Loving ourselves is the first and most important step towards personal development and growth.

Spending time with and by ourselves, observing and understanding the landscape of our hearts and minds isn’t egotistical or self-centred, but instead a very selfless act of love and kindness. Because by knowing and working on ourselves – exploring our strengths and weaknesses, dealing with and letting go of past sufferings and future expectations, nurturing and feeding our minds and souls with self-love and compassion – we can become our best possible selves. Better equipped to love and thrive and therefore benefitting everyone we come into contact with.

8 Steps to Self-Love –

1. Choose Grateful. Be grateful for who you are and what makes you unique. Start each day focusing on the good stuff, don’t automatically reach for your phone but instead take a moment to feel gratitude.
2. Practice Contemplation. Whether through meditation, prayer or simply gazing at the stars in wonder. Learn to be quiet and let your soul speak.
3. Be Honest. If we can’t be honest with ourselves, there’s little hope for others. Face up to those demons, be true to yourself and commit to a life of truth.
4. Trust your Intuition. Intuition is unconscious reasoning or your gut speaking. It knows you very well, better than you perhaps know yourself so learning to listen to it is an integral part of showing self-love.
5. Write a Journal. Spend some time at the end of each day releasing your thoughts onto paper, not over-thinking the style or structure but instead just letting your stream of consciousness flow and your heart speak openly. This will help you to understand and become more familiar with its landscape.
6. Choose Patience and Compassion. Showing yourself patience and compassion are vital on your journey to self-love, development and growth. We often find it much easier to show others these qualities than we do ourselves, so think about how you would treat someone else in your position and show yourself the same warmth.
7. Be Non-judgmental. Do not judge your thoughts, feelings or actions but instead acknowledge them without judgement and let them be. Be forgiving towards yourself and reflect upon your mistakes without discernment.
8. Lower your Expectations. Do not expect Love, Happiness and Fulfillment to come from others, realise all of these things begin with yourself and require time and attention for improvement.