Love Yourself For 2017!
It’s a New Year and the New Year’s resolutions are in full swing. Maybe you want to get fit, maybe you’re looking for a better career or advancement, or maybe you are looking to find someone to spend your life with. Whatever your new resolution is there is one thing that can help you with all of those. It’s time to learn the most important skill of all, unconditionally loving yourself. Picture this for a moment imagine you are rocking the loving yourself skill. What do you see? I picture myself running through the fields feeling free with the sun shining down on my face and the wind flowing through my hair. Everyone will visualize it differently. It is supposed to come from within you. So many times we allow external factors define our internal self-worth. I want to see a shift in this. I want to see women falling in love with themselves unconditionally. Once you learn this skill you will not only SHINE but you will be the best version of yourself.
So how do you do it? I’m not going to sugar coat it and I will be brutally honest this is not an easy journey. You may doubt yourself a million times along this journey. But I promise you it will be worth it. By doing these 10 things you can begin your journey to becoming the best version of yourself.
Self-Care
Make self-care a daily practice because you are worth it. Make the relationship with yourself a priority this year!
Get to know the real you
Really get to know yourself on a soul level. What do you enjoy? What makes you feel playful? What do you crave more of? Once you know, start doing these things and watch the magic happen.
Let go of perfectionism
Being perfect is so overrated and exhausting. This can also be linked to trying to please others. Give yourself permission to make a mistake.
Embrace Your Insecurities.
Stop wishing you were different. You are an amazing person who was placed on this earth for a purpose. If you haven’t found it yet, don’t give up. Be gentle with yourself. Stop beating yourself up. First identify what causes you to feel this way. Is it really about the present situation? If not when in the past do you remember feeling this way? If you identify past issues this in an indicator that you may have unresolved trauma. See step 5 for advice on this.
Confront Your Past
You must have the courage to confront what brought you here in the first place. It’s about being brutally honest about what has caused those deep emotional scars and beginning to peel back the layers a little at a time. Eventually, you begin to trust the process and you will have the strength to feel it, acknowledge it, forgive, and then let it go. This is not always an easy process but it is life changing. Disclaimer: It is best to work with an experienced mental health professional when addressing serious issues such as trauma.
Spread Love
Spread it to yourself and others. It can be as simple as greeting others and sharing a smile with those passing by. Look for ways of spreading love daily.
Have fun
Allow yourself time to be silly and playful.
Realize Your Strength
Just by the fact that you were able to make it through is proof enough that you are one of the most resilient and amazing humans alive. You’ve already made it past the most difficult part. Take the lessons and know you can make it through anything.
Seek Help
As addressed earlier in step 5, it is best to work with an experienced mental health professional when addressing serious issues such as trauma. The reason behind this is you may not have the support and tools you need to confront your past trauma. Don’t try to do it alone. An experienced mental health professional will teach you the tools needed so that you can begin to address the trauma in more manageable parts.
Acknowledge your negative voice
Listen for a moment to what the negative voice in your head is saying. It has really just been trying to protect you all this time. Normally it is developed in childhood to avoid pain and keep you safe. Remember that it is a fear-based response. Respond in a compassionate way by acknowledging it and thanking it for keeping you safe all this time. Then reassure it that you have the situation under control.
