True self-love is: The commitment to objectively know myself as I am, to fully experience life as it comes to me, and to honor my potential by continually seeking ways to grow. The truth is, however, that most of us do not love ourselves nearly well enough, and this is the cause of so much of the pain that is inflicted on others.
Self-love is not simply a state of feeling good. It is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from doing things that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth.
When we act in ways that expand self-love in us, we begin to better accept our weaknesses as well as our strengths and have less need to explain away our short-comings. We have more compassion as human beings and are more centered in our own life's purpose and values,
Below are 7 steps that you can take to achieve self-love.
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Forgive yourself. We humans can be so hard on ourselves. The downside of taking responsibility for our actions is punishing ourselves too much for mistakes in learning and growing. You have to accept your humanness (the fact that you are not perfect), before you can truly love yourself. Practice being less hard on yourself when you make a mistake. Remember, there are no failures, if you have learned and grown from your mistakes; there are only lessons learned.
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Become mindful. People who have more self-love tend to know what they think, feel, and want. They are mindful of who they are and act on this knowledge, rather than on what others want for them
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Act on what you need rather than what you want. when you can turn away from something that feels good and exciting to what you need to stay strong, centered, and moving forward in your life, instead. By staying focused on what you need, you turn away from behavior patterns that get you into trouble, keep you stuck in the past, and lessen self-love.
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Set boundaries. set limits or say no to anything that drains you or harms you physically, emotionally and spiritually, or express poorly who you are.
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Protect yourself. Bring the right people into your life. There isn't enough time in your life to waste on people who want to take away the shine on your face that says, "I genuinely love myself and life." You will love and respect yourself more.
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Practice good self-care. take better care of your basic needs. People high in self-love nourish themselves daily through healthy activities, like sound nutrition, exercise, proper sleep, intimacy and healthy social interactions.
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Live intentionally. You will accept and love yourself more, whatever is happening in your life, when you live with purpose and design. Your purpose doesn't have to be crystal clear to you. If your intention is to live a meaningful and healthy life, you will make decisions that support this intention, and feel good about yourself when you succeed in this purpose. You will love yourself more if you see yourself accomplishing what you set out to do. You need to establish your living intentions, to do this.
If you choose just one or two of these self-love actions to work on, you will begin to accept and love yourself more. Just imagine how much you'll appreciate you when you exercise these seven-steps to self-love. It is true that you can only love a person as much as you love yourself. If you exercise self-love, you will allow and encourage others to express themselves in the same way. The more self-love you have for yourself, the better prepared you to accept it from others.