I used to dislike myself a lot. And I mean, a lot. I saw myself as an unattractive, no-hoper, who was doomed to a string of bad relationships and ill-formed friendships. Funny how these ideas can be self-fulfilling. Everything I saw in myself manifested and my life went suitably pear-shaped. It was a dark time but also a valuable one as it became the driving force behind my dramatic shift towards personal development. Even today, whenever I need to keep myself on track I look back to those days to remind myself how much progress I have made. And the biggest step was learning to love myself again.

Learning to Love Yourself

Ok, ok for the cynics and skeptics out there this whole "loving yourself" business sounds like some new-age hippy fad. And to those with dirty minds it sounds…well, dirty. It's neither of those, but feel free to use it as an excuse for the latter if you want.

Learning to love yourself is about putting aside all the negative ideas you have about yourself and focusing on the positives. It can be very hard, especially if you have a lot of limiting self-beliefs, but the rewards are fantastic - happiness, confidence, great friends, and successful loving relationships. Do these sound like things you would like in your life? Of course they are, and you can get them all but you have to start loving yourself first!

The First Step

I am going to keep this article short so here is just the first step down the path of loving yourself.

Spend 5 minutes everyday looking at yourself in the mirror. Observe any negative thought that floats into your mind and then find a positive about yourself that counters it. Verbalise the positive and repeat it while looking yourself in the eye. Say it with passion and pride like you mean it!

I recommend doing this twice a day (at the start and end) to keep those positive thoughts at the forefront of your mind. Pretty soon you will start believing them. I cannot do this activity without ending up with a big smile on my face and the attitude to match it.

Future Work

If you have some very strong negative thought patterns that are hard to break keep an eye out for an article coming soon on how to destroy your limiting beliefs. The process is pretty confronting but works wonders for getting rid of those useless and debilitating negative thoughts. Don't forget you can subscribe to my email newsletter to say updated on everything that happens here.

Go ahead and start loving yourself. You are worth it.

Image: m_bartosch