‘Tis the season to fall in love! And what better person to fall in love with than yourself, right?! Right! I know that concept may be quite scary (overwhelming, impossible, unnecessary, etc.), but I promise it is something worth spending your time and energy on. In a world where you have been taught to think that your Valentine’s Day energy should solely be focused on those that you love, you need to learn to reroute some of that energy inward. To help with this, I am sharing all the best ways for you to spread the self-love this Valentine’s Day.
The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself. The most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone.
Do Nice Things For Yourself
Sometimes we forget that we are deserving of nice things, so embracing opportunities to treat ourselves is the perfect way to remind us of that. I have personally found that even an ordinary little treat can make the most profound impact on how I perceive my self-worth. So say it with me: “I deserve nice things”. Now go treat yourself! Get your nails done, buy yourself flowers, write yourself a love letter, book a massage, or purchase those boots you have had your eye on for months. You haven’t earned it, you deserve it.
Avoid Negative Self-Talk
Eliminating negative self-talk is one of my biggest goals for 2024, and it is such a inhibitor in my never ending quest to find ways to fall in love with myself. If you are anything like me, you are your own worst critic. You beat yourself up when you wake up too late to squeeze a workout in or you ridicule yourself in the mirror when you are having a low self-esteem day. It’s common, but it needs to stop.
How you talk to yourself impacts all aspects of your life, from your relationships to your physical and mental health. Having personal standards is important, but having a constant negative internal dialogue is not. So be kind to yourself, starting with your self-talk.
Embrace Your Accomplishments
However big, however small, take the time to recognize and congratulate yourself on your accomplishments. Some days that accomplishment may be a promotion at work, other days it may simply be that you made your bed. Understand that life ebbs and flows, and so do you. Just because you did not have the best, most fulfilling day of your life does not mean that you went without accomplishments. Embrace yourself for showing up, regardless of how that looks in comparison to other days or other people. You are a success that is worthy of love.
Let Go Of Past Mistakes
Piggybacking on embracing your accomplishments, you also need to learn to forgive yourself in order to fall in love with yourself. You are human and you make mistakes. Those mistakes may seem monumental in the moment, but the world will keep turning. Continually ruminating on your past wrongdoings is not healthy or productive. Instead, treat those experiences as opportunities to grow and use them as mindful lessons in the future. Show yourself the same compassion and forgiveness that you would show your best friend.
Spend Time Alone
When I say that you should spend time alone, I do not just mean sitting at home in your jammies binge watching Bridgerton all day. As heavenly a pastime as that may be, I mean for you to go out and spend time with yourself. Hike by yourself. Watch a movie at the theater by yourself. Eat a fancy dinner by yourself. Picnic by yourself. Walk on the beach by yourself. Fall in love with yourself by making the time to know yourself as you are when you are alone. Your relationship with yourself is the most important in your life, so invest in it and learn to be your own best friend.
Seek Out Uplifting Energy
Now will always be the perfect time to stop surrounding yourself with people who bring you down. If you are who you surround yourself with, then you owe it to yourself to fill your circle with happy, healthy people. Spend time with those who bring inspiration and light into your life and create boundaries to protect your energy from the relationships that do not. When you prioritize time with people who make you better, you will see how that influences you to be better.
Speak Your Own Love Language
When Gary Chapman taught the world about The 5 Love Languages, it unlocked a powerful insight into how people show and receive love. You may know and understand your love language, but are you speaking in that love language to yourself? If “Quality Time” is your love language, are you making an effort to give yourself your undivided attention? Give yourself the love that you give to others.
Vocalize Positive Affirmations
Vocalizing positive affirmations is an incredible tool to help you overcome the self-sabotaging mental behavior of negative self-talk that I mentioned earlier. When you use positive affirmations to redirect your energy towards your goals and aspirations, you will cultivate a deep sense of love and acceptance within yourself. Making this practice a daily habit will transform your relationship with yourself.
Start by creating a list of positive affirmations that speak to your soul. The affirmations can be anything from a simple “I am enough.” to a more pointed “I trust my intuition to guide me in making the best decisions for myself.” and anything in between. From there, start repeating them to yourself daily and watch your mindset begin to transform.
For majority of my life I felt like I was genetically preprogrammed to people-please the sh*t out of any situation, often putting the needs and desires of others ahead of my own. While I will always enjoy making others feel loved, I have learned that it is important for me to also prioritize myself. I have learned that I cannot wholeheartedly show love to others without falling in love with myself first.
I have shared these eight ways to fall in love with yourself this Valentine’s day, but I hope that you don’t limit them to a calendar day or even a month. You are worthy of love any day of the year and deserve to invest in your relationship with yourself.
xoA
Over To You
Are you ready to fall in love with yourself? I truly hope so! Do any of these ways to fall in love with yourself resonate with you? If so, which one? How do you practice self-love? I want to hear all about it, so be sure to share by leaving a comment below.
