How to Practice Self Love

The Golden Mean, at least that’s what the Greek Philosopher Aristotle called it. There’s also Yin and Yang in Eastern Mysticism. Since ancient times, enlightened people have talked about harmony and balance between others and the self.

Some would argue that giving your all is the only way to succeed -in anything. One can only achieve excellence in Career, Business, Love, and Family when one gives 110% of their being into it.

Those people don’t realize that self-love practices elevate yourself and allow you to give more to others. Think about a rich man and a poor man giving to charity.

A poor man giving $100.00 a month to charity is already a sacrifice, but he does it because it’s the right thing to do. However, a rich man donating $100,00 a month wouldn’t feel the pinch.

Investing in yourself makes you a better person. In doing so, it increases the limit on how much you can give to the world.

Practicing self-love may seem like an empty and pathetic attempt at lying to yourself.

Do it wrong, and it would be. But do it right, and you can become the benefactor of the world if you choose to be.

So you ask, how to practice self-love correctly? Is there a secret recipe?

Well, read along to find out!

What is self-love

So how to practice self-love? To do it right, you first need to understand what it is—knowing what self-love is the first step in your life-changing journey of living your life with meaning.

Self-love is not lying to yourself every day that you are a special person, and everything you do is right. Everyone else is just a jealous cynical prick.

It’s easy to go off the deep end and become delusional when you don’t know how to practice self-love correctly.

So what is healthy self-love, and what makes it different from selfishness?

• Motive  

Why do you want to invest in yourself? If it’s to keep up with the Joneses or to create material for a social media post? 

Some people indulge in expensive food/drinks, buy unnecessary luxury items, or even go to the gym, just to take pictures of themselves and post it on social media.

• Cause-Effect 

A motive is why someone does something. Cause and effect are what happens after, including long term and unintended consequences. 

A night out in a bar is fine, but how does it affect your long-term health and your responsibilities the next day? 

Bungee jumping may also be a life experience, but a freak accident could lead to a debilitating injury. Is it really worth the risk?

• Sacrifice 

When you do something, you spend time, money, and opportunity. What are you giving up? 

Spending time at work may help your career, but it is time away from your family. Remember, nobody in their deathbed ever said, “I wish I spent more time at the office.”

If you are thinking about healthy self-love, always consider the motive, consequences, and if it’s worth it.

Each person is different, so if you are convinced that your actions add value to yourself based on the criteria above, you are doing it right.

Why is it important to practice self-love

There’s a difference between a selfish person and a self-lover. A selfish person is someone who puts their own needs and happiness above everyone else.

People who practice self-love spend their “me time” to give more to someone else.

Like someone who attends night school to get a better job and provide for their children better or take good care of their body, so they don’t get sick and burden their loved ones.

Self-love activities and selfish activities are sometimes the same. Such as spending time when you wake up and/or before sleeping, talking to yourself.

You think/talk about positive things and motivate yourself and remove the negativity of the day.

If you have been thinking about how to practice self-love, this indeed is a suitable method. You can rid yourself of stress, frustrations, and disappointments, so it doesn’t carry over the next day.

At the same time, it can also warp your reality and lead you towards living a delusional life. Self-reflection is a must!

Effective ways to practice self-love

Now that you know the difference between self-love and selfishness. Here are actionable self-love tips to help you become a better person.

• Focus on maintaining good health

As they say, “health is wealth.” If you are healthy, you can do more in a day, live longer, and even save yourself several dollars spent on medications and supplements if you are in bad shape.

Also, a study indicates that a person with high self-esteem is more likely to adopt a healthier lifestyle and healthy eating habits. This proves that basically, self-love and good health are interdependent.

Fatigue is a real thing; some people are mentally and physically exhausted after 8-12 hours, while others can keep doing productive work even for 14 hours straight!

Two hours a day is 14 hours a week; a person can achieve a lot in 14 hours. That time bought by a healthy body can help anyone live a more fulfilling life in the same calendar week.

Investing in your health to be more productive is a form of self-love. But do not confuse it with spending resources on your body to fulfill your vanity. It is not healthy self-love!

• Take baby steps and keep moving towards your goal.

Taking action to achieve your personal goals is not selfish. Remember, the more skills, talent, and resources you have as a person, the more capable you are in giving and loving others.

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help on your way up, but don’t expect it. Once you get there, share your victory as you see fit.

Acts of kindness and charity end there. You do it because you want to; it’s not obligatory, nor is it social responsibility.

But if you decide to do it, you do it because you chose to help, and not because you want to gain any fame from it.

If you are the type, who prefers to help people around you rather than random strangers. There’s also nothing wrong with that. There is nothing selfish about it, and it’s one of the ways of self-love.

Remember that you never got to where you are, alone. Others have sacrificed their time and energy to give you the freedom you needed to succeed.

• Get rid of clutter

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, which includes physical trash around you and toxic relationships.

There are things and people around you that drains your time and energy. There are also a lot of things in your life that serve nothing but a distraction.

If you are looking for ways how to practice self-love. List all the things that you have to do in a week, a month, a year.

You will find that you do and think about many activities that add nothing to your quality of life. Some things, and sometimes even people, drain the life of you, and removing them from taking up your time will improve your well being.

Are you still contemplating how to practice self-love, plan, organize, and simplify your life! It works.

Self-love is the best love

Learning how to practice self-love is learning how to do everything in moderation.

You are only human with finite time, energy, and resources in this world. Spreading yourself too thin only results in disappointments and failures.

On the other hand, pushing yourself too hard for too long has severe mental and physical consequences. Even if it doesn’t happen right away, the cumulative damage stacks up in the long run.

Working on self-love rejuvenates yourself and mitigate the damage of a roller coaster life.

Learning how to practice self-love, if done correctly, heals your body and soul.

Investing in yourself by implementing self-love ideas in this blog will certainly help make you a better person. After all, the more healthy stuff you do for yourself, the more you can do for others.

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