Self-Love - It's Not Selfish - It's Essential

Self-love is an act of loving yourself. It’s not selfish, it’s essential.

Unfortunately many of us, while able to help others, aren’t so good at taking care of ourselves.

Here at Soul Analyse, everything we do is based around helping you love yourself more.

We understand the pitfalls of not giving yourself enough love, and we are equally aware of the incredible benefits of self-love – here we share all, and also offer tips that you can put straight into action.

What Happens If You Don’t Show Yourself Much Love?

Self-love is something we all need and desire, even if we don’t know it.

When we fail to give ourselves the right level of love, our lives are limited in many different ways.

Here are some typical traits of someone who has little self-love:

•Low Confidence (they don’t believe in themselves)

•Unhappy with their appearance (they are always criticising the way they look)

•Lapsed boundaries (they find it difficult saying no, and often do things just to please others)

•Little self-worth (they don’t believe they are worthy)

•Comparison (they compare their life to the lives of others, and oftentimes feel that they don’t match up)

•Try to be like others (they try to be like other people because they don’t feel they’re good enough)

It can be really hard to get through even one day without beating ourselves up and participating in things that make us miserable if we don’t love ourselves. Not to mention the pain that comes when we compare ourselves to others.

The opposite of self-love is not to be underestimated, it’s self-hatred. It is potent, and can spread like a disease, creating deep unhappiness in so many areas of our lives.

A life filled with self-hatred, is not a life well-lived. In fact, it’s miserable. You have to live with yourself every day, and to spend that time criticising and putting yourself down, is nothing short of tragic. 

Benefits of Loving Yourself

Now loving yourself, on the other hand, means taking responsibility for your life. It means saying, “I deserve happiness” and in turn, doing what it takes to make it happen.

Here are just some of the benefits of self-love:

•You realise your own importance, and set comfortable boundaries 

•You look for the good within yourself, instead of seeking the bad

•You love and accept yourself exactly as you are 

•You’re happy with the way you look and you feel comfortable giving and receiving compliments 

•You feel genuine gratitude for everything in your life, all things big and small

How Can You Love Yourself More?

It’s called “self” love for a reason – it has to come from you. It has absolutely nothing to do with others – although it will certainly impact and improve your relationships – you are the only person who can give you self-love.

The wonderful thing about it being in your hands, is that it’s in your hands! Make sense?

If you have identified that you’re lacking when it comes to loving yourself, you have the power to change things!

Here are some self-love tips:

1) Know Your Worth

Begin to believe that you are worthy of being happy.

When we know our own worth, looking after ourselves becomes a necessity rather than a choice.

This can have a massively positive impact on the way we treat ourselves and also the way we allow others to treat us.

2) Learn to Love Every Bit of You

Learn to love every bit of yourself, including your flaws.

If there are areas of your body that you dislike, focus on finding beauty in those areas, begin to love them!

Rather than tear yourself down with critical thoughts, try giving yourself compliments; notice when you do something well and praise yourself.

See your imperfections as unique assets, your differences as intriguing and focus on getting to know yourself on the inside.

Love every little bit of you!

3) Believe That You Are Enough

This is the most important tip on the list, so take note!

Too often in life, we waste our years believing that the way we are, the way we look, our personality, and everything else that forms who we are, is not enough.

When we compare our life to someone else’s, it only affirms our belief that we aren’t enough and everyone else is better.

This mentality is highly, highly self-destructive! If you don’t believe you are enough, no one else will either – it has to start with you.

Begin to use the affirmation “I Am Enough” every single day, until it becomes part of your belief system.

If you are new to affirmations, you can try the One Month Affirmation Challenge.

4) Surround Yourself With Good People

They say you become like the people you spend most of your time with; if you’re spending time with Negative Nellies that have nothing positive to do or say, don’t expect to be any different.

Surround yourself with people who are more in-line with who you are on the inside. Be with people who bring out the best in you, and make a positive impression on you, just with their presence alone.

It’ll make your life more rewarding if you do!

Which tips will you try?

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