Self-Love Program is a series of articles that will guide you through simple and actionable steps to cultivate self-love and start feeling better.
- Why Self Love Is Important For Your Mental Health
- How Do I Know I Need More Self Love?
- 1. You Feel Numb and You Don’t Have as Much Interest in Anything
- 2. If You Don't Love Yourself You Hold Grudges and Minor Trespasses Make You Furious
- 3. You Feel You Are an Impostor
- 4. Not Enough Self Love Makes You Less Assertive
- 5. Lack of Self Love Manifests as Your Personal Hygiene Suffers
- Self Love Program
Why Self Love Is Important For Your Mental Health
Relationships with others can be highly complex and confusing, but the strangest thing is that you don’t even need another person to find yourself in a difficult relationship with.
Sometimes it’s within ourselves that we experience internal conflict, detachment, and alienation.
If you argue with your spouse, you can walk away and shut the door. But it’s impossible to escape an opponent you carry inside you.
The relationship that you have with yourself is the most important of all.
‘’A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.’’
Mark Twain
How Do I Know I Need More Self Love?
With the numerous pressures from the modern world crashing down on us, it’s no surprise that a lot of people are finding themselves disconnected and unhappy. Therefore, we’re trying to make ourselves feel better by seeking validation from the external world. Which rarely comes.
So how do we get that feeling of being loved?
What we really need is more self-love. So let’s stop seeking approval and appreciation from others. Let’s look inside instead.
But how can you tell if you need to start loving yourself more?
Read on to discover if you could do with a little more loving.
1. You Feel Numb and You Don’t Have as Much Interest in Anything
Do you have hobbies and interests that just don’t seem to really excite you or make you feel good anymore?
If you’ve recently experienced a major change in attitude towards the things that used to get you out of bed every day, then it’s pretty possible that you need more self-love.
When you don’t take care of your emotional needs and allow stress to rule multiple aspects of your life, the things that you once loved won’t feel the same.
Such apathy is one of the symptoms typical of depression as well. And depression can be a natural effect caused by unfulfillment in life. Possibly a job that grates on you, or an environment that you used to enjoy has become oppressive.
Apathy can also be a sign of burnout. The responsible, self-loving thing to do would be to allow yourself to have more time to relax. It’s important to work, but it’s also important to be balanced.
When that balance gets murky, you can and most likely will get tired of the constant pressure. It might not be a threat at the moment, but things can change quickly, and suddenly you become overwhelmed.
Stay balanced, and you’ll be less likely to fry yourself.
Grab some time to relax, forget about your worries just for a little while, and find your grounding.
2. If You Don’t Love Yourself You Hold Grudges and Minor Trespasses Make You Furious
Have you caught yourself observing people and muttering unpleasant things under your breath?
Misunderstandings happen, and sometimes the minor conflicts can seem like much bigger issues than they really are in the grand scheme. When you aren’t feeling love for yourself, it’s a lot easier to get caught in a pattern of criticizing others.
This habit of fault-finding is different from talking to a friend in a calm way about a troublesome path they’ve chosen. That kind of talk comes out of concern, whereas fault finding is more rooted in a person’s need to put down others so they can avoid looking at their own faults.
When people make mistakes, it’s important to remember that people are incapable of being perfect. So it’s healthier to extend the same kind of forgiveness that you would want to receive. It does nothing to hold onto grudges other than load your body down with stress as well.
Spend some time thinking about how little many of these minor issues will affect your life. If you know that they won’t do any lasting damage, then it’s probably sufficient to say what you need to say to the person involved and move on. If not for them, it should be for your mental health.
3. You Feel You Are an Impostor
One thing that plagues most of us is the internal voice that each and every person has inside of themselves.
Sometimes your inner voice can play tricks on you and make you doubt yourself. This voice in your head might even attack and ridicule you randomly through the day. If this is the case, then it would be a good idea to concentrate on positive things about yourself more often.
Because if you don’t love yourself enough, it can lead to cyclical bad behavior. Telling yourself that you’re fooling everyone and living in fear of that discovery will drain you.
Just look at the breadth of your actual achievements. Practice positive self-talk, and it could help you to gain a more realistic view of yourself.
Impostor inside feeds on insecurities. When you know who you are and learn to appreciate the way you are, the impostor will starve.
4. Not Enough Self Love Makes You Less Assertive
If you find yourself taking a back seat to things in life more often, don’t stand up for yourself or make your thoughts heard, you’re losing your will to fight for what you deserve. That’s a massive sign that your self-esteem is losing steam.
But doing more healthy things for yourself will help you to feel better and be more in touch with your body and be more tuned to your mind. Being kind to yourself will give you the confidence to claim what you need. When you’re comfortable in your skin, you’ll be naturally more confident.
5. Lack of Self Love Manifests as Your Personal Hygiene Suffers
One of the biggest signs that you might be in trouble is when you start slacking on personal grooming.
We all have days when we skip a shower once or twice in a year or fall asleep before taking the make-up off, it’s no big deal. Neglecting personal care habitually, however, signals that something isn’t right. Lack of hygiene is a strong sign of depression and other related emotional disturbances.
Make sure that you create a routine to keep yourself looking and feeling well. If you go without basic cleanliness, it can be easy to feel like nothing matters as much. Therefore, it’s important to go out of your way to make yourself feel better and healthy. That alone could be a massive boost to your attitude.
Take care of yourself every day.
‘’When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings you joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.’’
Jean Shinoda Bolen
Self Love Program
Self-Love Week 1: 6 Simple and Affordable Ways To Start Practising Self-Love
Self-Love Week 2: 5 Ways to Build a Positive Relationship With Yourself
Self-Love Week 3: How To Treat Your Body With Kindness And Feel Happier
Self-Love Week 4: How To Have a Great Day Every Day? Wake Up Early To Avoid Panic and Meltdowns!
Self-Love Week 5: Start Living Your Best Life Now: Focus On Your Future, Not The Past
Self-Love Week 6: 5 Benefits of Positive Self-Talk For Life Change
Self-Love Week 7: How To Create a Daily Self-Care Ritual
Self-Love Week 8: How to Set Life Goals for Better Future After 40
Self-Love Week 9: How to Find Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes a Day
This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.
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