Alex O'Brien
Relationships

4 ways to learn to love yourself

One of the hardest things to shift when it comes to your appearance is your self-image. You might lose or gain weight, update your wardrobe, cut your hair, invest in brand new make-up but unless you have a positive self-image the chances are good that you’ll still see yourself as average and potentially even un-lovable. The old adage goes that to truly be loved, you first need to love yourself and it’s not far wrong. Here are our five top tips to learn to love yourself.

1. Let it go

Dwelling on mistakes gets us nowhere. It ends up trapping us in a cycle of negative thinking and heightened emotion. Learn from your mistakes where you can then move on from them, realising that mistakes are a natural part of being human.

2. Stop comparing yourself to others

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with our contemporaries. This makes it very difficult to fall in love with the person actually staring back at us in the mirror however. We all have our good and bad traits, even those people that you compare yourself to. Focus on your own great qualities and work on building up a list of what you love about yourself.

3. Don’t underestimate your appearance

It may be surface level but investing some time and effort in your hair, clothes and make-up can make a big difference to your self-esteem. We all know that “just left the hairdresser” feeling and the spring in our step it can give. If it’s been awhile since you’ve had a cut and colour or if the last time you stocked up on beauty products was the year 2001, consider treating yourself. Demonstrating that you’re worth it can work wonders for your self-image.

4. Give yourself a pat on the back

What have you done well lately? We spend a lot of time dwelling on the mistakes we make but not a lot of time highlighting the positives. When you reach a goal or achieve something, celebrate it!

How do you cultivate a healthy self-image? Tell us in the comment section below.

 

Related links:

Friends are the key to a long and healthy life

Why old friends are often the best kind of friends

How to take a friendship to the next level

Tags:
happiness, love, confidence, Self, yourself