trust me, the way you talk to yourself is VERY important. Imagine talking to your best friend the way you sometimes talk to yourself, saying things like “you don’t deserve this” or “you’re dumb.” We’d never treat them that way, right? So why do we do it to ourselves? Self-criticism is so destructive; it only brings you down and quite frankly doesn’t help you achieve anything.

Practicing self love includes something as simple as saying “I will know better next time” instead of “I messed up and I can’t do this.” Turn from your biggest critic to your biggest fan and watch how your life transforms.

Forgive Yourself

You’re not a saint and neither am I. And guess what? We will continue to make mistakes and mess up from time to time. What truly matters is that we take those faults and turn them into valuable lessons, so that they won’t happen again in the future. We are so quick to forgive other people, so why not extend that same compassion to ourselves? You deserve that understanding just as much as anyone else.

If it helps, consider writing an apology letter to those you may have wronged and then let it go. Take your mistakes as opportunities for growth, and you’ll come out stronger on the other side. That’s all there is to it.

Exercise: Recall a situation that still makes you feel bad. Take a moment to reflect and ask yourself: Where did I go wrong? What can I learn from this? And how can I make sure I don’t repeat that same mistake?

Keep Your Promises

We always make sure that we don’t bail out last minute on plans with a friend and are committed to keeping our word to them. Doing that makes people respect us and trust that we will show up whenever they need us. However, when it comes to the promises we make to ourselves, we often fall short. It’s a missed opportunity for practicing self-love.

For example, we might tell ourselves we’ll wake up early the next day but end up sleeping in. By doing this, we’re essentially showing ourselves that we can’t stay true to our own commitments and won’t follow through on what’s best for us. Self-discipline is self-love. Doing what needs to be done (waking up early) instead of what we want to do (sleeping in) builds self-respect and trust within ourselves.

Stack Up Wins

Set realistic goals for yourself and achieve them one by one. Make your success living proof of how capable you are. This increases your self-confidence and shuts down all the negative self-talk about how incapable you are.

Exercise: Set a big goal, break it into small daily tasks on a calendar, and check them off as you go. Keep the calendar where you’ll see it daily for motivation.

Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

Comparison is the killer of all joys. We often overlook all of our accomplishments when we see others that have more leaving us dissatisfied. What others do or don’t do is none of our business; instead, focus on your journey and what you’re building. It’s easier said than done and I 100% struggle with it but allowing yourself to be happy for those people and focusing on your own goals definitely helps.

Positive Affirmations

Figure out the affirmations you need to repeat for the areas where you might be struggling with practicing self-love. For instance, if it’s self-belief, you can repeat something like, “I’ve got the strength to handle whatever life throws my way.” It might feel like a lie at first, but think back to those times when you believed in yourself without a doubt, like when you climbed trees fearlessly. You’re just getting back to your truth. Remember you have to feel the affirmations for them to work.

Related Article: Make Affirmations Work For You Now!

Personal Story

I recently had this ear surgery where I had to stitch up a pretty big piercing hole, and it was done with just local anesthesia. So, I was fully awake during the whole procedure, feeling and hearing the surgeon snipping through my ear with scissors to stitch the cells back together, and let me tell you, it was highly disturbing. 😂

During that hour, I couldn’t help but have this deep realization about our incredible bodies. They’re constantly working to heal and keep us going, 24/7, without a break. It’s pretty mind-blowing how our bodies manage to keep our hearts beating and us alive. Yet, we often take our bodies for granted, putting them through unnecessary stress with bad eating habits or by taking unnecessary pills. Ever since then, I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for it and tried to take good care of it. Think about what your body does for you and maybe take a little lesson from my story.

Conclusion

Let’s recap! Practicing self-love is the key to boosting our self-confidence and taking meaningful action in our lives. We’ve emphasized that self-love goes beyond pampering like baths and indulging in chocolate – it also encompasses self-discipline. We’ve explored ways to integrate self-love into our daily routines and commit to showing up for ourselves more consistently. Remember, self love is a journey and you definitely shouldn’t wait for the end result to allow yourself to be happy. Instead, love yourself each step of the way and give yourself praise for the work you’re doing. That’s self love and practicing it is not selfish!

So, how was that? Which self love practice(s) will you be doing first? Let me know the impact they had on you and share it with your friends that you think need to practice self love. I’ll always be here cheering you on!