Because it all starts from within.
I’ve got to admit that while there are times when my self-love is at a high, there are still instances where it’s at a low. But I’ve learned that it’s a normal experience, and all you can really do is know how to bounce back every time.
And here’s another truth – you can make self-love a part of your life at any time. It can be during your good days or your bad days, you can always take the steps to make it a part of your life and build the habits as well.
This blog post is all about the tangible steps you can take to make self-love a regular part of your life. You will also learn some daily and weekly habits that can ensure that self-love is a part of your life.
This blog post is for anyone who wants to master self-love, because it is key to personal growth.
Now, let’s dive in.
Tangible Steps you Can Take Now
Step 1 – List Your Self-Love Boosters & Drainers
Your self-love boosters are what boosts your self-love.
Your self-love drainers are what drains your self-love.
Examples of self-love boosters include:
- Inspirational/Motivational Quotes Folder
- Drinking water
- Taking a shower
- Journalling
And your self-love drainers include:
- Social media
- Reading/Watching the News
Knowing these ahead of time helps you know what to do when you have moments of low self-love. You go straight to the self-love boosters and stay away from the self-love drainers.
RELATED: Self-Love Routine (beginner guide to Self-Love)
Step 2 – Create a Me List
A me list is where you create a list about yourself. This is where you write everything about yourself including:
- what you do for a living;
- your qualities;
- what you love doing for fun;
- fun facts;
- life stories; and beyond
It’s sort of like a biography.
This is a great way to have self-love be a part of your life because it’s something to look back on whenever you feel like you’re comparing yourself to someone else. Comparing yourself is a toxic habit that we need to let go of, so this is one unique way to break away from it.
It allows you to be reminded of how unique and special you are.
Step 3 – Unfollow accounts that make you feel bad about yourself
If there is an account you follow on social media that makes you feel bad about yourself and doesn’t bring any of the three:
- inspiration
- motivation
- education
-then it may be time to reconsider if we should still be following the account.
When you can, do a reflection on the accounts you follow on social media. Social media is always a better experience when your feeds are curated to make you feel good.
RELATED: Ways to Build a Healthy Relationship with Social Media
Step 4 – Create your list of boundaries
It is also important to be aware of your boundaries ahead of time. These can include your major boundaries, and your small boundaries as well.
By knowing these boundaries ahead of time, you know what to stand firm with, and you know when to say no without the guilt that comes with it.
Step 5- Discover your personal love language
If you don’t know what love languages are, they are from the book called Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman*
Although the book is intended for people in relationships, it can apply to self-love as well.
The Five love languages include:
- Words of Affirmation
- Quality Time
- Receiving Gifts
- Acts of Service
- Physical Touch
Once you learn your love language, you can choose the solo date activities that work best for you based on your love language.
Disclaimer: If you purchase through my links, I do receive a commission but there will be no extra cost to you! You can read through my website terms of use for extra information. Thank you!
RELATED: How to Practice the Five Love Languages on Yourself
Regular Habits
Daily Habits
Gratitude
Whether you practice gratitude in the morning or evening, as long as you take the time to appreciate what you have.
It can be so easy to get caught up in what we want for the future that we forget the things we have now. But by taking the time to appreciate what you have now, you don’t need to stress too much about the future.
Gratitude is a self-love exercise because when you’re constantly reminded of the things that are good in your life, you start to love life more, and yourself more. It’s also an effective way to bounce back from the bad days.
Exercise
Even on days when you don’t work out, at least move your body.
Showing yourself that you care for your body is an act of self-love.
When you take good care of yourself by taking care of your health, you are mastering self-love.
Affirmations
Writing & Saying affirmations out loud can be a powerful tool for rewiring your brain to feel better about yourself.
When I lacked self-love, one of the things that helped me was listening to affirmations. If you go on YouTube and search for self-love affirmations, you’ll find many videos of it. This helped because they are repetitive, and repetition is the key to remembering something.
Aside from listening to affirmations, you can also physically write them down. Physically writing it down forces your brain to take the time to comprehend the affirmation. Additionally, you can also say it out loud, and personally, the best place to do this is in the mirror because it hits differently when you’re looking at yourself.
Do something for yourself
When you show someone love, you do something thoughtful for them.
Do the same thing for you! Make an effort to do something that shows your love for yourself. Examples include:
- Cooking a nice meal for yourself
- Take yourself on a nice nature walk
- Clean up your spaces so your future self will thank you later
- Buy yourself some treats
RELATED: 20 ways to date yourself & build a better relationship with you
Weekly Habits
Go on Solo Dates
Going on solo dates allows you to spend time in your own company and enjoy it.
The best part about solo dates is that you can choose any activity you want, and no one else influences that decision.
The more solo dates you go on, the more you become a pro at it. You’ll also learn and discover more about yourself along the way, and improve the relationship you have with yourself.
Social Media Detox
Social media has a whole pool of content… there is no doubt of that. When our brain is exposed to a lot of it, it can feel overwhelming.
Detoxing from social media even if it’s just for a few hours in a day (it doesn’t have to be the whole day) can bring a lot of benefits. During that time, you can do the other activities you need to do or the ones you enjoy doing.
It’s good sometimes to step away from it once in a while because our world should evolve in that world.
To Wrap Up
By taking the tangible steps to create your list of self-love drainers and boosters, boundaries, me-list, unfollowing accounts that make you feel bad about yourself, and discovering your love language, you already set the stepping stone and foundation for more self-love in your life.
By implementing habits such as gratitude, exercise, affirmations, solo activities, and social media detox, you ensure that your self-love is maintained and consistent.
And these steps and habits were made to be small steps. Small steps are key to progression because multiple small steps you take add up quite quickly! If you want to read more about how small steps can help you make progress, I’ve got a book called Small Steps to Progression which you can download for free here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to pour some energy and love into yourself today!
-Lauren 🙂
P.S I suggest you read these blog posts next:
- Easy Ways to Have More Self-Love in Your Life
- Daily Self-Love Habits to Implement in Your Life Now
- 20 Ways to Build a Better Relationship with Yourself
Share This Blog Post Here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, this is Lauren! I’m a law grad from Melbourne, Australia. On laurenbarri.com, I create content on all things personal development, productivity, self-care, and habits! I am super passionate about these topics because of how they helped me in all areas of my life, and I want to share it with others!
CONNECT with ME!! 🗯
Instagram:
@laurenlbarri (blog Instagram)
If you got value from this blog in any way, it would mean the world if you could show your support on my Buy Me a Coffee platform! (otherwise I am just really happy that you’re here 😊)
