Written by: Dr. Denise Moore Revel, 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.
I know why you’re here! It’s a new year, you’ve got new goals and you’re ready to reach new heights. Maybe you’re already a self-love professional. Maybe you didn’t even know that self-love was an actual thing. Either way, practicing loving yourself in every area of your well-being can help accelerate your level-up journey. As a notoriously passionate self-love expert, I’ve got a bunch of tips to help you get where you want to be faster in honor of the month dedicated to love.
To love yourself means to wholly accept yourself just as you are. Loving yourself involves knowing that you deserve your own time, patience, and effort. When you love yourself, you tend to yourself emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Of course, all of these parts of you are interdependent. Therefore, although they can be addressed individually, you’ll find that you feel most loved when you attend to all of them.
My top suggestions for how to care for yourself are divided into four of the major areas of your life: physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual.
Your Physical Self: Looking after your body
Your physical appearance and condition reveal so much regarding how you feel about yourself. Do you make special efforts to care for your body each day? When was the last time you spent extra time to improve your personal appearance?
In regard to your health, do you regularly visit your doctor and take all medication as prescribed? Hopefully, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding, “Yes!”
If you’re on a road of personal growth and healing, you probably work to change unhealthy lifestyle patterns each day. Here are some ways you can show self-love by tending to your physical body:
Take more time with your appearance. Most of us could easily spend a few additional minutes during our shower, shave, makeup application, or hair styling. Ask yourself: do you notice the condition of your skin each day? Or do you spend your brief minutes in the mirror thinking unkind things about your body? If you want to demonstrate to the world that you love yourself, spend more time on the physical you. Take pride in yourself and in your appearance. You’ll be glad you did!
Make a change. Occasionally, do something different with your appearance and remember to have fun with it! Change the color of your hair. Or consider trying out a new style of clothing. Maybe you try a new, daring lip color to work. When you alter something about your appearance, you demonstrate you’re worth the time and effort it takes to try something new. Plus, it’s refreshing.
Put energy into yourself. Knowing you’re worthy of your own energy is an important aspect of loving yourself. When you direct your attention toward something that’s just for you, even if only for ten minutes a day, the message you send to yourself is that you’re worth it.
Through your behaviors every single day, be dedicated to fully accepting yourself. The level at which you ensure that you meet all of your physical requirements helps illustrate how you feel about yourself. Commit to your own self-care.
Your Intellectual Self: Feeding your mind
Loving yourself also involves providing your brain with plenty of intellectual stimulation. Here are some effective ways to demonstrate self-love by giving your mind a workout.
Do something you’ve longed to do. Loved art class in high school? Always wanted to pick up that paint brush again? Now’s the time to go for it. Exploring a new or long-loved subject might feel like a delicious indulgence. You deserve to feast your mind on subjects that are intellectually stimulating to you.
Write down your life priorities. What’s important to you? Jot down your life goals. What do you really seek to accomplish in life? Finally, take note of how you spend most of your time. Your three lists should all be similar or closely connected.
Foster your passions and dreams. Ask yourself, “What do I care intensely about?” Then, delve into that subject. Learn everything you can about it. Practice it. Study it. Live it. If an idea, topic, or endeavor excites you, chase after it. The same goes for your dreams. Once you know what your hearts’ desires are, do everything you can to achieve them.
Accessing the power you have in your mind means you’ll experience self-confidence and feel love for yourself each day. Loving yourself means you seek, find and experience all types of mental stimulation. You look into topics of interest, maintain real friendships with real people, live consciously each day, consider the bigger picture, and find power within you.
Your Emotional Self: Understanding & Respecting your own feelings
Possibly the single most important facet of loving yourself is taking great care of your emotional self. What you believe to be true about yourself illustrates the degree to which you love and accept yourself. Try these tips to love yourself more by taking care of your emotional being:
Accept yourself. Realize that you’re as important, special and worthy as every other human being on earth. Connect deeply with this reality. Use this as an affirmation: “I am important, special and worthy.” Try saying the affirmation out loud. Repeat it. Write it down. Then, read it to yourself. Do this twice per day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Watch for subtle shifts in the way you view yourself.
