Five Self-Love Reminders

Loving yourself is your first duty

A staggering amount of people hate themselves.

This is a shame — you are the one person guaranteed to love yourself. If that guarantee falls through, everything crumbles.

Louise Hay would give would mirror work exercises to her students — she would ask them to look into the mirror and say “I love you.” Many students reported feeling intensely uncomfortable doing this.

If we don’t love ourselves, how can we expect others to love us?

Practicing self-love is our first duty, our foremost priority.

Here are five reminders and strategies to practice self-love.

1 — Finding a Great Team is Self-love

Don’t fight any battle alone.

The reason Arjun won the epic battle of Mahabharata is his wisdom and intuition in choosing Krishna as his charioteer.

No one found success alone. Behind every single success, there is a stable and supporting team. Find your ideal team and work wonders with them

Sometimes, a small push from a good team member can motivate you to reach your goals faster. But a wrong push from a nefarious colleague can drown you beyond reprieve.

In his book Archer, Paulo Coelho Archer says:

Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt and then take more risks. Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticize those who do not think like them, and people who have not taken a step unless they were sure they would be respected for doing so, and who prefer certainties to doubts

You are now armed with the knowledge of what a good team looks like. You also know the red flags you should look for to stay away from a bad team member.

Choose wisely.

2 — Start — Stop -Relax

Use this magical three-point formula, Start- Stop — Relax to make sure you get ample self-care time — even after long and hectic days.

Plan your week in advance

There should be a fixed starting point and finishing point. For example, if you are starting your workday at 6 am, there should be a specific stop point also, say 6 pm.

Make sure you relax the rest of the time without work creeping in insidiously. Once you stop, you let go of all the thoughts of any pending work. Tell yourself ‘’It is me time now”.

Use your “me time” wisely and mindfully. You can plan some relaxation activities during this time rather than meandering without a plan. Use the time after your work for relaxing activities like reading, nature walks, showers, meditation, etc.

Use your weekends to plan and prepare for the upcoming work week.

3. Believe in Abundance

There is enough and more for everyone.

Stop digging in the wrong places, just be open to possibilities.

Be grateful for the opportunities, big or small. Many people who began small ended up making it very big. Take that first step with intention and keep on moving with continued intention. Make the best use of anything that catches your attention in the first step.

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into. — Wayne Dyer.

We can tune into abundance with acceptance and gratitude.

Write down ten things that you are grateful for.

When you start to write, you will realize you cannot stop at ten, you cannot even stop at a hundred!

Acceptance is another great tool for peace and self-love.

The serenity prayer by the American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr sums up everything we must understand about acceptance.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

What a beautiful prayer!

Just reading this prayer makes me so ever so peaceful.

In this ever-changing world, we must understand what can be changed and what cannot be changed.

That is acceptance in a nutshell.

4. Tap Into Your Flow

You need to tap what is flowing effortlessly through you.

We have all heard the story of a person from humble beginnings making it big — like a simple tea seller making it big with many outlets and raking in crores. The tea seller just tapped into one abundant source that was freely flowing through him.

No struggle at all. Just hard work and focus. Nothing new to learn.

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. — Swami Vivekananda

5 — Look at You! You Deserve The Best.

So what are you going to give yourself today with love?

Make a list.

If you truly love yourself and want to spend quality time with yourself, you need to make a to-do list. Write the action items clearly. This is the only way to communicate with the Universe and seek its support.

Call it any name you like — Universe, the Divine Creatrix, or God. You need her support and compliance in this journey of self-love.

Practicing self-love will give energize you beyond your wildest imagination. When you practice self-love, you will no longer be dependent on others for their love.

You truly deserve the best.

Go to the mirror, say “I love you” to the amazing person behind the mirror, and experience the amazing feeling of being in love.