40 ways to love yourself!

1. Understand that you do not have to be perfect to be successful. Stop trying to be perfect and stop criticizing yourself for being less than perfect. You are a work in progress. We all are.

 2. Give yourself a break. Allow yourself the same understanding you would allow others. We are usually far easier on others than we are on ourselves.

 3. Do not accept others’ unreasonable expectations of yourself. Don’t allow others to heap onto you their unreasonable expectations. Shake them off.

 4. Stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone on this earth is unique. We all have different gifts. Even those who seem similar have vast differences.

 5. Focus on your own strengths. Get to know yourself, and discover what your gifts are. You have unique talents that are meant to be shared with the world.

6. Practice gratitude. Recognize and be happy for what you have. Gratitude keeps your heart open to love.

7. Be who you really are. In order to love yourself, you have to stop loving the person you wish you were and love the person you actually are. Be the person that you are and learn to love yourself just like that.

8. Take things one step at a time. Break things down into manageable steps and know that you can only do one of these steps at a time. If you are still overwhelmed, break them down more. Stay in the moment.

9. Have faith in your process. Give yourself time. Progress doesn’t always move along the way we think it should. Know that with every little step you take, and with every positive thought you hold you are moving toward a healthier you.

10. Let go of past events. You deserve a fresh beginning. We all do. Acknowledge and accept your feelings about your past, and put them where they belong… behind you.

11. Cherish the lessons learned from your challenges, and appreciate that they have helped you grow. See the positive aspects this growth has made in your life.

12. Forgive those who have done you wrong. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you approve or accept what they have done to you. It means you are releasing the negative hold their actions had on you. It is something you do for you.

13. Forgive yourself. Don't punish yourself for something you have done in the past. We do the best we can with the knowledge we have at the time. Mistakes just indicate we didn’t have the knowledge at the time to do things differently and now we do.

14. Define yourself by your effort, not just your accomplishments. The journey is the thing.

15. Celebrate your accomplishments. Remind yourself regularly of all you CAN do.

16. Let go of the things you haven't done yet. Concentrate on the task at hand. Don’t consume yourself with what you still need to do.

17. Accept yourself, and others will follow your lead.

18. Stop saying bad things about yourself. Don't beat yourself up. It’s a useless endeavor that just takes away from your self-worth and growth. So don’t do it. Reject it.

19. Let yourself off the hook for not knowing all the answers. We are all trying to figure out how to navigate this world and we all have a lot to learn.

20. Nurture yourself. Set up some time to be by yourself, just by yourself. Do something that gives you peace, love, and joy with yourself. You deserve it.

21. Treat yourself like you treat your very best friend. How would you treat your very best friend? Become your own very best friend.

22. Give yourself compliments. Remind yourself of all the good things you have done and tell yourself how truly amazing you are for doing them.

23. Know your boundaries, and listen deeply to your needs. Acknowledging your needs does not make you selfish. It makes you stronger and able to offer more of yourself to others.

24. Always be kind and gentle with yourself. Silence any harsh inner voice that is critical. It serves no purpose.

25. Express yourself. Self -expression allows you to embrace the best and worst parts of yourself and come to a better understanding of who you are and what's important to you.

26. Keep a journal. Write about your experiences, good and bad. When you write down good experiences, allow yourself to feel those feelings. When you remember bad experiences, allow yourself to feel self-compassion. Compassion is not self-pity, but rather willingness to be present/accept with one's own pain and regret.

27 . Do what you love. Make yourself happy. What do you love to do? If you could find something that you love to do and spend time doing it, you will experience love, joy, and happiness in your heart. That is when you truly connect with your authentic self.

28. Embrace your feelings. Emotions are nothing more than internal experiences which contribute to who we are. It’s okay to feel. The more we try to avoid feeling our emotions the more they end up overwhelming us. 

29. Remind yourself regularly that you deserve care because you do. We all do.

30. Believe in yourself. Believe that your efforts will always yield positive results, even in the smallest measure.

31. Put positive statements up some places where you will see them each and every day. Read them out loud, every day, at least once, ideally at least ten times each time you notice one of them.

32. List your best qualities. Start a list of all the things you love about yourself, and add to it every day.

33. Practice receiving love. To truly love is to be able to receive it. When someone loves you, does some kind deeds to you, says kind words, gives you gifts, or gives you compliments, embrace it.

34. Allow yourself to feel the love that has come your way. Know that you are worthy of love.

35. Accept a gift of love by others. You give yourself a chance to learn more about yourself, and that you are lovable. You give someone a joy of giving by loving you.

36. Say “I love you” to yourself. Let that love fill your heart. Receive that love that you give to yourself unconditionally, and love yourself "as is".

37. Share yourself. Bringing joy to other people's lives will help you find joy in your own. In addition, those that you treat well will likely repay you with the same kindness. Gradually, you will start to feel your worth through the smiles of gratitude.

38. Create goodwill and thankfulness by practicing random deeds of kindness.

39. React to situations in a healthy way and learn the coping skills to do so.

40. Be a self-advocate and don’t be afraid to say NO when you do not feel like doing something. You have the right to do so.