Journal. Write in a journal about what you really like about yourself. Journaling helps you connect with all of your strengths. The time you spend writing down your thoughts is an opportunity to cultivate positivity about all of your best qualities.
Claim responsibility for your own life. Often we try to find external reasons for why something happened, such as, “Why does he keep hurting me?” or, “What makes her think I deserve this treatment?” Instead, take responsibility. Ask yourself, “Since I’m responsible for myself, what do I need to do right now to remedy this situation for me?” Once you claim responsibility for your own life, you’ll fully consider the ramifications of your choices to stay in less than ideal situations.
In essence, understanding and acknowledging your own feelings validates your existence. By being honest with yourself about your feelings and taking action in accordance with them, you honor and show love to yourself.
Your Spiritual Self: Caring for your soul
Filling your spirit with genuine joy is a must if you love yourself. Give yourself time to do only what you love to do. Try refreshing your living space even in small ways from time to time, disengaging from technology periodically, and doing other activities that bring adventure and joy into your life. Check out these strategies and be inspired to think of still more ways to demonstrate how you care about yourself:
Make it a good morning. Take a little time in the morning to do something you really like to do. Give yourself the gift of the first few minutes of each morning. Your whole day will be better and your soul will thank you for that little bit of “me time” when you first arise.
Indulge. Do a little something special for yourself each and every day. You’ll enjoy life more when you put in the effort to do just that one thing that makes your heart sing. Go ahead and do those activities you think are special, fun or self-indulgent.
Change your personal space. Making small but meaningful changes in your home truly invigorates your soul. Nothing says “I love myself” like renewing your cherished space in your house. Clean something deeply and well or throw some things away that weigh you down, for example.
Taking care of your spiritual self can be done by practicing one or many of the above strategies. Anything that brings joy to your soul ultimately demonstrates self-love.
“Your soul is all that you possess. Take it in hand and make something of it!” ‒ Martin H. Fischer
If you want to live a rich, full life, learn now to love yourself. Take care of all of your different kinds of needs. This shows that you have great affection and love for yourself. When you love yourself, you’re more likely to be loved by others and to be able to truly care for another person. Love yourself first and you’ll experience the incredible joys that life can bring. The practice and art of loving yourself makes room for leveling up in every area of your life and I’m excited for you to reach your destination!
Looking for more inspiration? In need of a few more tips and words of advice about leveling up, owning your power and evolving to your next level? Not sure how to get started?
I’ve been there!
Affirmations, a plan, a promise to myself and visual reminders worked for me and I’m sure it can work for you, too. Inspiration is all around us but if we’re not paying attention, we’ll never catch a hold of that feeling.
This is why I created the Own Your Amazing Movement Manifesto when I got started on my own journey. Someone suggested I try making a manifesto to myself that I could use and reflect on everyday.
A manifesto is a great way to help you set and achieve personal goals. It can be used to define your values, beliefs, and objectives, and to measure progress towards your desired outcomes. A manifesto can provide a powerful and actionable plan for personal growth and evolution, giving you the motivation and momentum to make positive changes in your life. It can help you stay focused on the big picture and to make the most of the resources you have available. With a manifesto, you can create a framework for success and a roadmap to reach your goals.
I’d love to share the Own Your Amazing Manifesto for free! This informational, printable graphic can serve as gentle reminders that will empower you to give yourself permission to grow, get stronger and conquer your fears! Put it in your fridge, in your office or by your front door – whatever is easiest for you to see, read and enjoy. This infographic includes the top five tips for owning your amazing, it’s short, sweet and to the point!
Visit this link to get your free copy. Here’s to you, and to meeting your dream life and goals in 2023.
For more information on me and the Own Your Amazing Movement, please visit the OYA website.
Dr. Denise Moore Revel, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Denise Moore Revel, PhD is a Thought Leader, Best-selling Author and Personal Development coach. She built a career and business in Speech-Language Therapy before realizing she had more to offer when it came to helping others use their voice. This revelation inspired her to become the CEO and founder of the Own Your Amazing Movement (OYA). OYA is a movement that speaks to women who are looking for the perfect balance of happiness and success in their lives. Dr. Denise helps her clients discover their personal power beyond their job title and accolades to achieve a fulfilling life beyond their wildest dreams.
