10 helpful tips for your self-love journey

Life is a beautiful thing. A gift. A treasure to cherish. But sometimes it can also be a struggle. It’s a journey through love, laughter, loss and lessons, and we navigate through its ups and downs while often feeling like giving up. It becomes difficult. We get tired of things.

But one thing I’ve learned is that with self-love and admiration, life is even more beautiful. So let me give you tips on how to achieve this.

1) Do regular mindfulness activities

I have an app installed on my phone called Reflectly (available on iOS App Store and Google Play Store), and every day I get daily prompts to help me grow as an individual: Mondays a subject of mindfulness appears; Tuesdays help me explore my truth; Wednesday is for wisdom; Thursday is identity; Friday is favorite; Saturday is the party; and Sunday is for gratitude. Every day I am also given a challenge to complete in an effort to grow as a person and try to improve the lives of those around me. Otherwise, yoga is another rather calming practice to calm down and de-stress.

2) Accept that there will be less than okay times, and that’s fine

TV lies. High school and life in general aren’t all about sunshine and rainbows. Things suck: friendships, relationships, school grades, work and interactions with people in general, etc. And depending on the person, that “low” period could be days, weeks, months. Believe me, I’ve been there. But there’s a quote that got me through some of the toughest times I’ve had:

“And like the moon, we have to go through phases of emptiness to feel whole again.”

Like Earth’s natural satellite, we must feel moments of despair, disappointment, sadness and loneliness to become ourselves again. It’s okay if you don’t feel like yourself. Things will get better, I promise.

3) Know your worth

It’s a big thing. In this world, people are extremely comfortable disrespecting you, which, now that I think about it, is probably one of the reasons I’ve isolated myself from people so often in the past. Now, I’m not suggesting that you walk away from everyone and everything just because of difficult situations, because from personal experience I know that’s not healthy. But I 100% encourage people to know their worth, to love themselves, and to stay strong both as individuals and as a collective human unit.

Psychology (or rather, Twitter) suggests that being alone is a power few can handle, and I wholeheartedly agree. It takes a lot of courage to stay strong and not let anything break you, no matter what. I learned this both through unhealthy friendships that caused my isolation and by refusing to compromise my beliefs for what other people think. Now I don’t wish unhealthy relationships on anyone, as they are extremely damaging, but self-confidence, self-love and unwavering inner strength – these are essential life qualities that I would encourage everyone to develop. .

4) Let it all hang out

One thing I’ve learned in my 17 years of life is that emotional exhaustion is real. For me, it happened at Christmas last year. Running away from emotions is not the way to go, I promise. Whatever you feel, let it out. If you constantly keep it inside, it will accumulate and come back to you at the most inopportune times. I found myself crying in the middle of a baking class I was taking as part of a PSHE day. Everyone was laughing and having fun with their table partners, and there I was, sobbing.

Don’t be like me, talk to people if you feel certain things and those who care will be there to help you. Plus, a good cry, a good nap, a good cry, they’re all underrated. Use healthy coping mechanisms to feel like yourself again.

5) Give yourself incentives to continue

There are days when even getting up is a challenge. We all have them. But the most important thing is to find a reason, any reason, to do it anyway. It’s very easy to want to give up when the going gets tough, so find something that pushes you to keep trying. Mine is to make my mom and my siblings (and me too) proud. They are everything to me and I would do anything to make them smile.

6) Surround yourself with people who push you to be a better person and help you love yourself more than you already do

My mother always tells me: “Birds of the same feather flock together. If you surround yourself with hardworking, driven, passionate, and kind people, you will also become a hardworking, driven, passionate, and kind person. If you find yourself becoming someone or something that you are not, start asking yourself some hard questions about the type of people around you and the type of person you want to be. yourself and those you love won’t be a problem.

7) Understand and accept that no one loves you the way you do

People exist in your life, and no doubt they will take care of you and want your happiness. But no one will prioritize you like you prioritize yourself. The sad reality is that we live in a selfish world. And I used to put others before myself – and that was wearing me down. I will continue to be selfless, but not at the expense of my own happiness. Be nice to people, but don’t wear yourself out just to please others. You come first.

8) Use kind words

Words manifest in our lives. So talk about positivity in yours and in those of others to live in peace and harmony.

9) Remember that the little things help

I have a series of alarms on my phone every morning that help me remember all the reasons I’m amazing. The description attached to my 7:25 a.m. weekday alarm clock reminds me that I deserve to have a good day, and my 9 a.m. weekend alarm clock reminds me that I am beautiful; I recommend you try it. Likewise, life is too short. Tell the people you care about that you love them, hug them, treat them and take care of them.

10) Be grateful, for you are blessed

In this crazy world, there is much to be grateful for. Our family, our friends, our teachers, our colleagues, our neighbours. Education, housing, food, our lives. We are privileged in different ways, and it is essential that we show our gratitude for all that we have and that we continue to be kind to others.

Life is undoubtedly difficult and we will all encounter problems on our way to adulthood, but a little love and inner peace will help anyone navigate their journey in the world. Take care and namaste.