Written by: Suzie Ayonna Suttles, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Loving yourself isn't selfish. It's critical for your health, self-esteem, self-confidence, and success. When you love yourself, you will make yourself a priority, and you'll take care of yourself because you realize you deserve nothing less. Learning to cultivate self-love is a necessary tool for inner and outer growth and healthy relationships with others.
Here are a few tips to enhance your self-love:
Learn to silence your inner critic and start viewing yourself in a positive light more often and highlight your accomplishments more than you spotlight the things that didn't go as planned. Whenever the inner critic surfaces, reminding you of the many times you've failed, remember your triumphs! Try this practice for 30-days and see what happens. You got this!
Spend time helping others in your community by volunteering as a way to boost your self-esteem. When you focus on serving others, you take a mental break from the stress of life and provides a lesson in gratitude. Volunteering also has the power to boost your opinion of yourself because you get to help someone in their time of need. It allows you to remove the attention from yourself and serve another human, and it's a reminder that to see good in the world, you must create the change you desire to see.
Learn to love your neighbor as you love yourself by being a good friend because it makes you feel good about yourself. There are times when we aren't being a good friend to others because we struggle with being a good friend to ourselves. When you are a good friend, everyone wins, and you build stronger and solid relationships with others.
Learn to forgive yourself for the mistakes you made in the past because, let's face it, we've all done things we aren't so proud about. The time has come for you to forgive yourself for those missteps and give yourself a break from doing what you thought was best at that time. Would you forgive someone you cared about? Well, learn to do it for yourself as well, no one is perfect, and we're all learning as we grow.
Learn to pursue the things you need in your life and not what you want. When you've taken care of your needs, you'll be in a better position to receive what you want. Your needs come first, and when you tend to satisfy those needs, you exemplify true self-love. Pursing your wants leaves you feeling empty and drained because you feel like something is missing. When you focus on fulfilling your needs, your manifestations will begin to flow effortlessly your way. Relax and focus on true fulfillment, which is self-love.
Spend time taking care of your body and finding an exercise tailored to your sense of joy and excitement. Exercising should be seen as a fun and healthy way of caring for yourself and not a chore. Self-harm is the opposite of self-love, and poor diet and lack of exercise leave you feeling drained and aren't a good example of self-love. When you make eating a healthy diet and exercising your body, you're showing yourself self-love and self-care. Making this your daily habit and watch how your energetic vibration raises in self-love.
Learn to appreciate your uniqueness because the most valuable parts about yourself are those that are different from everyone else. You have a different set of qualities, skills, and abilities that are all unique to you, and it's time for you to stop being embarrassed about them and learn to appreciate them. They are the unique qualities and gifts that make you the beautiful you, and learning to appreciate them cultivate more self-love.
Learning to practice gratitude for everything and everyone in your life builds self-esteem and self-love. You begin to realize your life is better than you think, and you are better than you think you are. Gratitude is truly a life changer!
Learn to be kind to yourself and learn to respect yourself the same way you do others. You are responsible for looking out for yourself, and you shouldn't place that burden on anyone else. Would be to anyone else. There is nothing wrong with being kind to others, but when you're kinder to others than yourself, you show up with a self-love deficit.
Self-love is the key to inner happiness and success and is a skill that can be developed with the proper training and assistance. Without self-love, you face an obstacle with self-development. Join our FREE private Facebook mental health support community today by subscribing to our monthly self-care newsletter, and start cultivating healthy self-love.
Suzie Ayonna Suttles, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Suzie is a Certified Intuitive Guide, Healer, and Reader, who is a survivor of childhood psychological abuse, and domestic violence abuse. She is a thriver of PTSD, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and an Intuitive Guidance Coach fostering the heart of men beyond the abuse of their past. Empowering men to move from the mindset of the victim to the mindset of the victor. She is a published author of 6 books, and her work was featured on HubPages, HealDove, and The GTCC Titan Review. Suzie is a proud member of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society.
